It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by JC_Homola:
Greetings from the critique club.

Hi,

This is a very powerful image. Agrees with the challenge and is appropriate to the title.

Your use of a monochrome treatment works really well for this topic.

I find myself agreeing with Zeuszen, quite possibly a first ;}.
The prominence of the chapel does detract from the impact of the figure and marker.

A shallower depth of field or use of judicious blurring may help bring the focus back to the central figure.

I like the composition so would not want to get rid of it all together. It does add to the piece as a whole.

There is a lot of tension and a dark mood/tone. Again something I find very appealing in an image. Especially one done with the purpose of conveying a specific theme.

Darkness for the sake of darkness is all well and good, and you know I do enjoy images that are underexposed or intentionally lacking in bright highlights.

This image, is more than gratuitous darkness, the lack of highlighting is in itself an element. My eye wanders the image seeking more information. I wonder if I look closer will I see more in the grasses? Will I see a name on the cross, etc etc.

I love images that make me do that.

Congratulations on a very fine entry.

peace,
JC

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by zeuszen:
The -darkness- of this image is tenuously complimented by a quietly interpretive title. The intimacy communicated by this juxtaposition as well as the close perspective appear to attract the viewer to a very private realm.

The only area of interest, to me, is the grassy foreground and everything to the left of the church. While the church with its rudimentary, barn-like construction is not without interest, I feel, that the drama addressed with this capture would have been more purely and effectively presented without its presence in such proximity.

Particularly striking is the indeterminability of a specific visual point of interest. The subject, instead, is all-encompassing. The ambiguous evidence of 'something unfinished' (just beyond the grass, to both the left and right of the mourner) is especially convincing, since it suggests either 'things left undone' or a freshly dug grave.

To me, this is a powerful and moving photograph with a considerable 'human' range - and one not needing much (editing) to rank among the greats.

Message edited by author 2003-11-24 00:12:37.

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by tomlewis1980:
Beautiful shot, full of emotion. Well done.

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by sher:
i love the composition here...the cross on both sides of the image really balances it. the tone helps to achieve the emotional impact. a couple of bothersome spots in the sky is my only nitpick. good work!

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by mizzdragonfly:
Very deep. The colors are amazing. How did you make the colors work for you?

Alone II
by heida

Comment by Miah:
wow, i personally like this one a lot better than the one you submitted for the challenge..

Sacred Grounds
by heida

Comment by StevePax:
Greetings from the Critique Club.

I really like the composition of this shot. I like how the branches of the trees frame the whole scene, and they seem to interlock. Unfortunately, I think that the darkness of this image makes it difficult to see details, especially at the bottom. Under some circumstances, that may be fine, but there are some objects near the bottom that are very distracting; there are some very small bright objects that the lighting doesn't let me identify. Rather than enjoying the shot as a whole, I find myself squinting to try to figure out what those things are at the bottom.

Sleepy head
by heida

Comment by brusska:
Er þetta minn??

It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
by heida

Comment by Dave Gordon:
A very emotional picture, and it really illustrates the title.

Proud mom
by heida

Comment by joannadiva:
What a beautifull family you have there