Hi all,
Once again, another fine monthly gallery. I enjoyed them all too much to
pick out five -- or even ten -- favorites. Comments on several of the ones
I liked are listed below.
As always, I'd appreciate any comments or criticisms on my submission this
month, especially since this month's submission is my first attempt at
scanning directly from a negative (35mm at 1200 dpi) on my newly acquired
flatbed scanner.
Bill Peifer
Rochester, NY
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"Pine Nuts", by Thomas Cakalic
Nice shot, Tom. This caught my eye immediately, because it's very similar
(in subject matter) to some macro shots I took a couple weeks ago during a
very light rain. I still have a couple more shots on the roll, so I'll have
to wait to see if mine turn out as nice as this one. Very nice colors, and
nice bokeh. Reminds me of Christmas.
"Lobelia", by David Dixon
This seems like a technically challenging shot, since any slight movement
between exposures would cause the most sharply focused flower to show up in
the final print as up to four out-of-register images. That doesn't seem to
be the case here, so I think you've pulled this off quite nicely. Very
interesting effect -- I like it.
"Lynn Headwaters, October 1999", by Cameron Hood
Beautiful saturated colors, nice composition, and nice rendering of flowing
water. This shot certainly stands on its own. But the dramatic story that
accompanies this shot really leaves me wanting to see some "during" and
"after" shots of the storm that caught you by surprise. Indeed, a very
powerful reminder of the importance of being prepared during autumn hikes in
the mountains.
"VLA at Sunset", by John Cohen
The silhoutte lighting and ominous sky work very well in this shot. I'm
used to seeing pictures of several of these radio dishes, usually shot from
a great distance in much more ordinary light. Your shot captures -- at
least for me -- more of a sense of drama and urgency. Would make a nice
opening slide for a public outreach talk on why radio astronomy is so cool,
what we learn from studying celestial radio sources, and so forth.
"Photography in Paradise", by Joseph Tainter
Aptly titled! Great lighting on this shot. For me, this shot doesn't jump
out and evoke a typical image of the Southwest -- it's different, and I
think that's part of the appeal. Looks like it could just as well be the
crumbling ruins of some Old World archeological site.
"Inquisitive", by Bill Sawyer
Another great title! There were several nice wildlife shots this month, and
it's hard to pick a favorite. A couple of the things I like about this shot
are the simple composition and the great facial expression. I think the
detail of the front paws resting near what appears to be some sort of ground
up grain or nuts adds a lot of appeal to this shot.
"Group Hug", by Amber Dayton
Not your typical wildlife pose -- I love it! The contrast of the black and
white stripes is nice. I'd be tempted to crop this shot to make it zebra
hindquarters from top to bottom and left to right, just to see what that
would look like, "butt" that's just my personal opinion.
"The Wreck", by Leon Altoff
It looks like your metering was dead-on for this shot. The rusted metal
parts are rendered nicely within the dynamic range. The way the highlights
of water and sky are so completely blown out gives this shot an almost
surreal feeling, I think. Nice job!
"Driving to the Line", by Jon Hope
Great action shot. You commented that you wanted a faster shutter speed,
but I think the one you employed really conveys a sense of motion and
captures the energy of these beasts.
"Sparky's First Day at the Farm", by David Brooks
This is great timing on what must have been a very brief moment. The
comments you provided really help tell the story. I'll bet Sparky has been
much more careful ever since. I like the exposed teeth on the horse. I
think the darkened area in the top 30% of the image could be cropped without
losing any of the impact of this shot. I'm wondering if you played with
this at all.
"Sam Is Not Happy", by Mark McCurdy
Precious shot, and very well-composed. I'm sure you and your wife will
treasure this one for many years to come. Sam looks like he's doing quite
well for his first time in a chair. If you think he's not happy here, just
wait until he starts teething! :-)
"DH/Charlottesville/May 2001", by John Mason
I think this might be a bass player at an outdoor civic festival of some
sort. Not sure if the background is the facade of a building, or the
perhaps the arch of a bridge. The tonal range is nice -- black shirt and
hat, dark musical instrument, light gray jacket, white tie. Perhaps you can
give us some comments about the situation surrounding this photo?
"Metro, Paris, 2001", by Juan Buhler
I think there is a powerful message here, but the shot would benefit from
some commentary by the photographer. The static pose of the man in the
foreground contrasts well with the movement of the train. For me, this
conveys a sense of utter despair and hopelessness. I wonder what this man
was reading. The broken cigarette in the lower right corner is an
interesting compositional element -- really contrasts with the otherwise
near-sterile environment of the train station. I find the presence of the
two men in the background a bit distracting, and I think an even more
powerful message could be delivered by removing these two men with a bit of
digital manipulation.
-
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