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On the kitchen table!

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Here I caught two apples put aside for the two kids before the rest of the food was put away.

I moved them to the edge and took a snap with the A7R and the one Zeiss 55mm lens I have that has a native FE mount. I love this lens.


_DSC2428.jpg


Asher Kelman: Apples on the edge


Critique is welcome! :)


So what caught your eye in the kitchen that you had to capture ASAP?


Asher
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Chris Calohan

Well-known member
I find the rest of the kitchen quite disjointing from the two apples; they are lost in the confusion, though admittedly, I want to move past the other and into the apples and their reflected states......just not sure how to get there.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I find the rest of the kitchen quite disjointing from the two apples; they are lost in the confusion, though admittedly, I want to move past the other and into the apples and their reflected states......just not sure how to get there.



Isn't that a fact! That's exactly what I felt and why I took the picture! Well Chris, at last, I'm not alone!

Asher
 
kitchen work

Asher,


Your apples are very engaging; wonderful composition, like the way the black and white stripes on the left create a block that seems to offer visual protection of the fruit in their airy space. Very pleasant image.

I was surprised to see your theme as I had taken one last week when I was about to eat supper.




WP_20140904_17_05_54_Pro.jpg


Bill McCarthy: Summer Supper



Rather straightforward for me, but a great Summer Supper.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Asher,


Your apples are very engaging; wonderful composition, like the way the black and white stripes on the left create a block that seems to offer visual protection of the fruit in their airy space. Very pleasant image.

I was surprised to see your theme as I had taken one last week when I was about to eat supper.



WP_20140904_17_05_54_Pro.jpg


Bill McCarthy: Summer Supper


Great color, but the special addition is the appearance of the birds, feeding! This is humble but excellent because of that. There's no pretentiousness.


Asher
 

Jean Henderson

New member
I don't know, Asher. You did say it was a snap, but both the black and white stripes and the black spots on the what I think is a door are in way too strong a competition with the rectangle surrounding the apples. "On the Edge" still would work for me even if you cropped it to just that large rectangle. I mean, I even tried to see the snapshot as sort of a picture within a picture, but those black and white areas, even though out of focus, just have too much distracting visual weight for my eyes.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I don't know, Asher. You did say it was a snap, but both the black and white stripes and the black spots on the what I think is a door are in way too strong a competition with the rectangle surrounding the apples. "On the Edge" still would work for me even if you cropped it to just that large rectangle. I mean, I even tried to see the snapshot as sort of a picture within a picture, but those black and white areas, even though out of focus, just have too much distracting visual weight for my eyes.


Jean,

Don't worry! The distraction is purposeful! You are not meant to like it, rather deal with it as something to quench. Yes, it was not made pretty. It's not that sort of picture. I'm trying to stretch a bit my boundaries.

That's how things are, in real life, we have competing interests.

Asher
 
Asher, I like the abstract quality of your image, but there are certain things that detract from it to my eyes. Not sure what exactly though... a slight imbalance, perhaps between the small dark region top-right and the out-of-focus chair.

I feel that the shapes and tones in your image would have lended themselves to a composition that is eluding my imagination right now... but which might have made it more effective as an abstract.

So what caught your eye in the kitchen that you had to capture ASAP?

Asher

I shared this in another thread at the time, but - since this is such a specific and obscure topic, wanted to post it here again. Saw this scene in my kitchen, and had to capture it :)

Concave/Convex
concave_convex_by_philosomatographer-d5wmjnd.jpg

(Ilford HP5+ 4x5in, Schneider Super-Angulon 90mm f/8, Linhof Technika V)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Yes, Dawid,

I am a little testy with my pictures. I try to push boundaries sometimes, LOL! I am also happy to see the sink abstract again. Glad to get another dose of it!

Now here's another contribution: I was fascinated by the repeat pattern of the shadows and this made me think of onion slices, with the concentric repeats.


