All Forum Comments
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" - Discussion Thread at 29/05/2009 - 08:58
Darkmunk wrote:
Hopefully people will represent the art well, by good composition or waiting for a beautiful light etc.
I can't stand straight representations of art or architecture etc. - it seems at best unimaginative and at worse plagiarism.
This'll be interesting...
What did you think of the entries :Hopefully people will represent the art well, by good composition or waiting for a beautiful light etc.
I can't stand straight representations of art or architecture etc. - it seems at best unimaginative and at worse plagiarism.
This'll be interesting...
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" - Discussion Thread at 28/05/2009 - 22:21
Comment by Hyram posted on For Sale (or trade) Pentax DA 12-24mm f4 at 28/05/2009 - 13:54
Aiki wrote:
.........When I read Hyram's comments, I realize that I should have entered sth like this:
crop of my entry
it would have puzzled you more
I do much prefer the crop .........When I read Hyram's comments, I realize that I should have entered sth like this:
crop of my entry
it would have puzzled you more
Definitely a place for you to revisit, I think
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" at 28/05/2009 - 13:15
I will start with the usual disclaimer that I have ‘borrowed from Belinda B. :-
“What follows are just my personal thoughts and I hope that nobody will be upset and perhaps a few might agree with some of what I have said”
GlynM – Bargeman Sculpture
I am impressed by the fact that this photograph was taken just two hours after the subject was set
I wanted to see what this sculpture looked like fully in context and did a search on the internet. I was amazed to discover that there is not a single really good photograph available, not even on the website of the company that designed and made it
This would suggest that it is not a particularly easy subject to photograph and you mention having ‘dematerialised’ a lamp post and the problem of other street furniture. Certainly, I find the assorted stuff behind the statue distracting and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (?) in the background less than appealing.
I do wonder if you rotated your position anti-clockwise around the statue, whether you would avoid more of this clutter? Also, given that the bargeman is throwing a mooring/towing line to an imaginary barge, I think that it would be good to have more space on the right hand side of the photograph for him to be throwing into.
It was uninspiring weather when you took this image and I feel that it is worthy of further attempts at different times of day, with the benefit of some sun. Is it illuminated by night :
Malo 1961 - Junk YArt Sculpture in our Community
A very different take on the subject but equally valid as art for the benefit (mainly) of the squatters and the juxtaposition of art and a junk yard is interesting! Do they live just in the old camper van or in the adjoining buildings as well :
I think the conversion works well even if I do not know what duo-toning involves. I won’t comment on the art, since art is very much in the eye of the beholder and whoever created it presumably was pleased with the result.
Although you say that the cat was incidental, I do think that he/she adds to the community feel and is clearly taking notice of the person with a camera.
No doubt most of the locals think that this is an eyesore that need clearing up
Bob and his Pentax – Dogs Swimming in a Puddle
A great idea, that is rather reminiscent of those half-buried dogs that you can buy to sit on your lawn. I don’t have any I hasten to add.
I was intrigued to see that this was taken on the DA* 60-250 at the long end
Whilst appreciating that this is probably located in the middle of a shopping ‘plaza’, I wonder whether a really low down shot with some feet walking past in the background would help the composition and set it in context :
I am intrigued by what was left out of the image with the crop.
Karl – Carved into a Tree on Otley Chevin
Again I had to resort to the internet to find out more about Chevin Forest.
Technically a very good image, excellent black and white conversion and loads of texture in the tree.
My real concern is that I not overly keen on people carving things into living trees and I am not sure what the message is
I think that I would have preferred another version of your ‘cross with the guy wires’ photograph.
Aquadan005 - Boathouse Row on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa.
This one had me thinking for quite a long time – Why are these buildings illuminated : Have they forgotten to take down their Christmas lights : Is this really art :
But “Art is what I say it is”.
So, once again an internet search revealed the following definition on wikipedia :-
“Boathouse Row hosts several major rowing regattas, including the Dad Vail Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Navy Day Regatta, the Independence Day Regatta, and the Head of the Schuylkill.
The boathouses are seen as centers of the rowing community around the United States. Rowers from the boathouses compete at every level, including local clubs, high schools, colleges, summer racing programs, and international-level athletics.
