Some of my photos...

This is a link to a group of my photos on Photobucket.

http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn32/angelagregory/Current Work/

Please offer comments!

Hi Angela,

Although it is fine to point to a web album elsewhere, you should make a choice of what is important first. Then show us those pictures here and ask for our C&C on them. You can link up to 4 pictures per post.

I am looking forward to seeing them

This particular picture from your album is rather interesting if you ask me



Cheers,

Hello Cem, I am unable to post attachments at this time, hence my link. At least that is what it says in the Posting Rules at the bottom of the page!

The picture you posted was taken at a wedding reception and is actually the granddaughter of the bride. She was concentrating so intently on stepping on the stones. This is one of the four shots I took of her walking that pathway.

Angela Gregory said:

Hello Cem, I am unable to post attachments at this time, hence my link. At least that is what it says in the Posting Rules at the bottom of the page!

The picture you posted was taken at a wedding reception and is actually the granddaughter of the bride. She was concentrating so intently on stepping on the stones. This is one of the four shots I took of her walking that pathway.

Click to expand...

Hi Angela,

Sorry for the misunderstanding but we do not really have the possibility to post attachments here at OPF. You can show you images hosted elsewhere by including their link between IMG tags. That is just what I did with your picture.

HTH

Excellent! That I can certainly do.

These are Morgan sled horses that are close to my house. I happened to stop by at feeding time.



This was from my first hike in the NH mountains. The moon seems to show up early up here!



It is foggy most mornings here, the sun just happened to be waiting for me just between these trees beside our office. I shot this in color, I haven't edited this at all.



Thanks for the comments!

Well, Angela, I did visit and felt energized to bring two special picks for comment. We do love to see pictures actually appear in these pages or else people may just pass by. .

I have picked just two images that are joined together by the over-arching "master metaphor" of human life, "The Journey". (Coincidentally, before Cem's choice appeared, I picked that picture too, which attests to my good taste). I'll not discuss technique, as here I'm struck more by artistic qualities. we can still discuss technical and compositional aspects later.



The sight of a pathway, in Cem's pick, above, with the vulnerable child exploring a garden path, captures our hearts. We think of the opportunities that may come her way as well as the hazards. The presence of discrete stepping stones in the path, corresponds to stages one hopes for in a child's growth. So picture elements are coherent. We don't see her face. That allows the relevance to extend beyond the particular child to all children. Such conceptual pictures may work even better in B&W, since we can distribute emphasis on tone, texture and form, light and shadows without color distraction. B&W is not needed, or better, just an alternate possibility.


© Angela Gregory FUJIFILM FinePix S310, ISO 64, f 5.0

The second picture I chose appears to be a partly frozen stream with broken ice. Again a way for travel. This one has immediate complexities. This contrasts to the child's path which is neutrally presented. That are no visible dangers or risks right now. The icy water, however, cannot be walked on safely and not even a canoe can pass. Here one would need to wait for a thaw, go back or go around, along the bank. But look again, maybe this is not a river! Could it be a path and one could, with care, go ahead and meet the crossroad ahead?

In both of these pictures, the ambiguity allows for our minds to bring rich interpretations to the image. When a picture is merely just what it shows, it is nor bad. To me, at least, this is amongst the best value of art, however, not any absolute requirement.

Art does not need any message or meaning. It can just evoke our passions and be beautiful. To be chosen, however, even if beautiful, it then cannot be any sunset or rose we see so often. There has to be something uniquely impressive.

Asher

Thank you for your comments Asher. Regarding the little girl, I converted several photos that day to B&W, I will look back to see if that is one of them. The brook. Ah, the brook. This was the first in a season series. I have a spring, and a summer, and am currently waiting on the leaves to change for fall. I was, however displeased with spring and summer, as the differences were small. I will be trying another spring shot next year so that I may attempt to capture more seasonal definition. The winter photo was put up in my office and I was scolded when spring and summer did not appear quickly enough!

Asher, I did create a B&W of the little girl, along with a softened version.

Hi Angela,

Once you get to know the work of Nicolas Claris, you will see that he loves color and is reticent about my ideas on B&W. Still, in this case, you have shown he's sometimes right on. In this case, the color version of the little girl gently moving her left foot forward, is so much richer. The color seems to be needed as the B&W picture is cold and devoid of emotion and magic. Now why is that? I am puzzled too. I think it might be the way colors are assigned and again the hardness of the contrast.

The center of the picture, the child and the curved pathway are together winning elements. however the sides of the picture show some clumsiness in composition. What are those shapes, the sliver of roundness intruding into the frame, the edges of the rhodadendrum plants. Should they be there? should there be more on the left or the right? How is the final composition to be? Sketch out the shapes and forms and see where the lines are going and how they interesect. Is this garden near you? If so you can retake th picture of the garden in landscape mode from the same position but with a wider lens. The perspective will be perfect. don't worry about the different light for now. Just get the shapes right. I really like this picture and the current softer color form is so ethereal. However right now, this lovely picture is incomplete.

Asher

Wow, you have some breath-taking pictures in here. I am just an amateur in photography and I could not contain my excitement in seeing myself next time sharing some of my beautiful pictures.

I'd like to highlight to others from your album that I really liked. I hope my code works.

I think this first one is really nice, but would be even better if you cropped off the bottom 25-30% of the picture. The diagonal line of the bush throws the photo for me. The upper two-thirds would be a proud addition to the wall in any New England home.



This second one is also very nice. The subtle curve of the hill provides a settling feeling for me.