Bright light, blue skies

[mistress_elaine]

A few more Madeira snapshots...

It wasn't all grey skies when I was in Funchal. I got to spend a few sunny days in the capital, as well, and they were very pleasant. Funchal is a lovely place when the sun is out.

Comments

[mistress_elaine]

Thanks. I wish I could see that blue on your screen. It looks fairly normal on my screen -- dark, but not unnaturally so. I bet your version is far more spectacular...

[anonymous]

although i don't usually do color, i think these are pretty shots. they certainly make you think of the hot mediterranean light.

i think i like the top one best, just the pure geometry of the shapes and the bright bold color. the second one i actually like cropped square, just about at the top edge of the shrub in the planter. the third one is my least fave because the "chunk" of the building thrusts into the scene in a disruptive manner. [all of course, being only my opinions, and worth what you paid for them].

[mistress_elaine]

Thank you. :-)

I see what you mean about the square crop on the second one. It could certainly work that way (and would probably result in a very appealing geometrical composition), but it would rob the photo of its most distinctly Portuguese element: the blue-and-white azulejos tiles. They were the main reason I took the photo, so I opted to keep them in when I edited the photo. I may try a square version, though, at some point. Thanks for the suggestion.

As for the other two photos, I've been wondering whether they would work in black and white, since they're all about lines and contrast rather than colour. I think I'll give black and white a shot at some point.

I see what you mean about the building ruining the third photo. It's not a very pretty building, is it? For me, though, that's exactly what the photo is about: the contrast between the vaguely elegant, old-fashioned vane on the left and the ugly, modern shape on the right. It's not pretty per se, but I sort of like the contrast in styles.

[taotianone]

i'm probably just picking on the second shot because its too tall to see on my monitor without scrolling...lol, not a reason very well suited to an aesthetic argument in the first place. i did try it your way, i cropped it square, but kept the bottom this time. i cropped it more or less just about at the line of the shadow from the roof, and i like it that way too. the blue tile work is quite pretty.

i'm cool with your reasoning on the last one. it also raises another old photo issue...captioning. you can have a photo of almost anything, but you may have to caption it if you want everyone to see the same thing in it that you see. sometimes, its obvious what the point of the photo was; sometimes not.

hey, by the way. i remembered my password. i'm born again.

[mistress_elaine]

Personally, I think that if I had to crop the second photo, I'd go for the top half rather than the bottom half, since the top half has that lovely contrast between diagonal lines and vertical ones. I think that would probably make for a more "artistic" composition than the bottom half, or the current full-length version for that matter. And yet I'm sort of attached to the full-length version, because that's the shot I saw when I was taking the photo, and this is very much travel photography, not art photography... I'll see. I'll probably try a square crop next week, along with black-and-white versions of the two other photos.

Captions may be a good idea. I usually try to convey some idea of what a photo is all about for me in my subject line or introduction, but when I lump several photos together in one post, I may have to think of captions. Thanks for the suggestion.

As for "taotianone", is that taotian as in "heinous", "monstrous"? Interesting username...

[taotianone]

more like one who lives in a place called "taos". i try to avoid being monstrous or heinous in my comments. as to the middle photo, your attachment to it is the thing; its your pic and that's what matters in the end.

this logging in thing is quite cool. your comment came in an email; i didn't have to go digging for it. wish i'd thought of in-logging a long time ago.

[mistress_elaine]

A place called Taos? Heh. Interesting. And here I was thinking I was being a clever sinologist...

Being logged in is completely cool. There's a reason why so many people like it. :-)

I've added your journal to my friends list. I look forward to seeing more of your black and whites!

[shizunde]

luv them.

the crop in the 1st one is very good. beautiful geometry, and colour, of course. i love blue skies & white houses.

i like a lot the second one. as it is. i like the portuguese azulejos, and i think it works great as a whole. it's a beautiful spot & view (i know i'm explaining myself very badly).

i see what you like in the last one (specially since i've read the previous comment ^__^v) i think the problem with it is that the building isn't straight. if it was it'd be a really awesome picture.
*sighs* it's awful when real life isn't as it should be. specially when there's no straight lines *i'm so nice*

[mistress_elaine]

Thanks! They're just snapshots, really, but I like them. I'm glad you do, too. :-)

Yes, white houses and blues skies are a great combination. They're one of my favourite things about Mediterranean countries -- and China. I love white Chinese houses. It's a pity so many of them are being tiled over. White Chinese houses with tiles on the walls look rather like... bathrooms.

I agree the third picture would have been better if the building had been straight, but I don't really mind it not being straight. Normally that sort of thing does bother me, but in this picture, it somehow doesn't. Interesting.