Critiques

kajenn (2325) 2009-09-06 17:58

A beautiful capture of the spirit of Luzern, Elena, and not the most usual POV. As a strange coincidence I saw you uploading this photo when I actually was staying overnight in... Luzern! So in the morning I had to go down to Reuss - only a couple of blocks from my hotel - to see where you actually had been standing, as I couldn't get the "pieces" together.

And to my surprise I realized that I've never been that far on the right bank and I've never really seen the Jesuit Church. To me Luzern is facing much more in the other direction; toward the lake, the railway station and the Cultural Center (KKL). So I very much agree with your title: Why not..?, as it made me open my eyes.

And looking at the shot from home it doesn't just bring back memories, but it's also well showing the beauty and tidiness of central Switzerland. Very well done!

kajenn (2325) 2009-04-19 19:58

Again you show us your love for the sea, Andrew. Are you a sailor stuck on shore? (I live 10 kms inland and that's too far for me.) And as someone loving and longing for the sea, you show it well. Magically all lines - the boats, the clouds and the mountains - direct my eyes toward the setting sun; not to the sun itself, rather to the reflection, which is easier on the eye. And nothing interferes with that reflection. Very well done!

The word "dumbbell-shaped" confuses me. It's not included in my dictionary and my thoughts that it could be "crescent-shaped" do not correspond with your map reference.

kajenn (2325) 2009-04-19 19:26

A marvelous - and at the same time somewhat intimidating - look down the crater, Jacques. The lake look wonderful and you've managed to capture the steep slopes well, including just a glimmer of the foreground. And those clouds really completes the impression. Very well done!

kajenn (2325) 2009-04-19 19:16

I really like this one, Elena, because it shows that there's beauty even in the most civilized (= industrialized) parts of the world as well. Just you know where - and when - to look for it. Here's a wonderful visualization of the setting sun only shown in the light captured by the smoke. The overcast is creating a dark and great backdrop, only leaving a narrow opening for the sunbeams to come through. Well spotted, well seen and very well captured.

  kajenn (2325) 2009-04-07 19:20

You're a great man George, even greater than I thought - in real life. Respect!

kajenn (2325) 2009-03-17 17:39

I've meant to leave a comment on this upload for some time now Elena, but it seems that something always slips in between. When I first saw your shot I vaguely remembered a program I'd seen on German TV about Gesellen or rather Wandergesellen (journeymen). Young craftsmen - both boys and girls, mostly carpenters, but also others - are wandering from town to town after finishing their apprenticeship. It's an old custom as are their traditional "uniforms". And some are known to have visited Sweden. More about them here.

You've actually made a nice capture of this couple, as the important is their outfit, their old back-packs and the carved hiking staffs. Looking at the original, I think you did right in applying the PP effect. Well done!

Thursday I'm off to visit my daughter in Stockholm for an extended weekend. The hotel of my choice looked familiar and I suddenly realized that you had an upload of it. Although I'm staying in the less fashionable right part called Esplanade.

kajenn (2325) 2008-12-30 19:41

A pleasant shot, Elena, of the guard exchanging a friendly smile with a passing fellow man - or perhaps a relative. He seems relaxed and at ease, which is not that usual as they almost always are young boys (and girls) doing compulsory military service.

So your keen eye saw the opportunity and you got this shot in the exact right moment. And it's nicely framed by all the snow setting the climate; the statues and the low but sturdy wall show prosperity and the slightly elevated position of the guard indicates superiority. Very well done.

I think that you - like me - include more than can be seen in our shots. To me, my shots include memories and the feelings I had when taking just that shot. And this can not be seen in the image - and nobody else is able to see it.

I notice, when looking at my earlier uploads, that I today - when the feeling has faded - would've composed or cropped them differently. More according to the "rules of harmony" in images. So I'll try a small WorkShop on your upload - on which you might disagree - just to show you what I mean.

I wish you a Happy New Year and nice (but cold) vacation. And thanks for your lovely email, I'll try to respond to it later.

kajenn (2325) 2008-11-24 16:21

Hej Per!

A well-balanced image of the Scanian plain - with layer over layer, including the clouds - where the dark mill is nicely breaking the horizontal lines and form a sharp contrast to the timely snowcovered fields. Well done!

Kvarnen är Aggarps Mölla söder om Svedala, nära väg 108.

kajenn (2325) 2008-09-23 14:07

Hej Elena,

A very nice rendering of this classic Volvo estate car. It's a P210 which was (is) the "combi version" of the PV544, which in turn was the modernized version of Volvo's first post-war model PV444. It was commonly known as Duett, as it was said to be "two cars in one". I drove one of them in Lund for a couple of months in the late 60's, picking up Facit typewriters and calculators for service. Those were the days...

I like how you show it with a nice angle in the designated service car area - ready for action - and surrounded by the tram lines. And, of course, the color is striking. Well done!

kajenn (2325) 2008-06-11 14:42

Uppsala is the home of well-known feline "Pelle Svanslös" [Peter No-Tail], a series of children's books written by learned teacher and radio voice of the 50's Gösta Knutsson. He used his home town Uppsala and the neighboring villages as base for the stories.

And maybe this is the block where Pelle lived together with his great love Maja Gräddnos [Maja Cream-Nose] and the mean rival Måns together with his cronies Bill and Bull.

As you're able to see, the cat in the sign has no tail. And I guess Pelle and Maja finally got together and have at least two kiddies... ;o)