Photo Assignment 01/26/08

Nocturnal Bakersfield

Not my town, but a local field where the new folk moved in this weekend.

Few more arrivals...I took 299 pics before the memory filled.

This is more representative of the town.


But to finish on a happier note...



The noise was astounding and the wings caused pressure waves in your ears.

Okay that's all on the snow geese. Please evaluate the single goose, the signs and the shot above. Thanks Tom.

lamble said:

Okay that's all on the snow geese. Please evaluate the single goose, the signs and the shot above. Thanks Tom.

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I like the picture of the geese right above your statement "A few more arrivals." It seems like the picture has depth, and the blank parts of the sky help highlight the concentration of birds.
Noel

naddy100 said:

For what it's worth, I like the picture of the geese right above your statement "A few more arrivals." It seems like the picture has depth, and the blank parts of the sky help highlight the concentration of birds.
Noel

Click to expand...

I like that one too, that's why I didn't want Tom scratching the veneer of my happiness away, to leave a raw and tender ego, with any critical comments on it. (Sometimes learning is a painful exercise - cross reference with Dave and adult ed).

For some reason the birds seem to have gathered at the bottom corners, giving it almost a fish eye look...not intended...I have no goose herder skills, which is a shame because if they'd carried on left, there was a snow capped range of mountains that would have been a fantastic backdrop. Access was limited to this one spot.

My Nashua (NH)

Snowed Out


Greely Park



City, what city?

the infamous "subburb"


one of many fixer uppers...


original school house

Here's my 3 of Canandaigua, NY

I was tempted to just take pictures of the lake and waterfront but figured I couldn't really capture Canandaigua without one shot of Main St.

"Main Street"

turnaround at the end of the city pier

"City Pier"

Boathouses

"Boathouses over ice"

My Town: Washington DC

Ok I think I’m set, any more internal debates and I’ll go crazy, so out of four finalists I decided on these three. All taken with my P&S.

The view from Jefferson’s lap



A hidden Concrete Garden in the Midst of Madness



Smithsonian Castle Building: Entrance at Midnight



:wipe-brow

RM

The Queen City

Porkopolis, USA

3-Way; Cheese Coney, Mustard and No Onion

Welcome JohnF, thanks for joining in and remember have fun and post often in incoming assignments.

Love the pigs!

RM

Dallas

Feedback I

Well, better late than never I always say. This "week's" photo assignment has gone on for a few weeks. I think the results show that some folks really invested a great deal of time and thought into their work.

First up is BMWDean

Photo #1 - Mule deer in the Sonoran desert:

<img border=1 src=http://home.att.net/~jeff.dean/mule-deer.jpg>

Photo #2 - Sunset behind Wasson Peak, Tucson vicinity:

<img border=1 src=http://home.att.net/~jeff.dean/sunset-wasson-peak.jpg>

Photos #3a & 3b - Two views of my town, Tucson, AZ. First is a fisheye (replete with photographer's shadow):

<img border=1 src=http://home.att.net/~jeff.dean/tucson-fisheye.jpg>

The second is a more conventional view of downtown:

<img border=1 src=http://home.att.net/~jeff.dean/tucson-downtown.jpg></b>


This is an especially nice series, one that conveys much of the feel and geography of where Jeff winters. I like the shot of the deer--they're hard to get. The cactus and the tree provide a natural frame, too. The little fella almost appears to be posing and he's not dead-center in the frame, either. I've seen a lot of sunsets. This one is particularly rich, though, and the cacti add visual interest to be sure. Is there a more iconic plant? I really like to two city-scapes, A and B. The fisheye shot is great--an unusual application of this lens and one the lends a unique perspective to a familiar scene. As Jeff already pointed out, it has a distracting shadow. Waiting several hours for the sun to move would probably have been the only solution. The second city-scape, more standard, is a nice shot, too. I would have liked to have seen it shot perhaps a bit lower with the mountains higher in the frame. Hindsight makes these observations easy. Beautiful model in these shots, by the way.

