I am truly a bad boy! I know I'm not usually too quick with my comments, but I've at least always done them before the next month's PUG is up! And, if Gianfranco got his in before mine, I know I'm really late! <vbg> I could provide a million excuses (holidays, busy at work/shopping, etc.), but they're all hollow. Timely comments will be my New Year's resolution this year! So, for the December gallery:
Bill Peifer, "Clockworks": Loveley shot! The gleaming detail shows off the type of craftsmanship that devices like old clocks had; the type of craftsmanship that rarely is seen nowadays. Beautiful use of DOF - I like the way the globes closest to and farthest from the camera are a bit out of focus, while the others are in focus. Same goes for the out of focus brass trim around the base - it really snaps the subject to our attention. A few niggling criticisms: Too bad that the vertical structure is at the left of the image. I realize that it couldn't be cropped, to keep all of the globes in the frame. And, my guess is that you couldn't have changed the camera angle for the same effect. Or maybe you like it there. Not a big deal, but I do find it a little bit bothersome. Same thing with the dark areas top right and bottom left (behind the base). You really couldn't crop them, and maybe they weren't noticeable when you took the photo (maybe shadows caused by the flash, not apparent when framing?). And once again, maybe you (and many others) like them, perhaps for their "framing" effect. But, despite these very minor criticisms (that I realize others may not agree with), I like this very much. A beautiful image. Thanks for sharing it. Christian Skofteland, "Dusk Watch": To my mind, a stunning photograph! And if the slide is sharper - then WOW! I love the colours of the sky; did you have to manipulate the image to get them or is that (as I suspect) just the way they were? Beautiful, in any event. That hint of pink upper left is wonderful, and plays beautifully against the tree and birds. Composition is just about perfect, IMHO: birds more-or-less centred (at least horizontally), tree coming up from bottom left, the aforementioned pink balancing the trees in the upper right. I'm not very good at explaining why I like certain compositions, just trust me when I say that I find this very appealing. And the silhouette of the birds/trees sets the perfect mood against the stunning sky. A keeper for sure, Christian! Thanks for sharing it. regards, frank -- "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
