Here are my VERY SUBJECTIVE comments on the work displayed by the PhotoForum members who exhibited on APR 26 2008 at http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery.html.
Trevor Cunningham - stones of Belitung
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/cunningham.html
In a word: DRAMATIC! I love the way the sky opens up with white seemingly to reveal the tress below; the way the trees, alive, struggling against all odds, seemingly growing out of bare rock; the way the seemingly huge rocks coming up from below to add stability to the world.
Philosophically, this is such an excellent metaphor for life.
Photographically, it is also excellent. Sure, it would be great if you could have arranged for a couple of arc lights to illuminated the trees a bit more (or perhaps even a Photoshop “arc light”), but so what? The descending line of rocks revealing more trees is excellent. The position of the light shining through the clouds is excellent. I thought that perhaps cutting about 15-20% off the right side might give the circle of light a better position (rule of thirds, you know), but it just takes away the power of the heavens when that happens. The white circle, The Eye of Heaven, just needs to be centered.
The color of the sky seems to enhance the beauty and power presented by the rocks below, with the green trees in the center giving just enough color to the scene create beauty and, to me at least, the feeling of hope.
I really like this photograph.
Marilyn Dalrymple –
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/dalrymple.html
What a beautiful scene with a sea of red accented by a bottom border of green. I just wish the scene was in a bit better focus. There is so little sense that the sea of red is really a sea of poppies, as is explained in the fascinating note below the photo.
I tend to become distracted with what appears to be a non-horizontal horizon line (the left side appears to be lower than the right), which for me increases tension in a photo and reduces the serenity.
Bob McCulloch –
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/mcculloch.html
What a great photo! There is emphasis on the center rock by forcing the background to be out of focus. There is contrast between the center rock and the support rock by color, by direction of line, by size, and by weight. There is no doubt what the subject of the photo is supposed to be.
And then there is the mystery. Was this scene, this beauty, created by nature or by the Hand of Man?
This photo fits together well for me.
Rob Miracle – Azalea
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/miracle.html
Nature produces some of the most wonderful and beautiful creations on earth. The water droplets (another nature element) add so much to the beauty of nature. The background shifting from almost pure black on the left to green on the right is sets off the red/pink of the Azalea blossom from the rest of the photo so perfectly. The out of focus (to varying degrees) stems and leaves add to the feeling that this is nature captured raw rather than arranged by man.
The way the stems leave the photo, both by the amount of focus and the placement, do not lead the eye away from the blossom. Artistically, this is very well done. However the minimal amount of black below the lowest petal of the Azalea almost pulls the eye away. Contrast that with the amount of black at the top of the photo above the highest petal, and the pull is not nearly as strong.
For me, this photograph is a winner.
Emily L. Ferguson - Bushy friend at supper
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/ferguson.html
This is a FUN photo and would make a great forum Avatar. Red shirt, green suspenders (Christmas colors), bushy white beard: Jamie should be talking to young children sitting on his knee at Christmas time.
Howard Leigh - Paris - Dawn panorama
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/leigh.html
This is the first of THREE Parisian photographs included in the Forum this week. Is that a record?
The compilation of three photographs combine into a scene that I suspect gives more impact than any one of the photographs if viewed singly. With the combination, the green of the grass and the distinctness of the trees can be contrasted with the gray dawn sky and gray city.
I like the fact that the streetlights are still on, and perhaps even a few city lights on in windows. The lights punctuate the grayness with a hint and a hope of color to come.
A lot of effort went into this creation, and it seems as if the effort was worth it.
Christopher Strevens – Tackle
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/strevens.html
There may be a slight haze here, with slightly muted shadows, but by gosh there is COLOR!!! There is playful, uplifting color throughout the photograph. The busyness of the rigging, which could cause of feeling of “frantic” is offset by the mass of the masts and sails. The total effect is not quite a feeling of calm, but it approaches the feeling. The reds the bottom of the image help in keeping the eye from becoming lost in the rigging.
Well done!
Guy Glorieux - Night at the Eiffel Tower
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/glorieux.html
Paris #2. This is good. The use of the base of the Eiffel Tower as a frame on both sides is good. The fact that you can’t seen the complete arc at the top is very good. This allows the mind to complete the arc, which it seems to do with no real effort, but the lack of the golden arch at the top allows the sky to dominate the top of the photo. This in turn provides an excellent contrast to the perfectly placed moon.
The slow shutter speed gives movement to the people and contrasts the feeling of solidity of the Tower base. The streetlights and the trees and the buildings in the background emphasize the other picture elements very well.
I really like this. It is an excellent photo.
Jerry McCown - Seine and Notre Dame
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/mccown.html
Another Parisian night photo! And this is another very well done photo. As in Guy’s photo, the use of converging lines, this time slightly offset, give the eye an entrance into the photograph. The colors created by the artificial light are calming and beautiful. The color of the sky illuminated by the city below serves as a complementary addition to the incandescent scene below.
The photograph is so very well exposed with only the small, very white sign in almost the exact center of the photo. Ordinarily this kind of thing would pull the eye to the wrong place, but because of its center location it merely punctuates the leading lines rather than to clash with them.
The sail in the lower right corner is a bit too bright and is mildly distracting, but not detracting.
It is the Notre Dame itself, however, which sets this photo apart from a simple night scene on the Seine. The lit vertical columns of the cathedral in the upper right of the image almost perfectly balance the many street and building lights on the lower left.
This is a photograph to be extremely proud of.
Laurenz Bobke - Great Wall
http://people.rit.edu/andpph/gallery/bobke.html
Another photo brought out of the ordinary by the use of balancing elements. The deep shadow in the lower right contrast so well with the lightness of the mountains in the upper right. But it is the lit red bush in the lower right that sets off the harshness of the shadows and creates a third balancing agent in the photo and an anchor for the eye to see the beauty of the photo.
It would have been neat to see the shadows lightened just a bit to discern more detail in the shadow areas, but this may have destroyed, or at least diminished the power of the light/dark contrasts.
Finally, the detail of the watchtower would not illustrate the size of the Great Wall would it not be for the actual wall being shown on the left. Conversely, the size of the wall would have little meaning were it not for massiveness of the watchtower on the right. This is another contrasting balance element that elevates the power of the photo.
There were so many excellent photographs this week, that I don’t have a favorite!
Thanks so much to the contributors for their efforts. I enjoyed all the submissions.
peace,
rand
