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Photo posted by gary phillips in the Landscape gallery on 03/09/17 at 12:22 am EST
Registered on 10/24/13, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
Post last edited by gary phillips on 03/09/17 at 10:32 pm EST
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Comment posted by Ian Wolfenden on 03/09/17 at 05:46 am EST
Registered on 05/18/07, 1108 Posts, 7647 Comments
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I find this pretty compelling, Gary ( never mind what the wife thinks !! ) Beautifully composed, great tonal range and a lovely contrast between the sharpness of the branches and the soft, blurry reflections.
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Comment posted by Harley Goldman on 03/09/17 at 08:16 am EST
Registered on 11/19/03, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments
This is extremely cool! What a visual mind-ahhhhhhhh, well, you know. I really, really hate to contradict Nancy, but.............
I love it. Great visualization and processing.
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"You were born an original. Don't die a copy."
- John Mason
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Comment posted by Richard Teller on 03/09/17 at 12:56 pm EST
Registered on 08/23/10, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments
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I was unsure about the visual chaos in the image at first. But the circle formed by the limb and the reflection on the right keeps drawing my eye and gives a point of reference. Interesting image. I had one image that my wife said interesting but she would not want it on her wall. It won best landscape in show in a competition. It is now hanging on the wall.
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Richard Teller
Scottsbluff, NE
teller-nature-photography.redframe.com |
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The mountains and the seashore scream at you, but the prairie whispers and you have to stop and listen.
Don't shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like. David Alan Harvey |
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Comment posted by Igor Doncov on 03/09/17 at 3:08 pm EST
Registered on 11/22/14, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments
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Gary, I can see why you like this image. And I can see why your wife doesn't like. IMO it hasn't been fully visualized. With your permission, I hope, I am posting how I visualize this image (from a screen dump). Hopefully the missus will like this more.
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"If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person" - Jay Maisel. |
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Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on 03/09/17 at 4:12 pm EST
Registered on 11/01/03, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
I like this a lot, Gary. There is a certain order in the chaos that works for me. I love the curved trunk and its reflection. The processing looks real nice.
--P
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Preston Birdwell
Columbia, California, USA
NPN 429 | California Nature Photographers (CANP) Moderator | 'NPN Discussion' Moderator
“If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse, well, that comes a little cheaper" Author Unknown |
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Comment posted by Prashant Khapane on 03/09/17 at 5:51 pm EST
Registered on 11/01/03, 492 Posts, 4580 Comments
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This is very cool Gary. Love it as is. Only way to improve is crop the RHS tree branch. My eyes get drawn to that edge.
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Dr.-Ing. Prashant Khapane
www.travel-hopefully.com |
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Comment posted by scott lanz on 03/09/17 at 9:17 pm EST
Registered on 11/14/03, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments
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Very cool, Gary. The twisting, curving trunk is terrific, and gives this image a very artisitic touch. I like this a lot.
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scott lanz
Youngstown, Ohio
www.lanzscape.com |
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Comment posted by gary phillips on 03/09/17 at 10:29 pm EST
Registered on 10/24/13, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
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Igor, that is exactly what my wife had in mind. I cropped, recropped, reprocessed, recropped and returned to my original iteration. I knew that a more balanced and more importantly, less reflection, would be more acceptable to more people. What really attracted me to this image was that, even in camera, I liked the unbalanced composition. Something that I saw and felt at that time felt right to me. One of the coolest things about photography, is that two or three people can photograph the same area, on the same day and come up with their own interpretations of what they saw and felt. Even the same scene, shot at essentially at the same time. Processing alone, of the very same images, will have an individual footprint. I love that we all look at what we do through a very personal lens. That is the beauty of photography and art in general. You always have total permission to critique, criticize, or just generally tell me what you think. That also goes for everyone at NPN. Absolutely, that's what this is about. I love it and my wife loves your visualization.
