Thanks Yves, your critique is largely deserved. Indeed I could have
used a smaller leaf to enhance composition. I do have a more open
view - unfortunately the frog eggs area was not big enough to cover
the entire background, besides that nature of the eggs would be then
hard to distinguish. Finally the scan is not fuzzy, the eggs by
themselves are not sharp subjects. The bottom part of the leaf is
blurred indeed as it pops outside of the depth of field - a lesson for
me to always close one stop over what I see in the viewfinder...
Servus, Alin
YC> - " New Generation " by Alin Flaider
YC> Fallen leaves are one of my favorite and recurrent photographic
YC> theme, so this picture directly grabbed my attention. In
YC> particular, it has a very unusual background: are these frog eggs?
YC> I am really uncertain of what they are! (At first, I thought they
YC> were melting ice droplets, which I had inferred from your
YC> mentioning of snow. I didn't realize that I was probably wrong
YC> before I tried to understand the title.) To be honest, however, I
YC> am not too sure of what to think of the shot: although I
YC> definitely like a lot the various constrats conveyed by the
YC> picture (both visual and semantic), somehow the composition
YC> doesn't work for me.
YC> I find that the pattern of the eggs is a very interesting
YC> background (I'll have to try that!), with a nice contrast between
YC> the lighter and darker portions of the wet eggs. I also like the
YC> strong constrast between the monochrome background and the warm
YC> colors of the leave. I feel that all this can make it a strong
YC> photograph. However, the position of the leaf in the shot does not
YC> please me that much. I find the bright color of the leaf so
YC> overwhelming that my eyes always go back to that bottom right
YC> corner of the frame. I must say however that I haven't imagined a
YC> better position for it. I also have been wondering about removing
YC> the small twig on the left of the leaf, as it distracts from the
YC> main subject of the picture. On the other hand, it gives an other
YC> point for the eye on which to focus, which counterbalances the
YC> power of the leaf presence. Another comment I'd have is that the
YC> image seems very slightly blurred, maybe from scanning. I wonder
YC> if it could benefit from using the "unsharp mask" filter.
YC> After all this thinking, if I imagine I had to take the shot, I
YC> suppose I would try a more open view, in which the leaf appears
YC> smaller, in order to give more importance to the egg pattern and
YC> reduce the leaf visual power. Maybe this could equilibrate their
YC> relative impact? (It would also likely emphasizes the life rebirth
YC> theme.) I'd probably also try a much tighter cropping on the leaf.
YC> ----------------------------------------------
YC> Dr. Yves Caudano
YC> Laboratoire LASMOS
YC> Département de Physique
YC> Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix
YC> 61 Rue de Bruxelles
YC> B-5000 Namur
YC> Belgium
YC> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
YC> tel : + 32 (0)81 72 5487
YC> fax : 4707
YC> URL : http://www.fundp.ac.be/sciences/physique/lasmos/
YC> http://www.scf.fundp.ac.be/~ycaudano/
YC> -
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