In 1979, lights designed by architectural lighting designer Raymond Grenald were installed to outline each of the boathouses, giving them a nightly Christmas-like gingerbread house appearance and reflecting in the Schuylkill River.[2] He proposed the lights after hearing talk of destroying the decaying Victorian boathouses. Lights on the buildings at night would serve to make them more noticed and appreciated. In 2005, after two refurbishings, the houses were outfitted with computerized LEDs that can light up in various colors, depending on the event or season.”
You have clearly taken a lot of trouble over this image and the result is very impressive, particularly since there has been no post exposure editing.
Being nitpicking I think that I would have cropped off some of the sky and a bit off the bottom to remove the bush roughly in the centre of the image that I feel adds nothing to the image.
However my biggest concern is the framing and the signature that take away from a very strong image. I am quite keen on framing (indeed my “Fruit” entry was framed) but on this occasion I feel that the framing and signature give it too much of a ‘tourist postcard’ feel.
womble – Angel
Another different take – art to comfort the living and also guard over the departed of the community.
I like the composition and the angle of view.
Lighting is excellent with the face rescued from being too much in shadow, by the use of flash
I am sure that the sculptor always imagined his angel staying pristine as the day he carved her, however the green lichen matching a delightfully green background really makes the image.
p.s. I did also look up Codicote churchyard on the internet but it did not reveal anything of great interest.
Aiki – Tartu University 25/5/09
This photo captures an extraordinary visual trick well - it took me more than a few seconds to work it out! As you say, perhaps not a great photo but it’s not the sort that you can readily say ‘If you had done x or y ….’. Possibly cropping out the flower tubs and seeing the rest of the building roof might help? The building on the right of the photo is, I think, a necessary part of the photo but unfortunate that the car parked there slightly spoils things
I think that you should persevere with the subject matter and try different viewpoints / lighting / times of day. There is definitely a great shot there, waiting to be found.
Mikew - Boxing Club Wall
I’m really interested now to know what the whole of the painting depicts if it tells a rather different story to your selected image :
A lot of impact with this one. Nicely detailed and the flaking paint is extremely well captured. The red glove is especially powerful
Hefty1 - Beatrice
I love the little, contemporary story you’ve written around this shot of the statue. I tried to find out something about the original statue but internet pages on the ancient market town of Aylesbury were not forthcoming.
Nice detailing but the difficulty with the photo, of course, is the obtrusive window on the Victorian house in the background behind Beatrice. Having said that, I appreciate that a different angle (to cut out the window) would give a less attractive view of the statue itself. And, who knows, rather like Estate Agents’ photos, there could be some other gremlin waiting in the wings!
JudithAnn – Cross
Certainly this must have been a striking sight
I am unsure of the scale of this ‘sculpture’ but I guess, looking at the grain on the timber that the cross is possibly made of a 300mm (1 foot) square section of timber.
Nice, clear, simple colours and good detail but was there a reason you didn’t take this portrait rather than landscape, which might have suited the subject better :
Perhaps you could then have included the rest of Christ’s legs and pierced feet, although I appreciate you would have had to stand back a bit further and might have lost a little detail. Anyway, I think that would have been the better way of capturing this.
Lilly – Neighbourly Street Art
Tremendous impact with this shot, and great use of colour and black and white.
Can it be that Lilly is moving from the dark side to the colourful side :
Normally we all tend to go out of our way to avoid shooting through fences or are upset when there is no other option, but with this image I think that the diminishing vertical lines of the fence really add to the overall effect.
Nothing more to add – I really like it.
A great bit of community art cleverly photographed.
p.s. impressively complete EXIF data provided
Heidi – The Maiden
Beautiful smooth sheen on the statue and silvery colours, including the soft background of trees and pale sky! The face detail is still clear, despite the shadow but, given the problem, it would be interesting to know how it might photograph at night with flash?
Perhaps you can go back again some time and try it out.
I also wonder whether this might work better in portrait :
So, now for the results :-
With only 12 entries (about par for the course with this competition) I will not go beyond the first three places, so that nobody might think that they came in the last six.
1st Place - Lilly – Neighbourly Street Art
2nd Place - womble – Angel
3rd Place - Mikew - Boxing Club Wall
Thank you all for entering and now over to Lilly for the new competition.
“What follows are just my personal thoughts and I hope that nobody will be upset and perhaps a few might agree with some of what I have said”
GlynM – Bargeman Sculpture
I am impressed by the fact that this photograph was taken just two hours after the subject was set
I wanted to see what this sculpture looked like fully in context and did a search on the internet. I was amazed to discover that there is not a single really good photograph available, not even on the website of the company that designed and made it
This would suggest that it is not a particularly easy subject to photograph and you mention having ‘dematerialised’ a lamp post and the problem of other street furniture. Certainly, I find the assorted stuff behind the statue distracting and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (?) in the background less than appealing.