_0059611.jpg


Asher Kelman: Ready to Slice Attack Red Onion


..and this was strange. I love red onion but am really allergic to oxidized, hours-old onion exposed to the air. Well my muse for the day, Antonia, packed up the slice and it ended up in my lunch salad and I couldn't figure out why I hated red onion all of a sudden. The lesson is that no trace of an encounter should be left. Next time I do photography with food, it's going to the garbage bin!

Asher
 
I been contemplating this one (the apples on the edge of the table) and have not yet commented because I wasn't sure if I actually liked it or not.

Obviously, there are many distractions which I didn't care for, like the bag, the door, etc., but what I did really did like was it was like I saw through your eyes what you saw that made you think, I need to get my camera.

So, for me, to make it work, this should be a diptych. The first is your image, the flash of inspiration and the second would be the actual image without the distractions. I actually think a whole series like that would be very interesting. How you saw something that inspired you and then what you pulled out of the scene. Interesting for sure.

Maggie
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I been contemplating this one (the apples on the edge of the table) and have not yet commented because I wasn't sure if I actually liked it or not.

Obviously, there are many distractions which I didn't care for, like the bag, the door, etc., but what I did really did like was it was like I saw through your eyes what you saw that made you think, I need to get my camera.

So, for me, to make it work, this should be a diptych. The first is your image, the flash of inspiration and the second would be the actual image without the distractions. I actually think a whole series like that would be very interesting. How you saw something that inspired you and then what you pulled out of the scene. Interesting for sure.

Maggie

Wow!

Thanks Maggie for returning again just to solve the puzzle and confusion about "liking" the picture.

Yes, you describe things exactly as it happened and then I retook the apples alone, as you rightly guessed but just waited to see what evolved here. :)

I've dug it up for you!

but first, splitting the entire field and some abstraction work on the left._


_DSC2428.jpg


Asher Kelman: Apples on the edge






_DSC2428_1crop_800_1_lines_II.jpg


Asher Kelman: Apples on the edge
Diptych






_DSC2446_crop_800.jpg


Asher Kelman: Apple on the Edge


Asher
 

Chris Heilman

New member
I like your original picture a lot Asher. The diptych is interesting, but seems to be ... forced? the picture as a whole is better. I like it because its questions outnumber its answers.

If I were showing this picture I would have cropped the left side, so that darker area, and the back of the bag didn't show, and a tiny bit off the top so the black rectangle in the top right corner is gone. On the other hand, these might be essential to the questions I see in the picture.

I shoot in my kitchen often. I'll post something shortly.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I like your original picture a lot Asher. The diptych is interesting, but seems to be ... forced? the picture as a whole is better. I like it because its questions outnumber its answers.

If I were showing this picture I would have cropped the left side, so that darker area, and the back of the bag didn't show, and a tiny bit off the top so the black rectangle in the top right corner is gone. On the other hand, these might be essential to the questions I see in the picture.

I shoot in my kitchen often. I'll post something shortly.


Chris,

The process of asking what should be in a scene is intersting in itself. So I'm happy for the challenge and to learn how others view this journey too.

Asher
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Knowing full well the likes of Asher, I'm waiting for a Jessica Lange look alike draped across the laminate with Jack Nicholson approaching with the mail.
Alas, all I get is apples and onions.
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Here I caught two apples put aside for the two kids before the rest of the food was put away.

I moved them to the edge and took a snap with the A7R and the one Zeiss 55mm lens I have that has a native FE mount. I love this lens.


_DSC2428.jpg


Asher Kelman: Apples on the edge


Critique is welcome! :)


So what caught your eye in the kitchen that you had to capture ASAP?


