Hi everyone! Somehow, a 10-image gallery is the response to a "no gallery submissions enqueued" message just hours before posting time. How delightful! ----- ------- ----- "Nice Catch" - Jim Snarski Jim, this looks like a well-composed, well-timed shot. It almost looks as if the bird is about to ingest the moon... The tight cropping and good exposure work well in this image; I'm not sure I like the high-key background, though. The JPG noise is a little distracting, too. This is a fun shot, nonetheless. ----- ------- ----- "Who's That?" - Laurenz Bobke Laurenz, this looks like your typical garden-variety green spider... This image is really intriguing. The seed pod looks exotic, comprised of circular form, and the spider, with its linear and angular composition, together create a unique coexistence. Structurally they are different, but they complement each other in color and substance. Exposure was done well, despite green being one of the most difficult colors to capture. Compositionally the image works, everything looks well-balanced, and depth of field was reduced to add interest to the subject. However, the background is still just a little too noisy, and the highlights just a little too bulky for my taste. A closer crop and/or shifting the camera's position slightly to the left may have done this one more justice. ----- ------- ----- "The Harbor No. 3" - Gregory David Stempel I typically don't read the text before commenting on the image, but in this case I made an exception, and noticed that you had already considered my suggestion, which would have been to pan the camera a bit to the right, hence cropping on the left. the reason for this is the presence of more-or-less uninteresting foliage on the left in lieu of structures which are truncated on the right. I feel like I want to see what's going on there. I had also thought about the possibility (after the fact, I know) of shooting this as a vertical, and leaving the horizon line the same distance from the bottom of the frame. I feel that this would satisfy the desire to portray the expansiveness of the approaching storm clouds, and at the same time make use of the frame's valuable "real estate" by eliminating some of the shoreline to the left and some of the busy harbor to the right. The ominous feel of this scene demands the use of B/W, good choice there, and the gull trying to duck the storm adds to the sense of foreboding. ----- ------- ----- "Aria" - Herschel Mair She has a presence about her that really makes the image work. There was obviously a fair amount of post-shooting processing going on, which is usually a detractor for me, but in this case it works well. Her pose and expression, and your relative position (no pun intended) combine to make this a whimsical shot. One can only guess what she's thinking! The blowing-out of the white surroundings, I'm sure, simplified the photo immensely, but you managed to keep the focus of the image on her face. Her shoulder is disappearing into the background, and I'm on the fence as to whether I want to see the separation there or not. Great job! ----- ------- ----- "Rachel and Joshie just before bedtime" - Lea Murphy This is an amusing study of two children, Lea... It portrays one's fascinated curiosity and another's slight lack of interest in yet another photo being taken. The use of B/W was a good choice; I doubt very seriously that the same effect would have been even nearly attained in a color format. Aditionally, the B/W adds to the timeless quality of the image. Had the children been dressed differently, the title may have been just as effective as "Rachel and Joshie just before WWII." The lighting is excellent here and really adds to the natural feel. At first I was a bit disappointed with the loss of the top of her head, but upon closer inspection, the composition was done very well; there would have been too much dark/empty space at the top of the frame. You chose to put him in the center, and to have her end up wherever she fell in the frame, and this seems to benefit the entire image. A work well done! ----- ------- ----- "Dark clouds over London" - Guy Glorieux Guy, initially I thought the grain was distracting, and the use of color extraneous. After having washed the grain out digitally and desaturating, I was left with a dull distant resemblance of the original photo. "Dark clouds" and "London" seem synonymous, but in this example, your rendition of London is awash with bright blues and yellows instead of the expected gray. The grain, as it turns out, underscores the dampness and presence (whether literal or implied) of rain, despite the efforts of the sunlight trying to push through at center left. The structures in the foreground add visual interest to what would be a very linear urban landscape, and prevent the image from looking like it was shot from too far away to be effective. I also like the way the storm clouds (chaos, turbulence, ) emerge from behind the buildings (clean, formal, silk-suit), which linger just past the industrial complex (dirt, grease, dust). Exposure looks great; composition looks pretty good. Thinking I'm seeing just *a bit* too much water, corrected by either a crop or a tip upward... ----- ------- ----- "Kentai Bridge" - Don Roberts The repetitive arches of the bridge pull the whole image together, leading my eye to the building across the water. The lighting and exposure work wonderfully here, especially with regard to the round stone pilings under the bridge; the light just fades from bright to shade, particularly with the middle two, where the right edge of the near one is set against the far one, dramatically showing its boundaries. The foliage serves as a suitable backdrop which doesn't distract from the bridge, yet holds enough texture to maintain much more visual interest than would, say, a cloudless sky. Don, you did well to capture this alluring scene, and I think it would be perfected with the removal of the gray strip along the top. ----- ------- ----- "Jenny´s and Hans´ Wedding" - Per Öfverbeck Per, the first thing I noticed was the lighting. The greens of foliage are pulled out so well, indicative of what I am sure will be a long celebration of life. The two of them look so happy in the moment, and you did a great job of portraying that. I only wish the depth of field had been a bit shallower and/or camera position adjusted to eliminate the tree behing their shoulders. Other than that, I believe it is a good photo. ----- ------- ----- "Fall is Coming" - Emily L. Ferguson Ah, yes. The crisp morning air, the green of summer yielding to Autumn's sweeping fire. Somehow, though, I just don't see it in this photo. Sorry, Emily, but the subject is sprawling and lacks a center of focus, and there are just too many distracting elements surrounding the fading plant. I will say, however, that the saturation, contrast, lighting, and exposure look good... ----- ------- ----- "glow" - Trevor Cunningham Again, Trevor... I have no idea what it is I am looking at. that said, I will mention that the repeating image looks intriguing, especially since no two are identical, whether by merit of blemish or the horribly beautiful raking light. The surrounding blackness forces this object into its own entity, even as the upper right portion is partially obscured by shadow. Visually, it's moderately interesting, mostly by virtue of curiosity, and you get points on that level. But without some form of context, meaning is lost in the intricate folds of the abstract... Exposure looks excellent, though, and, as with many of your images, I would like to see this as part of a series. If I can't get much statement from one image, maybe I can be helped along with Gestalt theory. ----- ------- ----- Thank you all for your contributions, whether verbally or visually. As always, I look forward to continued conversations about the work. Yours very truly, Darin Heinz Melbourne, Florida USA
