Spotlighted
by Melethia

Comment by raish:
Darkness is necessary in a study of light. I'm wondering what could make this better and I'm not getting anywhere with the wondering. I think you could probably lose the strip of light in the foreground and crop to the shadow above it. He cuts a lovely figure and is showing proper respect for what he's looking at, but if he were St Paul on the road to Damascus he would be looking at the source of the light instead of away from it. Where he's looking it becomes more a study of the architecture than a study of the light and my wondering asks if a bit of the architecture could be more clearly illuminated there ... Not in basic editing.
Also it's a candid and a study of the man, so there's no 'improvement' needed there.

Poem:

Autumnal Retirement

When old folks' final days are halcyon
and leave them something, even of this slow
awareness that is all we ever know,
they talk. Old ears enjoy the conversation;
their voices play up in the minor tone.
Their arcane, everyday arpeggio
moves to its own tunes, like the flow
of water in the tide charts of an ocean.

A cutting edge crests up upon a wave,
a stirring in the rising of the tide
but, where they once behaved heroically,
there is no challenge left to make them brave;
nothing to make, to alter, or decide.
Events occur now, tautologically.

Vines
by Melethia

Comment by jomari:
What you have done to those clouds is just fantastic.

Wall guy
by Melethia

Comment by jomari:
Much more impact than the original, though that is fine anyway. You have really emphasized the textures. The picture is really well shot, coz it looks like the wall guy is grabbing that bucket by the rim intending to make off with it.

Message edited by author 2009-05-01 19:43:15.

Tree house
by Melethia

Comment by rlmichael:
Very creative,Great shot, Good luck, Mike

Tree house
by Melethia

Comment by Kavey:
Unusual both in content and composition. Works well, for me. Quirky.

Vines
by Melethia

Comment by Yo_Spiff:
Nice conversion to b/w. As I experiment with it, I'm finding that Topaz if often just the thing to give a b/w some zing. I'm saving any real discussion of it for the SC, though.

Skimming
by Melethia

Comment by Teafran:
A curious theme in this challenge are images being too tall. This image would have presented a much more positive impression if it had been shorter concentrating the viewer on the bird and not the background. With a little shorter image, the viewers eye would be attracted to the bird rather than the background increasing the soft focus effect from a negative to a positive. It's almost abstract in concept and that to this reviewer is a plus. While size is a minor issue, sometimes it can have great impact on an image and this is one of those instances. A good solid entry into the challenge originally rated a 6 and rerated to a 7.

Skimming
by Melethia

Comment by stargazer05766:
Superb i love it..

Spotlighted
by Melethia

Comment by Germaine:
Fantastic capture, and how considerate of the fellow to stand there long enough to let you get this sharp shot. Those orange pants are something else!

I wonder how this would be in b&w.

Spotlighted
by Melethia

Comment by LevT:
the way his legs echo the columns, and the beautiful light create a wonderful balance and atmosphere in this shot. Great work, Deb!