• Members 676 posts
    May 4, 2023, 3:52 p.m.

    Linda, Thank you for looking and commenting.

    The "fuzzy material" are lengths of wire spikes installed on the lamp post arms to prevent birds from perching there (and pooping on people below). If you zoom in to the maximum magnification (on my original post) the site allows, you'll see the wires clearly on several lamp posts. They need repair!

    Abstracts is found at Categories> Descriptive Photography> Abstract, Minimalism and Creative Expression

  • Members 1464 posts
    May 4, 2023, 8:09 p.m.

    I could not resist editing this one a bit since I was pretty sure there was detail hiding in the bright sky and in the darkest clump of trees nearest the viewer. A simple shadow raising/highlight lowering gave it a crisp early spring look that might have visible when you made the shot. The treeline boundaries suggest this might have been rolling fields at one time, but maybe pastureland now? It's an interesting scene, and your placement on the hill looking down into the overlapping sections is likely the only choice that would have given you full visual access.
    r4230057x.jpg

    r4230057x.jpg

    JPG, 3.7 MB, uploaded by minniev on May 4, 2023.

  • Members 1464 posts
    May 4, 2023, 8:49 p.m.

    Yes! Someone finally broke the portrait barrier! (For whatever reason, we seldom see portraits in critique sections.) This one is lovely, with perfect and gentle warm lighting coming in from slightly below the subject. Creating such lighting is a skill set I admire. It is a form of photography-related magic.
    The angle is pleasing and the eyes and smile are engaging. The young musician is quite beautiful in a natural way, without the heavy makeup and weird expressions we see in model photography.There is just enough of her instrument for us to understand the nature of the photo but not so much as to take away from the portraiture. Fine image.

  • Members 1737 posts
    May 4, 2023, 9:11 p.m.

    Thank you. The outtakes, and one more portrait:

    _2X24267.jpg

    _2X24257.jpg

    _2X24249.jpg

    A0004251.jpg

    A0004251.jpg

    JPG, 180.1 KB, uploaded by JimKasson on May 4, 2023.

    _2X24249.jpg

    JPG, 200.3 KB, uploaded by JimKasson on May 4, 2023.

    _2X24257.jpg

    JPG, 193.8 KB, uploaded by JimKasson on May 4, 2023.

    _2X24267.jpg

    JPG, 230.8 KB, uploaded by JimKasson on May 4, 2023.

  • Members 676 posts
    May 4, 2023, 9:43 p.m.

    Jim,

    Keep this up and some people here are going to get the impression you're pretty good at this photography thing.

    😉

    Rich

  • Members 1175 posts
    May 4, 2023, 11:42 p.m.

    Simplicity wins every time. Love it.

  • Members 1175 posts
    May 4, 2023, 11:44 p.m.

    Agree totally in all aspects. Well done. Tx

  • Members 1175 posts
    May 4, 2023, 11:47 p.m.

    Great interpretation. Tx

  • Members 1175 posts
    May 4, 2023, 11:51 p.m.

    I still like this take most, no doubt.

  • Members 676 posts
    May 5, 2023, 12:10 a.m.

    Thanks, Chris!

    Rich

  • Members 1662 posts
    May 5, 2023, 12:21 a.m.

    live.staticflickr.com/65535/52869764579_85b4c00017_b.jpg
    Signals in a foreign language
    by simple.joy, on Flickr

    There's not too much to explain I guess... I usually have a hard time with B&W, but this one felt okay. It was shot with a tiny Agfa "M3421 6-2" lens. Likely a prototype for some lens which was never produced in any significant numbers. No markings for focal length or aperture. It's a triplet though.

  • Members 1662 posts
    May 5, 2023, 12:27 a.m.

    I love this one! As @ChrisOly has pointed out, the layers make it special. Seems to capture a city with lots of history and different influences - excellent work.

  • Members 861 posts
    May 5, 2023, 1:04 a.m.

    Got more information on this as I'm not fully grasping what you're explaining, and I don't think my "so like a where's Waldo picture" is exactly what it means.

    I was honestly very surprised by how this photo did well in the "let's see how many random views this will get" game. I like a thimble of this image and see so many ways it should/could have been better. I thought it really needed a subject, but what you say about opening a scene to explore kinda makes sense, but it would be completely accidental on my end to have done that.

  • Members 676 posts
    May 5, 2023, 1:24 a.m.

    I like this a lot. Good photography often shows us things in ways we never previously appreciated. I never realized vibrating strings looked quite like this. Or is that just the OOF effect of the lens beyond the point of focus? The monochrome treatment is perfect.

    Great texture in the strings, the fret and the fret board.

    Looks like an F#min7 chord to me. 🙄

    Rich

  • Members 1464 posts
    May 5, 2023, 1:43 a.m.

    This is a nice one. Of the images you've shared here, I find this one the most accessible. There is a way to get into the image, a doorway so to speak, that the visitor can enter through (the darker area with the cyan spots of water or sky or whatever it may be). Once inside, the visitor can explore the surrounds and enjoy the trees, the bright foliage in contrast to the dark limbs, the light. I don't know if this is a creative capture with an exotic lens or a composite created on computer or both. It works regardless. The warmth of it has an inviting appeal, and the turquoise speckles sit there and perform their duty as complementary colors.

  • Members 26 posts
    May 5, 2023, 1:54 a.m.

    Very nice photo!! I love all the lines and shapes!!

    I've been wondering if I would prefer this as a B&W to emphasize those shapes and lines but since the colors are mostly light I think that instead of enhancing them it would hide them in grays and make the image feel flat. I also scrolled the photo to see if I preferred eliminating the sky to bring more impact to how crowded the scene is but it felt too claustrophobic so I think it was a really good choice to include that patch of sky to give it a little breathing room.

  • Members 26 posts
    May 5, 2023, 2:04 a.m.

    I love B&W!! I'm drawn to this photo because, firstly, it is B&W but the main reason is because I haven't a clue what it is. My first thought was guitar strings that had been plucked or strummed and are vibrating.

    Please let me know; I'm quite curious and would like to put it into context.