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Comment posted by Lon Overacker on 03/10/17 at 12:22 am EST
Registered on 11/24/06, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Gary,
You continue to amaze with your vision! I love this! It's just not something one runs across every day... The random chaos of the branches and their reflection are wonderful, but surrounding the little "portal" to the water and reflection beyond makes this work for me. Crop or not.
If it makes you feel any better, my wife wouldn't like this one either.... Her reasoning is poor eyesight (which is true, without glasses/contacts she's like 800/20, legally blind.) which means she doesn't like finely detailed images like this, my grasses images, etc. So as you've hinted, process and crop to what you think works or what your vision is.
Again, while there may be some viable crops, I like this square presentation and the larger reflected limbs being able to extend in to the reflected bottom.
Can't wait for the next one. I can only imagine what's coming next. Wait, no, I can't imagine.
Lon
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To photograph is to hold one's breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It's at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy. -Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Comment posted by Kathy Barnhart on 03/10/17 at 12:34 am EST
Registered on 11/11/11, 404 Posts, 1639 Comments
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Gary, I much prefer your version to Igor's and I can't really explain why. I like where the main "trunk" enters the water in yours. This image is a unique one, and very special. You had a keen eye to see this and make an image that is so compelling.
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Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on 03/10/17 at 12:47 am EST
Registered on 11/24/03, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments
Love this - great lines, reflections, and water swirls.
Even wives are not always right 
Sandy
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Sandy Richards-Brown, NPN #0367
Brookings, Oregon (summer/fall) and Sedona, Arizona (winter/spring)
PNW and RMNP Regional Member
NATURE'S MAJESTY IMAGING
http://naturesmajestyimaging.zenfolio.com/
"All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful: The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings."
- Cecil F. Alexander, Hymns for Little Children, 1848, Ireland |
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Comment posted by Igor Doncov on 03/10/17 at 09:01 am EST
Registered on 11/22/14, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments
A word about wives and this applies to any critiques by non photographers:
i find them enormously helpful. I almost always ask my 20 year old son to look at an image that I'm working on and 95% of the time he's right. I can't explain why I, who has put all this time into photography, don't seem to have much better judgment than someone who hasn't, but it's there.
Im also involved in a Facebook account that posts images where people voice their opinion with 'likes' and I choose a weekly pick each week. Again I'm amazed at how accurately people with little knowledge of photography get it right.
It's actually very encouraging to know how easy it is to reach most people with images.
Whats interesting is that although many easily recognize a good image they can't seem to create one. It's actually quite puzzling.
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"If you want to make more interesting pictures, become a more interesting person" - Jay Maisel. |
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Comment posted by Dave Dillemuth on 03/10/17 at 12:24 pm EST
Registered on 12/10/15, 104 Posts, 1112 Comments
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No doubt a very intriguing and unique image, Gary. The sort of image that you need to pause and ponder. It is a bit busy and I wonder if that is why your wife has objections. I'm wondering if trying some crops to eliminate the left hand side brush could simplify and make more order out of the comp.?
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Dave Dillemuth
Santa Barbara, California
davedillemuthphotography.smugmug.com
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Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on 03/10/17 at 12:56 pm EST
Registered on 09/17/10, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments
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Those twisted trees are a great subject, but the water/reflection makes is enjoyable as an abstract. It is a bit chaotic, though the smooth water helps calm me down. In this case, the choppy portions of the water may add to the more unsettling feel, which are compounded by the branches above water. Thought provoking image, very artistic view.
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Comment posted by Bill Chambers on 03/10/17 at 1:04 pm EST
Registered on 04/10/05, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments
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Gary, I love this image. I actually like your original image best, although Igor's is very nice too. I like the fact the entire tree reflection is visible in yours. Excellent composition and the B&W conversion is perfect. This is good photography!
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Bill Chambers
Gulf Breeze, Florida
Please visit Enchanted Light Photography
"You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” - Ansel Adams |
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Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on 03/12/17 at 03:40 am EST
Registered on 10/26/09, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments
Well that is trippy. Nice find!
aF
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| "You never know how you look through other people's eyes" |
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aFeinberg Gallery
Princeville • Poipu
aFeinPhoto
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