Van Gogh's Muse
by luvmyaussie

Comment:
How odd! A complete reversal of the expected. You *ought* to have had the flowers sharp and the vase blurring, right? Right...? Instead you give us this... this... weirdness... that, against all expectations, actually works!

2-jan 09 archive foto. escape
by roz

Comment:
Geeze, roz, hell of a job!

profile
by ErinM

Comment:
Gorgeous.

- - - -
by krnodil

Comment:
That's way cool. I'd love to see a shot of the two lenses reverse-mounted and the 2.0 drooping, I bet it's cute :-)

Exuberant
by elru21

Comment:
Oh,
that's
exuberant,
alright!

Congrats on the blue!

Lighthouse Drama
by Drake

Comment:

Originally posted by aurelie: excellent !! just one critic if i may: the rule of the 2/3 here would have been magic ! but i love the color, the movement & the mood. great photo :)

The "rule of thirds" is only *one* of a number of compositional rules-of-thumb. THis image uses a different one, the "triangular" model. The lighthouse is precisely centered in the image, which plays up the concept of "strength" as it stands there foursquare and absorbs the battering of the elements. There are basically three triangles at work here: an overall triangle of shattering spray with the top of the lighthouse forming its apex, and two smaller triangles, left and right, with the lighthouse itself forming the vertical side of each triangle. This is very powerful juxtaposing of elements, and it's part of why the image works so well. Another key element is the footbridge leading us in from the left. Imagine the image without that bridge, and see how much less powerful it would be. Why? To a large degree because the footbridge injects a counterpoint of tremulous frailty and human scale to the image; it's easy to imagine being ON that bridge, and that's a daunting prospect.

Now, as far as rule-of-thirds goes, the only way I can see to even *have* it in this image (without cropping off the right side so the lighthouse is on a 1/3 line, which would kill the dynamic explosion of spray) is to use a wider lens and include more image on the right. I can't see exposing more tot he left, because the bridge would become too dominant then. So give us more on the right, turbulent water and empty sky presumably, so the lighthouse is on the 1/3 left line, and would the image be stronger? I don't think so, I think it would be less focused and intense.

****

Great work, Drake. For those who think it's overprocessed, my response is "WTF?" I know overprocessing, LOL, and by my standards this is almost too UNDERprocessed. I may take a swing at it with tone mapping just for the hell of it :-)

Goof
by lovethelight

Comment:
GOOD for you! What a cool, unprepossessing shot! I'm glad it did well.

Heir Of The Fog That Bit Me
by Ivo

Comment:
This is a wonderful image, and it's an even more wonderful title. For those who question whether titles have anything to contribute in DPC, I offer this example :-)

Personally, I'm a little bothered by the haloing around his head (it's especially noticeable int he thumb, so you can see what I'm talking about) But not enough to take away my sincere\ enjoyment of this marvelous image.

Curb
by chromeydome

Comment:
Hah! I was your 9, dude... I can't believe I'm the ONLY voter who thought this was worth more than an 8, sheesh...

Offerings
by Tez

Comment:
Ridiculously underrated. There's something utterly timeless about this scene. It *transports* me, and that's what I like pictures to do.