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Chris Jablonski's picture

Rock Pool

A quiet corner late on a winter afternoon at the top of Turret Falls in the Grampians in Victoria.

For some reason, I'm rather suddenly drawn to monochrome. This simple scene seemed particularly suited to a monochrome rendition on account of the graphic shapes, and removing colour adds to the abstraction.

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7 Comments

Oooh, very nice. Love the tones.

Thanks, Chris. I value your opinion. :-)

I really like this Chris, it's a real attention grabber.

That said it feels slightly off on the bottom for my liking (white line leading me out of the frame?). A slight crop works better for my own taste, but in any case, it's a wonderful image.

Thanks, Alan.You make a good point point about the composition. I hate cropping, so almost always try for the best composition possible in the 2:3 aspect ratio which is a bit too elongated. However, it's good for some images, and I like the challenge it can present. I could well be accused of pointless stubbornness, I realise!

I thought that when the major camera makers went "full-frame" with digital, they missed an opportunity: they ought have maximised the image area possible with the image circle of the existing lenses, but using the √2:1 (≈1.41:1) aspect ratio of the A paper series (A4, A2 etc). With digital, the rectangle proportions are totally arbitrary. The Micro Four Thirds digital system, for one, is a good idea. There has been a rather slavish devotion to the 35mm aspect ratio by small-sensor makers. After all, it was only created by Leica to squeeze in the biggest reasonably-possible image on 35mm film by running it the "wrong" way through the camera. A pragmatic choice. hardly a purist one.

Some of my long Nikon teles have a gate to block out extraneous light besides the film gate in the camera. This would have admittedly been be a problem.

This is a beautifully tranquil image, Chris. I appreciate everything about it - minimalism, abstractness, composition, and b&w. I have to admit that I agree with Alan on the crop. The reason is that it tells more of a story of this alien form's travels from the narrow dark (unknown to us) passageway above to where it has stopped a moment to explore. Less on the bottom creates more forward (downward) movement. I am loving this image.

Thanks, Jennifer, for your kind words. It was an awkward image to frame up, as I could barely get my eye over the viewfinder, the tripod was nearly overbalancing, and I had a sheer drop on my right.

Having said that, I'm not sure I would have noticed the point you & Alan make on the composition had I had a better view.

I guess on reflection, given the above, I was pleased there were any keepers from the series (I made variations of orientation, focal length & framing as usual, as well as waiting for the foam to form a pleasing shape).

Well, you really did an amazing job with all you had going against you. I still love stopping by to see it.