Asher

Dear Asher
This is one of the best image/composition I've seen on your work… Always a good idea to push the boundaries ! ; )

As critique is welcome, I post hereunder your image with some small corrections, which imHo preserve your initial intention but should, still imHo, the distracting parts.
Except the door knobs and the black stipe on the upper right, I kept all from your capture.
The main contribution is on the left part, I leveled (vertical) the wall in bg and denoised it.
I change the direction of the B&W bag stripe so now they drive the eye to… the subject.
And last, I sharpened a bit the apples to make them more present…

I hope you'll like that but I can understand that you or some other have different opinions…

_DSC2428_NC.jpg
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Dear Asher
This is one of the best image/composition I've seen on your work… Always a good idea to push the boundaries ! ; )

As critique is welcome, I post hereunder your image with some small corrections, which imHo preserve your initial intention but should, still imHo, the distracting parts.
Except the door knobs and the black stipe on the upper right, I kept all from your capture.
The main contribution is on the left part, I leveled (vertical) the wall in bg and denoised it.
I change the direction of the B&W bag stripe so now they drive the eye to… the subject.
And last, I sharpened a bit the apples to make them more present…

I hope you'll like that but I can understand that you or some other have different opinions…

_DSC2428_NC.jpg

Can we do that, Asher? Muck around with your pictures? I've never been game. But now that it's open slather, I'd prefer pears. And is that one of my prints reflected in the table top? If it's not I have the perfect one for your kitchen. I like your choice of colors in the kitchen as well. Very 'Stetford Wives' sort of decor. A bit like mine, really, without Nicole Kidman.
Speaking of kitchens, I smell something burning. My neighbour went fishing today and gave me some mackerel to cook for dinner. I'll sent a photo, on the kitchen bench, of course.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Can we do that, Asher? Muck around with your pictures? I've never been game. But now that it's open slather, I'd prefer pears. And is that one of my prints reflected in the table top? If it's not I have the perfect one for your kitchen. I like your choice of colors in the kitchen as well. Very 'Stetford Wives' sort of decor. A bit like mine, really, without Nicole Kidman.
Speaking of kitchens, I smell something burning. My neighbour went fishing today and gave me some mackerel to cook for dinner. I'll sent a photo, on the kitchen bench, of course.


Tom,

I'm glad you visited. Editing my work? Nicolas, is a very esteemed colleague of mine and we've visited him in France and are close. I have the respect for his approaches to the photograph. So he earned license to do what he wishes, as a friend. Still, I'd not deem to fiddle with his pictures. Others need to ask, LOL!

No women as of yet on the kitchen table. The dining room table is another matter.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Knowing full well the likes of Asher, I'm waiting for a Jessica Lange look alike draped across the laminate with Jack Nicholson approaching with the mail.
Alas, all I get is apples and onions.

Tom,

There are no laminates in my kitchen. Everything is real. So look alikes too would feel out of place.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Dear Asher
This is one of the best image/composition I've seen on your work… Always a good idea to push the boundaries ! ; )

As critique is welcome, I post hereunder your image with some small corrections, which imHo preserve your initial intention but should, still imHo, the distracting parts.
Except the door knobs and the black stipe on the upper right, I kept all from your capture.
The main contribution is on the left part, I leveled (vertical) the wall in bg and denoised it.
I change the direction of the B&W bag stripe so now they drive the eye to… the subject.
And last, I sharpened a bit the apples to make them more present…

I hope you'll like that but I can understand that you or some other have different opinions…

_DSC2428_NC.jpg


Yes, Nicolas, these work, except I'd not sharpen the apples. There's a struggle there that I wanted to maintain.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I don't know about the door knobs being taken off. Nicolas' image is indeed cleaner, but removes much of the context.

Maggie,

I wondered about removing the door knobs but wanted the "presence" of the door, as it leads to questions about our activity and intents at that particular time.

As one progressively succeeds in improving the esthetic value of the composition, (from a strictly graphic point of view), one can lose the "essence" that asks questions of human behavior. It's that "presence" that one risks losing when one progressively does everything technically possible to clean up an obviously untidy shot.

Leonard Cohen is so right about "keeping the cracks" since that's, as he points out, is how, "The light gets in", as your by line constantly should remind us!

