Old star

[manthos]

Hello forum. I've been thinking about the title of this. I thought of naming it "Ol' star". Is this valid? I know I've seen it somewhere. I thought it might be a nice play on words. But the fact that I'm from Greece may be weird to give it this title.

Anyway that's not so important. What do you think of the composition, framing, point of view and processing? Does it say something to you? I know, many questions!

[seriche]

I'm too much of a beginner to give a skilled technical opinion, but it feels unbalanced in some way. And the clouds are too 'busy' thus distracting the eye away from the textures of the old hull.

The subject is great though, and I'd love to see many more shots from different angles.

Also, the shoes are a great touch (they are so carefully placed and they make you wonder where the owner has gone I read somewhere a long time ago in an art book that a single human in a painting carries such 'weight' with us that he can balance a mountain on the other side of the composition, and I think your shoes serve the same function.

It seems we place so much importance on anything human (and, I would assume, animal-like too) that its visual weight means much more than its actual size or anything else when used as a counterweight to other much more massive non-human elements in a picture.

I hope I'm making sense to you, Giannos. I'm finding it hard to write it out clearly, but I hope you understand what I'm saying. I know you have such an inquiring mind and would love to know what you think of that idea

[clactonian]

I agree with Seri here, and definitely find the sky too obtrusive. The sea, whilst adding context, has a similar effect to a lesser extent.
You would seem to have used quite a severe processing technique.

I quite like the composition and love the shoes.

I'd be interested to see the whole boat.

[chrisc]

Not even sure if it is the sky that gives me cause for a pensive pause as much as it is the heaviness of the grain structure in the whole image, especially noticeable in the sky/clouds. You might want to go back to the original image and softe the grain and see if a delicate touch to those shoes and clouds doesn't both change the mood, as well as tell a different story.

[manthos]

Thank you Seri and Mike. The processing was indeed aggressive and it seems it didn't work in this case. I have a (hopefully) better version below.

Seri, if I could get on the boat you would see some more shots of this. It was a little difficult to reach. And then is the background. Beside the boat are mountains that I didn't want to show. So, this was the best angle I could get.

I can say that, for me, something human in a picture takes it to a higher level. Even if it is there only to show the scale in a landscape, for example. What you have said about the weight of a human element is what I feel every time a see an image that has one. I can't explain why...

Now, the idea. It's all about man. Leaving everything behind for the last journey. Gloomy...



And a half boat for Mike. I didn't think of getting the whole of it in.

[manthos]

Oct 11, 2011 22:23:12 GMT chrisc said:

Not even sure if it is the sky that gives me cause for a pensive pause as much as it is the heaviness of the grain structure in the whole image, especially noticeable in the sky/clouds. You might want to go back to the original image and softe the grain and see if a delicate touch to those shoes and clouds doesn't both change the mood, as well as tell a different story.

You must have replied while I was typing Chris. The grain is gone.

[chrisc]

And it is much better an image for the work...good job!

[manthos]

Oct 11, 2011 22:51:35 GMT chrisc said:

And it is much better an image for the work...good job!

Thanks!

[The Wirefox]

The processing was indeed aggressive and it seems it didn't work in this case. I have a (hopefully) better version below.

The processing is fine its just that it should have been applied only to the main subject. The thing that strikes me most about this is the departure from your distinctive style. Most of your images rely on the separation of singular or multiple subjects into cameo/s within the image. There are usually strong lead ins and bold demarcation of subject from background using light and form rather than DoF. This is a very clever way of getting around the restrictions of the type of camera you are using. Here we have a conglomeration with very little to attract or lead the eye. The shoes should be an inspired distraction but everything merges into one.

[manthos]

Thanks Steve. I find still life shots difficult to manage. I'm a lot more comfortable with people. I appreciate your feedback.