2014: It BEGAN with a BRRRRR!
by Bear_Music

Comment:
The incredible variety we have on this spit of land we call Cape Cod. The places we go on the spur of the minute. Most of all the way you see things! All wonderful. Congratulations on beginning the year with a blue ribbon.

Just a Dream
by Violetz

Comment:
I really like this image.

I think fog provides good conditions for photographing trees. Perhaps the neutral tones of the background and the limited depth of field enforced by fog provide a chance to appreciate the individual branches more than other conditions do. That's my working hypothesis at the moment anyway :-)

POW 2: 60' Gaff Tops'l Schooner "Tyrone" Wintering Over
by Bear_Music

Comment:
It's rare to see boats spend the winter in the water. There is a certain amount of slightly frantic activity at the end of October since most insurance companies require boats to be out of the water by November 1st but if it's good weather boaters want to enjoy a one or two more trips while they can.

It is lovely light and beautifully processed ;-)

Iron Works
by Melethia

Comment:
Lovely pattern. Great processing. At first I thought it was an imprint in the sand from the bottom of someone's sneakers, like this one of mine but then I saw it was way too precise to be that.

ETA: This IS really striking. I keep coming back to look at it again.!!

Message edited by author 2014-01-12 01:04:09.

Game On
by jomari

Comment:
Hey, look at those bulging muscles! Great effect. Fun idea. I like it. I can see that cropping would probably cause you to lose parts you want to keep, but how about lightening or changing the black area instead, since pretty much the only area that is black is around the sides.

2014 Photo a week. #1: Dusk at Allen Harbor
by PenelopeK

Comment:

Originally posted by Ann: The top half is a fairly ordinary photo, but then the painterly bottom half transforms it into something completely different, almost alien. What happens if you take more off the top? Does the balance get better or worse? (I'm asking, I don't have an answer.)

Glad you asked. I hope we'll encourage and welcome these sorts of discussions in this thread. I like the context provided by the top part. I also rather like the contrast of the plainness, or let's call it simplicity, of the top part against the vibrance of the lower part. You still get that with a bit more taken off the top, but it does quickly start to feel unbalanced to me. If I was to go in that direction I would crop it so that just the fingers of the docks plus a tad of the walkway connecting them showed, which I did consider by the way, but then it seemed to become "just" pretty patterns in the water.

Shadows Play amongst The Aspen
by hahn23

Comment:
Congratulations on a lovely image and a great finish. The strong shadows, besides being lovely in their own right, also serve to keep one's attention on the foreground and the four or five trees there, and that helps the other trees serve as a nice backdrop instead of "competing" for one's attention.

An Evening Walk
by Elaine

Comment:
As others have said, nice placement of the group. The side lighting adds a lot by revealing the folds/creases in their clothing, which enables me to better "feel" their movement.

lunch-for-one_8032
by mariuca

Comment:
I love the arrangement on the plate, especially including segmented fish portions alongside the uncut filet.

2014 Photo a week. #1: Dusk at Allen Harbor
by PenelopeK

Comment:

Originally posted by Stagolee: Lovely reflections, the darkness gives the water an abstract feel.

Thanks. I was after an abstract feel for this!