Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Chris Calohan on February 22, 2013, 11:53:00 pm
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(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8499631994_e060a7d095_o.jpg)
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I find this image disturbing, which may be the intention and I would not hang it in my house!
First, the liquid coating the ground at the top and bottom of the frame seems to be thick and not highly reflective. It looks like blood! Or is it the result of over-sharpening?
Then, there is the shiny black liquid around the rectangular reflection about the centre. This could be water. It seems still but there are some highlights near the left edge of the the rectangular reflection and the rectangular reflection waves a bit which I would not expect if the water surface and the reflected object are both static.
I find the highlights near the left edge of the the rectangular reflection intrusive and I would remove them. I also find the reflection intriguing but ultimately, I cannot discern what it and it seems out of place and unconnected to the rest—it just pops up—and I cannot appreciate it.
If the reflection contains legible text, it might be fun to rotate and flip the image so the text is easily legible. Not sure how or if this would work.
So, that is as far as I can take it without understanding more about what I am looking at!
In any event, I would darken the three corners that are not already dark and the left side to concentrate attention on the interior of the image which contains the most interest.
Roger
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Wasn't meant to be disturbing. I wonder had I titled this "Hold the Pickles, Hold the Lettuce, Special Orders Don't Upset Us," if it would have taken on a less ominous tone. This is a 20 second exposure at F:/32, ISO 100, in a steady drizzling rain on an asphalt roadway which accounts for the "thickness" appearance of the water. The sign you cannot make out is a lighted Burger King logo. To me it was not important to be absolutely clear as to what it was as much as how important it was to break the horizontal plane of the image.
Night shots in the rain are a dime a dozen, and when I went out, it was raining buckets. My original intent was to capture the traffic through the rain in a rather abstract image. So, it rains like this all day and when I get the camera set up, it wanes down to a steady drizzle... I didn't want to make a waste of the night, so I looked about until I found this shot which is different in that the detail on the asphalt held its own against the flow of water and the traffic light provided a nice color array.
As to hanging it in your house or mine, it is not a factor I would use to measure the success of the image, though it does print quite nicely.
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Definitely interesting but I think I'd prefer it w/o the BK reflection - seems incongruent with the rest of the image. YMMV!
Mike.
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Definitely interesting but I think I'd prefer it w/o the BK reflection - seems incongruent with the rest of the image. YMMV!
Mine does. I see what you're getting at but I think it would be a completely different shot without that reflection, more abstract and less interesting. I don't find this "disturbing": a little desolate, perhaps, but very appealing. If I didn't live in a hundred-year-old house, I'd hang it.
Jeremy
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Mine does. I see what you're getting at but I think it would be a completely different shot without that reflection, more abstract and less interesting. I don't find this "disturbing": a little desolate, perhaps, but very appealing. If I didn't live in a hundred-year-old house, I'd hang it.
Jeremy
I guess it's not "disturbing" because Roger thought it was "disturbing." And you'd hang it in your house because, let me guess now, Roger wouldn't hang it in his? Yes indeed Higgins this really is scintillating critique and just in time to save the dilettante from someone saying, "Hey, this is just another picture of a wet parking lot."
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Boy, when you jump off a cliff, you go without looking, wondering where you'll fall or thinking about what's at the bottom...you just jump. I also asked quite politely that you not comment on my work. You seem to want to ignore that request. That Jeremy might hang the work in his house reflects HIS personal taste, Period. How could you possibly make a twist as to his intent based on thisimple statement?
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I also asked quite politely that you not comment on my work.
Well I politely decided to change my mind. Have you got a problem with that, Professor?
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I guess it's not "disturbing" because Roger thought it was "disturbing." And you'd hang it in your house because, let me guess now, Roger wouldn't hang it in his? Yes indeed Higgins this really is scintillating critique and just in time to save the dilettante from someone saying, "Hey, this is just another picture of a wet parking lot."
Who is this "Higgins" you are referring to? I haven't seen any posts from "Higgins." Would you please explain?
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I guess it's not "disturbing" because Roger thought it was "disturbing." And you'd hang it in your house because, let me guess now, Roger wouldn't hang it in his? Yes indeed Higgins this really is scintillating critique and just in time to save the dilettante from someone saying, "Hey, this is just another picture of a wet parking lot."
You are a bore and a boor, RG. We've had 'em here before. I make up my own mind about photographs. The idea that I'd like, or, worse, pretend to like something because someone else disliked it is absurd, as you'd know if you troubled to find out anything about me before writing what is for you a refreshingly short post.
Eric, I can guess only that he sees me as the professor from Pygmalion (or, as he would no doubt think, My Fair Lady), since I commented upon his dreadful grammar in an earlier post. I assume he pictures himself as Eliza.
Jeremy
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I assume he pictures himself as Eliza.
I would like to see a photo of him in the role of Eliza. ;)
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I would like to see a photo of him in the role of Eliza. ;)
Are you really, really sure?
Rob C
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Chris, I like the photo. I like the concept. One of my favorite photographers. Ernst Haas, made a similar (in concept) shot, titled Albuquerque, New Mexico (http://www.ernst-haas.com/colorIntro.html). Yours seems like a detail of his.
I like the texture and I like the colors. I do not mind the reflected sign, but I wish it is not so centrally (on a horizontal axis) placed. Perhaps moving your standpoint would place it in the upper third, to the right, thus creating a diagonal (eye) movement from bottom left.
It occurred to me that there are two possible (gasp!) crops in this image. As a matter of fact, two possible images:
- one would be a square that starts from the bottom of the OP image: pure abstract of colors and reflections
- the other would be another square, starting from the top. That one would feature the sign reflection in its very center, as the main point of interest. Square composition lends itself quite nicely to a central placement.
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I've given those crops consideration, even to the point of making the image a diptych which olds the most appeal for me right now. I will display later.
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As a frequent photographer of pavements myself (I consider this to be "true" Street Photography), I like the photo a lot.
I might have been tempted to title it Burger King, but maybe not.
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As a Diptych: Welcome to Burger King
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8500580685_d73141e8d8_o.jpg)
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How about another one on the left to make a Triptych. If you don't have a different shot from that night, you could copy the right-hand one and flip it right to left .
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Idea. I also have ben playing with a multiple on a vertical format.
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Another idea:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8502348536_95948dd475_o.jpg)
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Another idea:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8096/8502348536_95948dd475_o.jpg)
I like!
Works well - a big improvement.
Tony Jay
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Printers would love you ;)
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Fortunately, I have my own printers, though looking perhaps to go a bit larger. Mpix and the like are so inexpensive, it is hard not to use them.
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Chris,
The new vertical assemblage is right on! No further changes needed. Bravo!
(Except, of course, perhaps the tracks of a Mini that had just passed through the puddle...) ;)
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I must admit, my initial reaction to the image was somewhat tepid. However, it's funny how adding a few dark horizontal breaks can change things. I now find it quite appealing.
Marv