Shadows (Part 1)

[mistress_elaine]

As I said earlier, I took heaps of shadow pictures on my last holiday, many of which came out reasonably well. The only one which really disappointed me was the one below, which turned out to have been taken from the wrong angle, or possibly from the wrong distance -- something no amount of Photoshopping could do anything about. As I edited the

Comments

[cosmiccircus]

i love how you're always experimenting!

[mistress_elaine]

I love how you always find nice things to say! Thanks, Scott. :-)

[taotianone]

this is beautiful. i even like its off-kilter orientation. because of the deep shadow at the top, it actually looks like the image is a pentagram, which could be used in many graphic design applications. if i were you, i'd start saying that i did it this way on purpose. [in the 'bigger' version, my monitor effectively crops part of it and i don't think it's any improvement.]

just by the by, when i first glanced at this, it immediately reminded me of the noirish way the streets of vienna appeared in "the third man." nice work.

[mistress_elaine]

The Third Man, eh? That is a wonderful compliment. I love the cinematography of The Third Man and very much had that look in mind when I edited this photo. I'm glad I apparently succeeded in reproducing it.

As for the pentagram, you're giving me all sorts of wicked ideas. I wish I had more time to do something with them...

Thanks!

ok...

[smitheliot]

here we go.
i like the image as it is. i don't care for the diagonal orientation. as a teacher, what my students do when they are dissatisfied with the way they composed the image, is they twirl it on the mat or twirl it while HANGING it. to me, it is a sign that the person doesn't like their own composition.

again, i like this as a horizontal shot. i like how i get the character of the objects only by the shadows they leave. in a way, that's kinda what photography does (on a different scale).
s

Re: ok...

[mistress_elaine]

Whoa hey, actual criticism! How very refreshing. You must be a teacher. :-)

I think I see what you mean. When I look at the picture now, tilting my head and ignoring the big, black frame, I see an OK composition that didn't really need to be rotated. However, when I looked at it last night, while doing my editing, the original composition struck me as very static and rigid. My compositions often have something rigid about them. Most of the time I like that, but last night I didn't. I was convinced the shadows needed to be diagonal. So I flipped the picture around. I was actually kind of proud of myself for trying it, for being slightly more experimental than I usually am. Guess that tells you what an immature and inexperienced photographer I am...

I'm sure I will one day re-edit the photo in its original, horizontal orientation. Hopefully you will like it better then. :-)

[zancro]

Yes... I really like this one too! Happy upcoming Birthday!

[mistress_elaine]

Thanks and thanks! I had a nice day. :-)