I do wonder if you rotated your position anti-clockwise around the statue, whether you would avoid more of this clutter? Also, given that the bargeman is throwing a mooring/towing line to an imaginary barge, I think that it would be good to have more space on the right hand side of the photograph for him to be throwing into.
It was uninspiring weather when you took this image and I feel that it is worthy of further attempts at different times of day, with the benefit of some sun. Is it illuminated by night :
Malo 1961 - Junk YArt Sculpture in our Community
A very different take on the subject but equally valid as art for the benefit (mainly) of the squatters and the juxtaposition of art and a junk yard is interesting! Do they live just in the old camper van or in the adjoining buildings as well :
I think the conversion works well even if I do not know what duo-toning involves. I won’t comment on the art, since art is very much in the eye of the beholder and whoever created it presumably was pleased with the result.
Although you say that the cat was incidental, I do think that he/she adds to the community feel and is clearly taking notice of the person with a camera.
No doubt most of the locals think that this is an eyesore that need clearing up
Bob and his Pentax – Dogs Swimming in a Puddle
A great idea, that is rather reminiscent of those half-buried dogs that you can buy to sit on your lawn. I don’t have any I hasten to add.
I was intrigued to see that this was taken on the DA* 60-250 at the long end
Whilst appreciating that this is probably located in the middle of a shopping ‘plaza’, I wonder whether a really low down shot with some feet walking past in the background would help the composition and set it in context :
I am intrigued by what was left out of the image with the crop.
Karl – Carved into a Tree on Otley Chevin
Again I had to resort to the internet to find out more about Chevin Forest.
Technically a very good image, excellent black and white conversion and loads of texture in the tree.
My real concern is that I not overly keen on people carving things into living trees and I am not sure what the message is
I think that I would have preferred another version of your ‘cross with the guy wires’ photograph.
Aquadan005 - Boathouse Row on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa.
This one had me thinking for quite a long time – Why are these buildings illuminated : Have they forgotten to take down their Christmas lights : Is this really art :
But “Art is what I say it is”.
So, once again an internet search revealed the following definition on wikipedia :-
“Boathouse Row hosts several major rowing regattas, including the Dad Vail Regatta, Stotesbury Cup Regatta, the Navy Day Regatta, the Independence Day Regatta, and the Head of the Schuylkill.
The boathouses are seen as centers of the rowing community around the United States. Rowers from the boathouses compete at every level, including local clubs, high schools, colleges, summer racing programs, and international-level athletics.
In 1979, lights designed by architectural lighting designer Raymond Grenald were installed to outline each of the boathouses, giving them a nightly Christmas-like gingerbread house appearance and reflecting in the Schuylkill River.[2] He proposed the lights after hearing talk of destroying the decaying Victorian boathouses. Lights on the buildings at night would serve to make them more noticed and appreciated. In 2005, after two refurbishings, the houses were outfitted with computerized LEDs that can light up in various colors, depending on the event or season.”
You have clearly taken a lot of trouble over this image and the result is very impressive, particularly since there has been no post exposure editing.
Being nitpicking I think that I would have cropped off some of the sky and a bit off the bottom to remove the bush roughly in the centre of the image that I feel adds nothing to the image.
However my biggest concern is the framing and the signature that take away from a very strong image. I am quite keen on framing (indeed my “Fruit” entry was framed) but on this occasion I feel that the framing and signature give it too much of a ‘tourist postcard’ feel.
womble – Angel
Another different take – art to comfort the living and also guard over the departed of the community.
I like the composition and the angle of view.
Lighting is excellent with the face rescued from being too much in shadow, by the use of flash
I am sure that the sculptor always imagined his angel staying pristine as the day he carved her, however the green lichen matching a delightfully green background really makes the image.
p.s. I did also look up Codicote churchyard on the internet but it did not reveal anything of great interest.
