Hi, everyone! ----- ------- ----- "beech tree" - Emily L. Ferguson Emily, the first thing that caught my attention was the vertical banding of colors. Gray to the left, green to the right, and a dazzling yellow down the middle. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive by the splattering of lines throughout, but it actually adds to the image, as the yellow blasts through the cacophony. The background could probably use a little diminished depth of field, but it's not really a problem. The solid trunk to the left grounds the image, and keeps it from looking like a mess. The dizzying array of foliage reminds me of a Pollock painting, and the yellow simply pops. Without it, the image would simply not work. ----- ------- ----- "Leaves #8" - Charles Dias (I have often wondered if the order of photos in the Gallery are deliberately grouped by subject matter/theme/etc.) I love the soft tonal range here and the shallow depth of field, Charles. The sharpness of the dangling leaf is just about as close to perfect as you could get. The only thing that bothers me is the one branch hanging to the left of the leaf; it is somewhat dark and distracts from the subject. An inch or two of movement to your right before tripping the shutter would probably have concealed it somewhat, at least enough to reduce its presence. ----- ------- ----- "White throated Kingfisher" - Jayanth Vincent I really love the color in this guy! Color, composition, depth of field all excellent, though I might have cropped just a little off the left side of the frame. A wee bit too much empty space for me. The bird is tack-sharp, and you captured this shot nicely. ----- ------- ----- "Monastery Doorway" - Andrew Brooks Andrew, this is a fabulous shot. The old architecture, the softly desaturated pallette, the angularity of the ruin and reticulated texture of the wall all combine to create the feel of age and mystery. The light blowing through the doorway is a nice visual pun, as enlightenment is found within. Although I cannot identify the objects through the door, it doesn't matter, at least in a visual sense. Well done! ----- ------- ----- (untitled) - Rich Mason I have always been fascinated by the tranquility of night, particularly in urban or suburban settings; the lack of constant disturbance lends a pastoral quality to the experience. Here, you've got a meandering landscape which could be miles from nowhere, but with the (apparently) out-of-place sign and overturned shopping cart, the perceived locale changes drastically, and the rivers turn out to be wet streets. As a side note, I like the lengthy time exposure this shot required, and the side effects associated therewith. Rich, it looks like you nailed the composition on this one, and the exposure appears a bit hot, but it doesn't bother me. Nice work! ----- ------- ----- "Sign of the times" - Alan Zinn What a disappointing sight. Of course, this hits all of us differently than it would the average joe. It may have worked better in a moderately-high-contrast black and white, as a stark and poignant statement about time, trend shifts, and the necessity to adapt to them. In the window is reflected the rest of the world, seemingly unchanged by the impending doom of the local camera shop. Composed and exposed well, my only real sticking point is the low resolution of the image. You could probably get away with it had you used grainy TMax 3200, but for some reason JPG grain doesn't have the same gritty effect. As an alternative image, maybe a throng of photographers gathered around in white robes, SLRs hanging from their necks, as they sing and hold candles, 13 white doves fluttering skyward... Oh sure. NOW the coffee kicks in... ----- ------- ----- Alright, everyone... that does it for this segment. I thank all of you who contributed, whether verbally or visually, to this week's Gallery. Wishing you Peace, Great Light, and Good Dreams. Darin Heinz Melbourne, Florida USA
