Alleyways of Czech Republic

[cjogo]

Brno --CZ

[Bruce Cox]

I like the billboard and how you process it.  I don't like the brick wall much.

Bruce

[cjogo]

Guess I saw the whole wall  >  showed the size relation of the  billboard fitting  into the alley scene

[WalterEG]

I really like to see the context of 'things' and in this case I would be happy with more wall than less wall.

[Rob C]

I think my instinct goes along with Walter's, but I'd rather have seen the shot in colour first.

Rob C

[32BT]

I really like to see the context of 'things' and in this case I would be happy with more wall than less wall.

+1. If more wall was available, particularly on the top and right, then that would really emphasize the difference between the strong rectangular shapes and the nature-taking-over bits.

I think my instinct goes along with Walter's, but I'd rather have seen the shot in colour first.

Rob C

Works really well in B&W for me personally. Don't particularly feel the need to see the color version. Something in particular you have in mind there Rob?

[Rob C]

+1. If more wall was available, particularly on the top and right, then that would really emphasize the difference between the strong rectangular shapes and the nature-taking-over bits.

Works really well in B&W for me personally. Don't particularly feel the need to see the color version. Something in particular you have in mind there Rob?

Yes; it might well provide a far more exciting image ¡f the colours are right for that. As a b/w there's little way of telling, because the mid-tone of any colour, rendered in b/w, will still look to be much of a mid-tone. So, there could well be great contrasts and juxtapositions present that are lost in translation. Something special must have drawn the snapper's eye, that I don't see here in b/w.

Rob C

[cjogo]

I have been shooting since the early 70's -- Don't think I have shot more than 10% of my art in colour ..especially since the 80's.  Just so many classic images and photographers/galleries connected in our area with B&W.

IMAGE :: There was way too much distraction on the top and left of the sign in the alley .. most my "seeing" takes at least 20 minutes of study.  After walking around to size up the view ~~selecting a lens to encompass my eyes' borders..... Then tripod adjustments  -- Moving the ball head ever so slight --  finessing the borders.  Filter if it calls for it ~ spot meter ~ changing a film back for Zone exposure. .....    

[cjogo]

I thought of the years of Soviet rule ( the one eye starring ) and the multilayers of billboard ads on that wooden stand.... 

[Bruce Cox]

I like the wall as context.  However it seems to me to go beyond context to alternate or competing compositions in both of the broader framed sections at the bottom.  They have more autonomy than the sections of the billboard do.  The billboard, as shone, is well integrated.

Bruce

[RSL]

I love it, and I'm sure Walker Evans would have loved it too. The wall is an important part of the picture. Don't crop. I'm assuming it was a medium-format shot.

[cjogo]

This was  60mm HASSY  >>  the board above and to the right was very busy =with bright light /buildings /etc. > adding anything more ~ would had instantly drawn your eye out of the frame. 

[cjogo]

Yes; it might well provide a far more exciting image ¡f the colours are right for that. As a b/w there's little way of telling, because the mid-tone of any colour, rendered in b/w, will still look to be much of a mid-tone. So, there could well be great contrasts and juxtapositions present that are lost in translation. Something special must have drawn the snapper's eye, that I don't see here in b/w.

Rob C

this is early Czech days --- not really much color anywhere --especially off the beaten path.  This was a pretty much color free poster .. white washed over  > many of year.   Wish I could figure out what the article is in the bottom left of the billboard ?? looks like egg carton -dual pack ??  

[stamper]

I like the billboard and how you process it.  I don't like the brick wall much.

Bruce

In my camera club days someone put up an image of a bird of prey for critique. The bird was at rest perched on a tree branch. The judge didn't like the intrusion of the branch. It was obvious to most if the bird was at rest then it had to be seen resting on something? Same as the bill board, There has to be some context. After all the subject header is ...Alleyways of Czech Republic.... The brick wall wasn't the focal point but part of the scene albeit the background. Without a background you can't have a foreground?

[Rob C]

In my camera club days someone put up an image of a bird of prey for critique. The bird was at rest perched on a tree branch. The judge didn't like the intrusion of the branch. It was obvious to most if the bird was at rest then it had to be seen resting on something? Same as the bill board, There has to be some context. After all the subject header is ...Alleyways of Czech Republic.... The brick wall wasn't the focal point but part of the scene albeit the background. Without a background you can't have a foreground?

That's why camera clubs and competitions etc. lose their credibility. It's like many other group activities, including resident associations and politics: those who eagerly stand for office are usually the ones who, by definition, should be excluded from standing because their needs are flawed with respect to the responsibility.

Rob C

[stamper]

Rob, in six years in a club I found the judges to be good experienced photographers who mostly knew what they were talking about. The Achilles heel was they had to judge images against each other and talk down some to get a winner. Most started off by saying their comments were their own opinions and shouldn't be taken too seriously because an image that had done poorly might do better in another competition. I suspect most members viewing critiques on the forum are like the judges in a club. Like judges they can upset some contributors and have off days. I wouldn't be too hard on them because I didn't learn to be a competent photographer listening to them but I learned the pitfalls to avoid.

[Rob C]

Rob, in six years in a club I found the judges to be good experienced photographers who mostly knew what they were talking about. The Achilles heel was they had to judge images against each other and talk down some to get a winner. Most started off by saying their comments were their own opinions and shouldn't be taken too seriously because an image that had done poorly might do better in another competition. I suspect most members viewing critiques on the forum are like the judges in a club. Like judges they can upset some contributors and have off days. I wouldn't be too hard on them because I didn't learn to be a competent photographer listening to them but I learned the pitfalls to avoid.

You're more fortunate than I was: in the brief period that I was with a club (the only available darkroom, before I coverted the parental loft with a plastic baby bath, some flour paste with which to stick pages of old Am. Photogs. onto lots of old cardboard boxes opened out for walls)  I entered a competition with a still life of a wine bottle, a mandolin and something else I've forgotten. Very rural Italian I thought it, and shot with an aunt's Rolleicord. The judge said it was 'too commercial'. Oy vay! I was a poor mech. eng. apprentice at the time!

Signs of things to come?

;-)

Rob C

[Rob C]

cjogo,

Nice site you have; what you also have in abundance is identity.

Rob C

P.S. Do you know this guy? I think he's terrific:

http://www.waclawwantuch.com

[Bruce Cox]

In my camera club days someone put up an image of a bird of prey for critique. The bird was at rest perched on a tree branch. The judge didn't like the intrusion of the branch. It was obvious to most if the bird was at rest then it had to be seen resting on something? Same as the bill board, There has to be some context. After all the subject header is ...Alleyways of Czech Republic.... The brick wall wasn't the focal point but part of the scene albeit the background. Without a background you can't have a foreground?

Maybe it wasn't the right branch for that bird.         You can't have foreground without background, but you can have plastic-space.         I respect cjogo's photography.  He can get better critique by talking to himself than to me.  I am a fool for beauty and my attraction for the billboard overthrows my concern for the alleyways of the Czech Republic.         If he had only been carrying a ladder!

Bruce

[cjogo]

       If he had only been carrying a ladder!

Bruce

My tripod does go above 6ft ....