Aiki – Tartu University 25/5/09
This photo captures an extraordinary visual trick well - it took me more than a few seconds to work it out! As you say, perhaps not a great photo but it’s not the sort that you can readily say ‘If you had done x or y ….’. Possibly cropping out the flower tubs and seeing the rest of the building roof might help? The building on the right of the photo is, I think, a necessary part of the photo but unfortunate that the car parked there slightly spoils things
I think that you should persevere with the subject matter and try different viewpoints / lighting / times of day. There is definitely a great shot there, waiting to be found.
Mikew - Boxing Club Wall
I’m really interested now to know what the whole of the painting depicts if it tells a rather different story to your selected image :
A lot of impact with this one. Nicely detailed and the flaking paint is extremely well captured. The red glove is especially powerful
Hefty1 - Beatrice
I love the little, contemporary story you’ve written around this shot of the statue. I tried to find out something about the original statue but internet pages on the ancient market town of Aylesbury were not forthcoming.
Nice detailing but the difficulty with the photo, of course, is the obtrusive window on the Victorian house in the background behind Beatrice. Having said that, I appreciate that a different angle (to cut out the window) would give a less attractive view of the statue itself. And, who knows, rather like Estate Agents’ photos, there could be some other gremlin waiting in the wings!
JudithAnn – Cross
Certainly this must have been a striking sight
I am unsure of the scale of this ‘sculpture’ but I guess, looking at the grain on the timber that the cross is possibly made of a 300mm (1 foot) square section of timber.
Nice, clear, simple colours and good detail but was there a reason you didn’t take this portrait rather than landscape, which might have suited the subject better :
Perhaps you could then have included the rest of Christ’s legs and pierced feet, although I appreciate you would have had to stand back a bit further and might have lost a little detail. Anyway, I think that would have been the better way of capturing this.
Lilly – Neighbourly Street Art
Tremendous impact with this shot, and great use of colour and black and white.
Can it be that Lilly is moving from the dark side to the colourful side :
Normally we all tend to go out of our way to avoid shooting through fences or are upset when there is no other option, but with this image I think that the diminishing vertical lines of the fence really add to the overall effect.
Nothing more to add – I really like it.
A great bit of community art cleverly photographed.
p.s. impressively complete EXIF data provided
Heidi – The Maiden
Beautiful smooth sheen on the statue and silvery colours, including the soft background of trees and pale sky! The face detail is still clear, despite the shadow but, given the problem, it would be interesting to know how it might photograph at night with flash?
Perhaps you can go back again some time and try it out.
I also wonder whether this might work better in portrait :
So, now for the results :-
With only 12 entries (about par for the course with this competition) I will not go beyond the first three places, so that nobody might think that they came in the last six.
1st Place - Lilly – Neighbourly Street Art
2nd Place - womble – Angel
3rd Place - Mikew - Boxing Club Wall
Thank you all for entering and now over to Lilly for the new competition.
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" at 27/05/2009 - 21:36
Just to let you good people know that I have a business meeting starting late afternoon tomorrow that will run past the finishing time for the competition
So the judging will not be completed and posted until sometime tomorrow evening
So the judging will not be completed and posted until sometime tomorrow evening
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" at 26/05/2009 - 22:17
[IMG]http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s30/Hyram_Hare/JudithAnn.jpg[/IMG]
Comment by Hyram posted on Fortnightly Competition # 16 "Art in the Community" at 26/05/2009 - 18:51
They do come up on the forum quite regularly but sell almost immediately, so you need to keep looking and be quick if you spot one at the right price !
The right price seems to be between £375 and £400.
Vendors seem to prefer bank transfer as a means of payment but you would probably want to know that the vendor has been on the forum for a while.
The right price seems to be between £375 and £400.
Vendors seem to prefer bank transfer as a means of payment but you would probably want to know that the vendor has been on the forum for a while.
Comment by Hyram posted on Wanted: Pentax DA 12-24mm at 25/05/2009 - 21:13
A very nice sunset and an unusual balance of sky / land / water.
Taken just south of Port Solent :
Taken just south of Port Solent :
Comment by Hyram posted on Sunset over Portsmouth at 21/05/2009 - 22:16
"the wrongful appropriation or purloining and publication as one's own, of the ideas, or the expression of the ideas (literary, artistic, musical, mechanical, etc.) of another."
I am most grateful for the time and effort taken by everyone who entered the competition and I do feel that the subject matter was indeed challenging.
I do urge everyone to keep on entering the competitions, particularly this one that tends to suffer from a lack of entries for perfectly valid reasons.
We all do it for fun and in the hope that our photography will improve as a result of constructive critiques.