And here's the next eight...
" Descending plane " by Jostein Øksne, Norway
Nice shot! The trail of lights was a great idea, and you carried it off
well. Did you bracket exposures? I like the way that the trail moves
across the frame, so that's either careful cropping or good planning! Or
a bit of both. :) I might have tried to tone the moon down a bit so it
doesn't overpower the other lights. As for the slurping sound, I
dunno. Couldn't have been Bill's Bow-wow Tak, so I'm guessing it was your
friend eating your ice cream while you were watching the sky. :)
" John Renbourne " by Dave O'Brien
I can't fault your cropping on this one; good job. I like the sepia tone,
and I like the soft lighting and resulting shadows on the guitar. The
exposure seems optimized for the midtones, like the guitar and the stool
seat, but not for the skin tones. You might want to try burning in the
face a bit, especially the forehead. As with a lot of scans, the
background has some dust and stuff in it which can be removed easily on
the computer with the cloning tool. You're getting some pretty nice grain
for an ISO 1600 print that's heavily cropped.
" Oh Rose! " by Mark Cassino
Ah, digital editing... I was wondering how you found such an impossibly
monotone scene while shooting Superia. :) The statue works surprisingly
well as a profile. My first inclination would have been to get a more
three-quarters view of it, but I like the way that this turned out. If
you're looking for a more dramatic effect, you could always wait until
there are a few more shadows, but I think you've done a good job showing
the texture of the statue even under such drab lighting. :)
" Droplets.... " by Arnold Stark
It's a nice idea, and you're off to a good start, but I think that the
image is a bit too crowded in its current form. I don't mind the leaf and
the evergreen needles on the left, though the upper left corner could be a
bit darker, but the droplets seem to run into each other and into the
green background. Actually, I think that whole green background in the
center of the image detracts from the droplets. What if you went at it
from a different angle, say, moving your camera down and to the left to
shoot up and to the right more. Or just putting some black felt behind
the web; that would work, too. That being said, I really like the way you
show the reflections off some of the drops, and the right of the photo,
where the drops seem suspended in the air, is well done. Oh, and
Kodachrome 200 is going to bite the dust some time this summer, so stock
up now. :)
" Point Lonsdale Beach " by Bill Gekas, Australia
I like this shot. The warming filter gives it an almost sepia tone, which
brings out the colour of the sand well. Makes the water look a little
weird, though. :) I like the dichotomy between the powerful waves at the
bottom of the image and the more expansive beach at the top. Looking at
this photo, I think that the top part of the image, when cropped
horizontally, might have made an interesting shot, too. Is it just me, or
does it seem a little more pleasing when you crop out the bottom quarter
of the photo, up to the point where the waves separate from the left side
of the frame? Hmmmm..... I think this might improve the flow a bit, so
we're not getting bogged down in the lower left for too long. And I like
the longer shutter speed. Next time, try an even longer one! :) It's a
nice effect, and congrats for thinking of it and executing it so well.
" Metal on grass " by Andras Gordon
A good shot, on the whole. I would have gone for a tighter crop on the
left to put more attention on the metal instead of the line of grass, but
it doesn't look bad with the grass framing the bottom and left,
either. The grass is a little contrasty, so I might have tried to tone it
down a bit, but I like the car just the way it is. Was this taken late in
the day? I wonder how it would look at sunset with long shadows, or on an
overcast day with muted, pastel colours. You certainly made an
interesting and colourful shot out of a heap o' junk that most people
would have ignored. Way to go!
" Cameo " by William Johnson, USA
I like this one. Good cropping, pleasing grain, and a nice pose to work
with. The overall look is a little flatter tonally than I usually like
for shots such as this, but if you're trying for a monotone cameo then
it's not a bad rendition. And when I select it on my browser I get such a
nice purpley tone! <g>
" Climb It! " by Jason Kiew
You know, this shot *does* make me want to climb it. :) The angle is
excellent, as was your decision to crop out the sky. I personally would
have gone with a smaller aperture to try to squeeze out as much DOF as I
could, at least in the foreground. And if you're trying for a symmetrical
look, you could work on positioning the handrails more equally. As it is,
the right one doesn't quite reach to the bottom of the frame and seems a
little tilted. Or maybe it's the stairs that are tilted. The shadows,
however, are intriguing and well-documented. Great job! I like the
shadows on the left railing and along the bottom of the right railing,
too. That telephone pole on the left isn't doing very much for me, and I
wonder if that could be removed by using a slightly lower camera
position. I'm very impressed with the shadows. For a photo taken in
bright sunlight, you did quite well. There's really no glare or hot spots
in the shot, other than the house, which looks good the way you have
it. Congrats!
chris
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