* Wednesday C&C "No Theme" Thread #797 / Revived #017 on 2023 07 26 *

Shards - replies

Thanks to everyone for looking and commenting. Below are answers to more specific questions,

Thanks. Sometimes it just flows and inspiration is easy, other days it is tough and rubbish. I am sure you have had the same. I was on my own, which helped, so I could think and wait for as long as I wanted. In fact I was having so much fun, I cut it much too fine for my flight.

Ha! Ha! Yes, I am asking myself the same question. The phone has already replaced my camera for casual photography, ie. meeting family and friends, outings where photography is not the main reason for going out. It is still too awkward to use for more serious stuff (holding it still, touching the screen by mistake and ending up who knows where, trying to see the screen, especially in the Sun) but does have advantages (does not attract attention in public, always with you, very capabale if you let it use its technology, but a dog if you try to overrule it) Actually I had my small Olympus EM10 with me, and it was a concious decision to use my phone as an exercise, and I enjoyed the experience.

It baffles everyone! It is a sculpture on London Bridge and only a story or two high, but there is no name or explanation for it. The name most commonly given to it is The Spike and the usual explanation refers to the practice lasting centuries (but thankfully no more) of impaling the heads of traitors, rebels and serious criminals on spikes on the old London Bridge. I used a wide angle lens and low viewpoint to make it look higher than The Shard, which is about 20 times higher.

Ahh, Mike, you underestimate English weather! They were all taken on the same day. No.2 was taken before lunch and the others within half an hour of each other, in fact no.3 was taken 12 minutes after no.5

Actually no.1 includes a sliver of London Bridge on the right and it is the shadowy structure in the foreground of no.5.
I wonder if you made the mistake so many do and confuse it with Tower Bridge, which is this one .....

Sorry, Mike, if that destroyed your relief from Tower Bridge. I hope you were wearing sunglasses.

Pete

For better or worse, what Duchamp's work said to Warhol is probably close to what Warhol's work said to me and I can't help but notice Britto hasn't had to sleep in his car since he got Hallmark selling his tchotchkes. Since there is seemingly no market for this sort of photography, can it be anything other than eye-candy despite whatever efforts the artist intends? It can't be believed by the eyes, never tells "the truth" as we see it, and always makes "the story" something in relation to how it looks. I love painting with this brush, but what it is truly useful for, I wish I knew.

Pete, you are correct and I should have known better. Yes, it was Tower Bridge I meant. I am studying your last photo hard so I never make that mistake again. Incidentally, nice angle you have on TOWER BRIDGE here. I like the little corner of mud that sets it apart from the usuals.

Very definitely not "more than I wanted to know."
Re The Saturday Evening Post." I've lived my entire life in Australia. You would be amazed at how much we saw of the Post and those Rockwell covers. What this did for the positive image of the USA is beyond calculation. Popular Mechanics should get a USA medal of some sort as well. It's probably also true in other countries that saw these magazines at that time.
When I looked at your photo, the Rockwell touch was unmistakable. Nothing in your extra notes surprised me in the slightest. The real icing on the cake isn't your success in making the graphics look like Rockwell, it's that you have kept pace with the changing world in giving a Rockwell look at current technology and generations. Norman would have approved, You have a great project here.

Thanks Rich. I hugely enjoyed your discussion of sharpness and image size. I couldn't agree more with your observation that sharpness is over rated except when it isn't." Absolutely spot on. One area where I think sharpness is (usually)the critical factor is macro. Here, seeing the tiny details we usually miss is the point. It isn't a genre I do but I can see the fascination.
I have never worked with cameras bigger than 21/4 square film. Yashicamats and Mamiyas. It was enough for me to feel the allure of larger formats as well.

This kind of rambling off topic is a part of the pleasure I get from this forum. Photos move us in many ways that are different for all of us.

Many thanks, Pete. Though I shot that just a few months ago, I've deleted the psd and raw file already; otherwise, I would repost with your intriguing suggestion. I shall remember the idea for future, however!

Being relatively new to the group, I don't know much yet about people's histories, style of writing, approach to photography as hobby or profession, and so forth. I'm not quite understanding Pete's comment that you quoted above. Any elaboration would be welcomed.

However, as a happy hobbyist who has never had the slightest interest in trying to sell anything, I do relate to "love painting with this brush."

I had a drum scanner, too. Manufacturers included Scitek, Crossfield, Dai Nippon, Hell, Optronics, and Howtek. I had an Optronics ColorGetter. Spinning glass drum. Light source on one side. Lenses, beam splitters, filters, and masks on the other side. Then photomultiplier tubes and ADCs,

Open Cube. I enjoy your comments on what you do and the pleasure you get in so doing. Generally speaking, the resulting images are not my cup of tea. That doesn't matter. Keep exploring your own vision and keep sharing them with us.
Vincent van whatever his name was had cupboards full of old paintings. People said his colours and brushstrokes were weird. It didn't deter our Vincent though.

Atm I only have internet when I get into town and don't have time to comment on all the pics.

I love symmetry and both of these two tick that box. I especially love the arches.

Yesterday was my first day out with my camera for two weeks - was suffering withdrawal symptoms... 😄

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Long shot across a small valley

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At first I thought this was a Dandylion seed head. Now I don't think it is. Here, the focus point tunnels us down into the seedhead and we have a definite centre with a warm spot and sharply focussed follicles. I'm puzzled by the rectangular white shape with what looks like punchholes in the very center? Was a flash or reflector being used here? The out of focus background sets off the halo of fine detail around the seedhead's edge. It all pop's with a satisfying 3d quality.

This is an example of how photographs can be taken and used for many different purposes. It presses buttons with me that have nothing to do with artistic interpretation. The shipping container is centred in the frame. It's the subject. It sits in a paddock with a mix of bushland behind it. I can only see this as a statement about the stuff we leave around on our farms. Once it was old vehicles. Today old shipping containers litter the paddocks. I don't like them either.

When looked at at full size, there are a couple of things I don't understand and possibly things are happening here that I haven't grasped. In the foliage areas beyond the truck, especially immediately above the container, there are dark blurred areas. Could that be the cabin of a prime mover at the far end of the container? I don't think so but I don't understand it. Maybe this photo was taken through a windscreen and there are things on the glass? Maybe it's a camera phone and it is having trouble resolving the foliage areas?

I like the second shot . your composition with the shadows of the fence on the floor and the strong pattern on the roof give this place a "powerful feeling" !

That's an interesting effect you've used here. It's an artistic self portrait where you've managed to remain largely anonymous. And the cat in the corner is looking cute or perhaps, as someone else said, just bored :-)

If you were a beginner with a point and shoot, I might glibly say , "Try aiming a bit lower next time" :-)
But the other responders have found a deeper meaning in the shot and compared it, among other things, to an artist's palette with the thumb sticking through the hole in the middle, and rejoicing in the use of negative space.
So I guess it has something, but it's not really my cup of tea :-)

I like these two shots from the series best.
In No. 2 the glass building is capturing the light nicely and shines out bright against that dark foreboding sky.
I feel that it would also work as a long tall crop, with all of the red crane and the bright yellow wall chopped off from the left hand side, giving full attention to the magnificent Shard tower.

Please let me know if it allowed to edit with sugestions and post back shots like this ?

In No. 5 the building is well framed with those interesting dark shapes