Still, the audacity and temerity to suggest edits, is welcome when they are done with such constructive intent. That we can do it here says something in my confidence in myself and my trust in everyone else. I do not worry that some buyer would not put down good money to acquire my work from a gallery just because it was dissected in a respectful forum such as OPF.

....and if they did, then I wouldn't want them to have my work anyway! :)

This allowance for my own work by Nicolas, is not a general license for folk to to re-edit anyone else's work, LOL! One has to either have a proven relationship with the photographer or else ask permission each time.

Asher
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Tom,

There are no laminates in my kitchen. Everything is real. So look alikes too would feel out of place.

Asher

Real? Indeed!
Jessica is probably dead or old and saggy, as Jack appears to be either on any day so I would expect you would choose something with tight skin. And what's with the laminate phobia. I was brought up in a sea of laminate. Checkered like an Italian table cloth with a touch of chrome around the edges, very much in vogue these days among the retro set. I think my bench top is home made granite or something equally as tasteful in a clinical setting, such as a dissection room in a rat lab.

Anyway, stay with the original. It has a somewhat confused look about it as though you had caught the apples as they were about to fall. I need my glasses to see the apples in their splendent sharpness and I couldn't be bothered looking for them until I've had another coffee. It all reminds me of what I might see right now. Someone's lunch on the bench just before they left for school.

Cheers
Tom
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Real? Indeed!

Anyway, stay with the original. It has a somewhat confused look about it as though you had caught the apples as they were about to fall. I need my glasses to see the apples in their splendent sharpness

Confused? There's not mean to be clarity since it wasn't there. I'm not here trying to make clear unambiguous images. Rather to show the presence of the texture of interpretational oddity if we actually freeze things without a clear context of every interacting parameter.

Sharp? They are not meant to be sharp? They are just supposed to be there, that's all, not there and "distinguished" by being noticeably sharp.

and I couldn't be bothered looking for them until I've had another coffee. It all reminds me of what I might see right now. Someone's lunch on the bench just before they left for school.

That's a start, Tom, you're at the cusp of getting things associated with humans! Not all is as dark as you make it appear.

Asher
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
That's a start, Tom, you're at the cusp of getting things associated with humans! Not all is as dark as you make it appear.

Asher

And what are we all but a transport system for genetic code. I could never understand all this hullaballoo just for a chemical. Surely the amoeba got it right first time. Why add to that? Love, an all that shi*. Ech! And talk about messy! Preening and groping all over the kitchen bench, diseases, poor aim, washing the sheets in the morning. Then the break-up. You never hear that about microbes. Just split and be done with it.
I think someone had a weird sense of the ridiculous and an even weirder sense of humour.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
And what are we all but a transport system for genetic code. I could never understand all this hullaballoo just for a chemical. Surely the amoeba got it right first time. Why add to that? Love, an all that shi*. Ech! And talk about messy! Preening and groping all over the kitchen bench, diseases, poor aim, washing the sheets in the morning. Then the break-up. You never hear that about microbes. Just split and be done with it.
I think someone had a weird sense of the ridiculous and an even weirder sense of humour.

Do only rich Amoeba use Leicas or do the all use Nikons in they are not that into higher living?

Asher
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
I'm inclined to think that your version of events, Asher, has the added flavour of the haphazard nature of things, whereas Nicholas's version is more geometric and orderly. This might be reflecting the different approaches each has for their own work which might take away from others if they are allowed to tamper. I reflect on Christine's approach to my wardrobe, for example. I find my arrangement a work of art, tastefully put together with a whimsical thoughtfulness. Christine has a more orderly approach to life and her wardrobe is military precision. Neither of us would tamper with the others artistic endeavors, in spite of the closeness of our relationship. In fact, I dare to add, the very reason why we are so close is because we give each other the opportunity to express ourselves as we see fit. I know full well that an orderly wardrobe would allow me to see things more clearly but Christine knows she is not the one to tell me so.
Bless her understanding heart.
 
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