Statdawg returns with three shots of a very different winter indeed.







These three images evoke the sort of dreary winter that many of us labor under, myself included. One of the photographic details that I think contributes to this feeling is the lack of a discernible subject, especially in the first two shots. No.1, not uninteresting, is predominated by brown grass and has the dreaded horizon bisection. The rule of thirds might have helped here. The title helps to point to the contrast of the barn and the school. What if one had been foregrounded to the other? No. 2 is quite a bit more interesting, and it could be argued that the store is the subject. You're to be commended for composing the shot so that the viewer is not looking straight down the street, but that it is off to the left--especially given your title. The yellow of the store adds a splash of color, albeit muted, in this photo. It's an interesting and visually appealing shot of your town. No. 3 eludes me. I'm sure the flag is the focus of the faith 'till death, but I'm not tracking. The fence bothers me, though the framing through the trees is good. I'm thinking this might be a church, though I can't see for sure. I would have liked this to have been taken over the fence. Nice series. I have a real sense of where you call home from these shots.

Redclfo is back with an interesting series of where he calls home.







This is really quite an interesting series. No. 1 is a great shot. I love the composition, even off-kilter as it is, as that mirrors the construction of this building. I also really like the patch-work of the facade, and of course the Sarge and/or the door are not dead-center. He emerges from the darkness within, adding even more visual interest. No. 2 is equally appealing. I love the composition and the upward perspective of the barn. I normally dislike things shot through trees, but this works. Perhaps due to the simplicity/size/color of the subject, and that the snow on the branches adds contrast and interest. This is a neat shot. No. 3 doesn't work for me, for the same reasons that No. 1 does. Subject too small, too far. There appears to be quite a bit of motion blur, too. This was shot at too slow a shutter speed to be hand-held. Increasing the ISO can help.

One point of interest here: As has been mentioned by others in previous posts, compare the shots in posts 9 and 10, the latter having been uploaded to my SmugMug account. The ones posted on my site appear slightly richer, more saturated. I find this surprising and interesting. . . .

Grossjohann is back this week with a particularly appealing series of his town.







All three, very nice. No. 1 is a great perspective of Main Street. The festive red ribbons are the subject: one if foregrounded to grab the viewer by the collar and say, "I'm the subject!" The scene recedes nicely into the distance and it's a bit unusual in that it's vertically composed. No. 2 made me think immediately of Foundation holiday cards. It's a very nice scene as well, and like No. 1, clearly evokes a holiday spirit. Having underexposed this just a bit more might have helped retain the detail in the tree lights and lighted clock face, even isolating them in the composition. Definitely a bit darker. No. 3 is a complex exposure as well. I think I might have shot this a bit darker, too, but here it is arguable. To have done so would have lost the interesting sky. The restaurant sign is a bit hot, but not bad. The beer signs are over-exposed. The range of light in this shot exists over a wide latitude, so some sacrifices would have to be made. You may just have struck a happy medium. It's a moody, evocative shot, one that a weary, cold traveler would be happy to come across.

Monkeywork is here this week with three particularly nice shots of his town.







No. 1 is a nice composition, not only in terms of structure but also of color. The theater marquee jumps out of the corner of this text-book example of the golden-mean composition. No. 2 reminds me a bit of Grossjohann's street-scape. Also vertically oriented, it has a pleasing receding perspective, but it does lack a discernible subject. Still evokes a cold winter afternoon, though. No. 3 is very interesting. Shooting in B&W was a good choice here, I think. This viewer wants you to take five steps to your left and view the church between the trees and not behind them. May not have been your intent however. These are very interesting trees with complex systems of branches that are really visually interesting with the snow to lend contrast. This might be worth reshooting to experiment with various perspectives.

the great thing is, that last pic of the church... is color.

the scene itself lacked it.

monkeywork said:

the great thing is, that last pic of the church... is color.

the scene itself lacked it.

Click to expand...

Wow. You got me. I made a similar error on one of Gail's shots a while back. Interesting. . . .