This is so far one of the top ten photographs that keep going in my mind. Minimalist, Successful and impossible-easy. I saw you had a comment answering some of the questions but I actually prefer not to read it. The strongest point about this photo might seam to be the empty space, but I'd say it's the freedom of interpretation you provide your "readers" with through a simplistic view over big creatures seaming so object-like forms in the forever blue. I personally would have burnt the upper blue but I'm not serious about it. This is good enough, un-distracting enough to distract me while viewing the photo for the n-th time. It actually inspired me to listen to Philip Glass's Einstein on the beach while enjoying the wonders. I might sound too exaggerated but I do like it.
I personally thought this was one of the best uses of NS. I loved (still do) it. It makes me want to grab it and flip it upside down to see if the cows will land on their feet :)
just a suggestion, occasionally it helps to use the selective color and replace color filters (which are legal) in photoshop to enhance colors (blues, greens) and wash out others (magenta, yellow). doing this before despeckling can leave the rest of the photograph less fuzzy, if the noise is uniform enough. or i guess just overexpose a smidgen if the cows arent moving.
this is otherwise a great picture, and that is the reason im taking the time to stop and comment on it.
WONDERFUL!!! Congrats. WOW, you really did luck out on that day - Personally, I give you a lot of credit to capture something so great on the spur of the moment.
This is just one of those magical moments where everything was right and you happened to have the camera in your hand. Well done - this made me laugh out loud. I love it.
To answer a couple of questions, here’s the story behind the photo:
I live in an area with polders that are surrounded by dikes to keep the water outside. When standing close enough to a dike, all objects behind it are out of sight and all you basically see is the grass on the dike and the huge amount of sky above it. The dikes are covered with grass and are used as a grazing-areas for sheep, horses and cows. The animals look very small in the wide landscape and that’s what I wanted to show in a photo. I found that the best way to show it was by using extremes: a maximum amount of sky, a minimum amount of ground and just a very small looking animal.
While driving around looking for a good shot, I noticed a couple of cows walking on top of a dike. The first cow was standing and grazing, while the other two where walking towards the first one. When I stopped my car and got outside, with the camera already switched on, the first cow stopped grazing and looked towards me and at the same time the other cows stopped walking. I made a photo of this hilarious and unique situation and right after that the cows started grazing and walking again. Besides that, it was the only day of the week with a clearly, cloudless blue sky, so I really was at the right spot at the right time :)
I had to “despeckle” the photo to get rid of some disturbing noise in the blue sky. Because I had to apply it to the whole image, it made the cows a little fuzzy too. I did sharpen the image afterwards to improve it as best as possible and it looked pretty good on my screen (resolution 1024x768). I’ve seen that it doesn’t look that good on lower screenresolutions though.
Great idea! Truly a great photo. I almost gave this a 10 but I felt that the negative space just overpowered the idea ever so slightly and left an impression I can't quite describe....but a solid 9 verging on a 10..hokie
Awesome, made me laugh. yup, you're missing a cow. I like how you cropped it just at the ground level with just a little it of great. Great composition. 10
I'm changing my vote on this one. First I gave it a 5. Seemed like waay to much space, and not my art school definition of negative space. But the image has stuck with me. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and thought "I know what it is". Where I live, there iss NEVER that much space. It all gets filled in with trees and bushes and telehone poles and such. The whole point of the picture IS the space, and the cows are the secondary part. Great picture! sorry I'm just so slow. Must be why people on the coasts are attracted to the sea, it's the only place that isn't cluttered with nature. 9
You don't own a Gateway pc do you? :) I like the idea behind this photo but I don't find it particularly effective. Granted you have a ton of "negative space" in the sky but in framing like this I feel you've greatly diminished impact of the cows, which one would assume to be the subject. I think you should have definitely used less of the sky and included a lot more of the ground because since the subjects are far away even though you would have a blue sky and green foreground that space would still be "negative" because your subject, which we would be drawn to by following the grass and sky, would still be the cows (as long as they foreground isn't cluttered). Score: 6 Courtenay
There are many shots this week of a subject near the lower region of the image with oceans of background. To me, many of these lack a creative or interesting use of that space. In this photo, however, I see a whimsical punch line, cleverly done. The open sky is a comic yarn leading the viewer to a resolution of three cows. Mildly absurdist, it reminds me of the smartly mysterious philosophy in Douglas Adams’ “So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish,” with a smack of Gary Larson for good measure. Great shot! I’m glad you waited for the last cow to look straight at the camera. 9
This is great! It made me laugh and I think that it would make a good poster. Colors are nice and the composition is perfect for this challenge. I do think it looks just a bit soft, though this is partly due to the 640x480 size limitation. I downloaded the image and sharpened it and think it looked better afterwards.
Composition: I think this would have worked better with sharper focus and a little less sky! I like your idea though 5 Lighting: 6 Appeal: 6Total Rating 6Sulamk
In one sense, I like this a lot... it made me chuckle a bit. My only gripe is that I don't think the sky is really adding the "wow" that the negative space challenge is seeking. Still cool, though!
well, looks like Frank is late again...this shot made me lol. how did you get those cows to line up with the perfect amount of spacing for another cow? that is the important space here...love it. (9) ~mcmurma
This is great :) The vertical orientation of the photo definitely adds a WOW factor to the image... i originally gave this a 7 on my first vote pass... the more i think about it, the higher i want to score it... = 10 - jmsetzler
Exaggerated negative space! I love it! Great colors, I love the one cow looking this way. How did you get them all lined up like that? I hope you'll share your secret when the voting is over.
Great work Great use of Neg Space!!! What really makes this work is the very slim line of the horizon - any more of the grass shown would just not work. The neg space really changes the atmosphere of this pic. Its drastic and seemingly over usage of neg space really puts a punch in this photo. GOT MILK (I'm sure no-one else said that...LOL) This could be an ad. Awesome 10 Ruthann Now this makes a statement - (just don't ask me wich statement) (updated)
My only ten this week.. At last someone who understands the concept in this weeks challenge. The main focal point are small enough to be incidental against the sky.. 10 out of 10.
LOVE this shot. The cows did well with the composition! Cows a little unfocused for me, but I'm not going to let that bother me a whole lot. Terrific neg spc. lhall-9
More grass, less sky? I don't know for sure, but I think it would improve this photo. I know the neg. space dilemna, I had the same problem. Overall, this is an interesting and visually appealing photo, so well-done!
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