Critiques

grantcorp (117) 2008-02-21 13:24

This looks like something out of Chris Foss' old books of spaceship art. A highly detailed spaceship frozen in time, framed with a contemporary sci-fi skyline and always the dwarved astronaut contemplating the events in a corner of the picture. Contemporary romanticism at its finest!

In this case though the lively airbrush colours have to stand back for a dose of grey reality, yet still the wonderful greys, whites and violets create something as epic. The red mast seems a bit out of place in the battered field but we work with what we have and as such it rightfully claims its place.

And why doesn't my job involve helicopters? :(

grantcorp (117) 2007-10-20 3:46

Although this is a great picture I do not think it is a good photo. The saturation and brightness have shot through the roof here and give a very unrealistic look. The shiny roofs (especially the cyan-coloured ones) and almost neon-orange topsoil kind of give it away. I have seen many examples of this on TE in the Bhutan category. I think it is a bit unfortunate because Bhutan is such a beautiful country in itself that we really need not enhance it that much.

If you have a version of this photo under "less spectaclar conditions" it would be very interesting to see it for comparison, and I bet it would look really great.

grantcorp (117) 2007-10-15 14:35

I actually prefer this version of the photo compared to the flipped workshop. The contrasts in the WS are quite harsh and although more detail is brought out in the hull and shallows it feels almost as if the poor vessel has been superimposed on the background.

On a personal level I think a view like this benefits from a slight blur, after all, we're in a salty air environment here. Eitherway it is a beautiful hull, and I am curious to learn more about this mystery machine... :)

grantcorp (117) 2007-10-15 14:21

There is a great harmony in this photograph. Although the church tries to stand out it is still nicely completed by a colourful backdrop and an inviting foreground. The cropped format works great too; no wasted space and excellent balance between the various components of the photo.

On a personal note, I think the blurred thistle in the foreground distracts a bit from the harmony and I would have preferred to see it go. Although you placed it perfectly in the picture the first thing I noticed when opening this picture was a purple spot on a crisp wall and I thought it took away from the photograph. The purple colour is nice though, but I think I would have preferred the flower to stay further down towards the grass level.

grantcorp (117) 2007-10-12 14:02

For some reason I have never went to Wat Arun during daytime, so it was quite an unusual view to see the complex bathing in sunlight. The buildings stand closely together, walled in by the river and nearby neighbourhoods, and their vertical characteristics add to the challenge. You chose a really good angle to include several of its features in one shot, and all the parts come through in vibrant colour. The robed monk is of course a carefully placed bonus.

  grantcorp (117) 2007-09-07 16:04

Interesting note about the "fake" history of the Karakalpakia, this is something I did not hear about before. The rest of the hulls are really starting to look banged up and stripped to the bone by now.

Talking about scanning photos; did you scan a negative or a positive? I recently bought a cheap HP Scanjet 3800 for other tasks, but I got one which had a built in negative/positive scanner too. It delivers really good results for scanning regular positives, but when I tried it out on some negatives that I had previously had scanned at a local lab the result was as you say, drab and unattractive. I haven't looked into it more, so unfortunately I have no advice to give.

grantcorp (117) 2007-07-28 7:40

I think this is a groovy shot of an even cooler plane. The composition is great, not showing too much plane and not too little, but just right for a personal portrait of a truly historical bird.

If I understood correctly, you physically lined up a telescope and a camera and snapped the photo? That requires a fair bit of skill and patience and would also explain the dark shadows in the bottom and right corners. Those very shadows do an admirable job of hiding the swarm of onlookers so that the image looks more of an aircraft in operation and less like a publicity stunt.

grantcorp (117) 2007-07-25 16:47

The colours in this picture are simply surreal, especially the tones of the sky. The clever framing and odd facade creates a suitably bewildering and mesmerizing effect. Put this in a brochure and you can sell ugly buildings with no problem... :)

grantcorp (117) 2007-07-25 16:38

I love this kind of action shot! You have to work on instinct in situations like this (and pray that you rigged the camera with a suitable lens for the job...) and I think you managed quite well. When a CH-53 is kicking up dust and gravel in your face it doesn't matter if the horizon tilts a bit or the tailrotor escapes from the frame, instead they add to the dynamics of the picture. Well done!

grantcorp (117) 2007-07-25 16:28

PL put to good use! Splendid colours on display here, and the crisp detail of the distant clouds add to the fantastic depth of this picture. The sky also nicely contrasts with the palette of the soil. An eye-catching work of art for sure.