Hi everyone! October is here, along with another review from yours very truly... ----- ------- ----- "Sloop Providence" - Emily L. Ferguson Without downplaying any of your previous submissions, Emily, I think this is one of the best of yours I have seen in a while. Compositionally, it seriously rocks. The converging lines, the very apparent tension on the sail and ropes, and even the desaturation with sepia treatment... all combined leads to a very powerful image. Exposure looks great; there may be a bit of overexposure on the mast, but it's such a minor detail that it doesn't detract at all from the image. As an afterthought, what would this look like as a cyanotype? You did a remarkable job here. Absolutely brilliant! ----- ------- ----- "2006_09_27" - Guy Glorieux Guy, nice job on capturing the essence of "carpe diem!" The elusive lighting works well to the benefit of this photo. Particularly, I find myself drawn to the contrast between the gradation in grays from left to right and the absolutely glowing trees bordering it. Bringing it all together is the placid nature of the water, which reflects a smoothed-out version of the trees and sky. It works well as a panoramic image, too; I feel that it would lose a lot of impact by a more square format (such as 35mm, 4x5, or even true 6x6)... Something in my mind wants to see an object of some sort in the water or protruding into the water (a pier, perhaps?) near the bottom of the frame on the left side... it feels just a tinge unbalanced. Otherwise, well composed and exposed. Additionally, I believe the edges would have been better if left alone, rather than applying the "floating" effect with shadow. It seems counterintuitive that the scene would be floating above a base surface. Still, a very pleasing image, Guy. Thank you for contributing. ----- ------- ----- "Hanging Lake" - Tim Mulholland Tim, this is a very idyllic scene... The lighting looks wonderful; open shade caused by the sun below the mountains adds to the saturation in the foreground without blowing out the highlights (like at the top of the ridge). I think there is a little room for improvement in this image, however; the falls are almost parallel to the film plane, and coupled with the relative distance from the camera, almost become invisible. A more oblique viewpoint would have worked better, in my opinion, as it would have added a little more dynamism to the falls themselves and created a bit of contrast between them and the almost-static water. In addition, either an expansion of the frame's dimensions to include the tops of the trees or closer cropping to provide only hints of sky would improve the image. As it is there's just a little too much conflict bteween the treetops and the top of the frame. Exposure looks excellent, though, and the sharpness afforded by your choice of format helps to instill a sense of experience in the viewer. ----- ------- ----- "An Attachment" - Jeff Spirer Jeff, composition is almost perfect, and exposure looks pretty good, albeit a touch dark. ----- ------- ----- Ok, I was just going to leave it at that... ;-) It's an interesting scene to behold, not something the average person would see every day, disturbing at first, eventually becoming indifferently foreign. It certainly opens a trove of questions in my mind: "What exactly is the relationship of the two?"; "How does one become a slave (is that even the right word)?", "Why is the window covered with corrugated metal?"... Shifting back to an objective standpoint, I must say this is a well-executed dual portrait. Contrasting personalities are portrayed in unison, and the lack of actual eye contact with the camera (the gentleman in the foreground has only presumably made eye contact) suggests that there is much the camera does not see, and probably rightly so. What is shown, however is reduced solely to place, time, and mere existence, with the subtext residing only in the viewer's mind. ----- ------- ----- (untitled) - Marilyn Dalrymple Marilyn, the "chunky" look, as you refer to it, seems to (at least in my mind) change this from a photograph into something less. In most cases where manipulation is done, I prefer that it look deliberate, as it was in this case. However, I feel that, taken out of context, the image falls a bit short of my expectations. I want to see the rugged landscape, in all of its beautiful ugliness, if that is what truly is there. At this point, I am critiquing a watercolor, which is outside of my realm, rendering me unable to comment further. I really want to see the original version... ----- ------- ----- "Englewood beach spring evening 2006" - D.L. Shipman Dave, first off, I'd like to say that the image reminds me of the '40s and '50s paintings of summer outings near New England hamlets... That said, the peaceful chaos of randomly scattered beachgoers prevents this from being a relatively boring study involving a band of orange sky and wedges of sea, sand, and grass. Unfortunately, though, there seems to be a lack of focus, no central point around or toward which the activity in the photo gravitates. My eye is everywhere, which tends to distract me from both the elements in the frame, and the overall scene alike. The composition is good; I cannot visualize moving the camera's position or direction at all in order to improve the image (which is a habit of mine), and exposure looks good (a little dark, but it matches the mood of the photo). I think that if it were a little later in the evening, and you were able to convince everyone in the image to stay put, and the homeowners to turn on every light in the house, and pan the camera slightly to the right, this shot would have been phenomenal. As it is, it would work well as a single unit within a series, possibly with a theme centered around this particular piece of shoreline. ----- ------- ----- "Remains of the day" - Dan Mitchell Dan, looks like the evening of Thanksgiving with my family after the meal is over. This is a great grabshot; the opportunity rarely presents itself for moments like this. A little overexposed, a little too low of a viewpoint, but yes, a great grabshot. I'm trying to determine what the culprit might be of the overall unsharpness, and am leaning toward slight motion blur. Otherwise, the lighting is great; I love the long soft shadows stretching across the frame, adding a sense of pastoral calm amid the carnage spread out through the frame's center. Mortality, the Cycle of Life, the duality of Nature, all are apparent in this photo, and you captured them fairly well. ----- ------- ----- Thank you all who participated this week! It's heartening to see so many submissions, and I hope to have some of my own up before too long (trying to get caught up on overdue work...) I look forward to all of your comments about the photos presented, the comments I've made, and the viewpoints expressed by others. Yours very truly, Darin Heinz Melbourne, Florida USA
