I've just arrived for a few weeks in Tasmania.
These silos near the ferry terminal provide an opportunity for abstract images.
I am interested to hear what others think about the difference between the firstt two images. The first is as shot, with the top of the right silo just visible. Cropping the image to exclude it spoilt the composition. The second version is altered by cloning to make it more "clean". What do you think of the difference? Is it trivial? Do you prefer one to the other?
Out of the first two, I prefer the second. Out of the five I prefer number 4. To me vertical subjects lend themselves more to portrait orientation. Love the tones and texture.
Thanks, Chris. I expect most people would prefer the "cleaner" No. 2. For me, that litlle triangle balances the composition out a bit better. I think... Or maybe not... ;-)
As I said elsewhere, I do particularly value your opinion.
I prefer the 2nd, primarily due to the increased contrast between shadow and light.
#4 is interesting due to the ambiguity it presents (which is behind, which in front?).
Thanks, Alan. You weren't supposed to notice the tonal differences! But you're quite right. I did my cloning too early in processing, eager to see it if could be done unobtrusively, and it worked so well I thought I'd better leave it as it might well be the best I could manage. THEN i realised I hadn't finalised the tones...
I hadn't thought of the ambiguity in 4, probably because I know all too well what's what. But that's an added bonus. Thanks for the observation.
Chris, I have been staring at the first 2 allowing my eyes to go back and forth between which silo is in front and which is in back. As for the crop, I think I like the second because it doesn't bound me to the top of the photo. Experience tells me that little ridge in the first is as high as the silo goes; but it the second, it's height is limitless if I choose it to be so. The shadow being small enough to fit onto the side of this silo adds to the feeling that these two are the senior fellows (another reason to not "cap off" the silo in the first crop).
The final 2 images are so fun just like those first two except more so because you have a juggling of the positions of three silos rather than two - #4 is especially intriguing. This one in particular instantly makes me think of an American science fiction movie from the 1950s or an episode of the old Twilight Zone series. In #4 your highlights, shadows, contrast is spot on and even 1950s cinematic!
Really enjoying all the work you've been posting!
Thanks, Jennifer! As ever, your remarks are thoughtful & generous. And thought-provoking.
You make a good point that never occurred to me about 1 vs 2 - I was thinking purely of abstract form, whereas you've imaginatively gone to a suggestion of a story here. Which is significant, because there is no really abstract art - it would be meaningless, not move us as it can, if it did not imply some reality, perhaps an imagined one - something we can relate to as humans.
The ambiguity about which silo is in front never occurred to me until you & Alan mentioned it - I can certainly now see it in the first pair.
Funnily enough, I was thinking ot "The Twilight Zone" recently! (And, dare I say, "My Favorite Martian"!) And I did have '50s movies and movie stills in mind as I was processing. Giant rocketship? Mind you, "Uncle" Martin's little personal spacecraft was a very cool, graceful, streamlined machine. Space hot rod.
Giant rocket ship works, OR every time I look at it, I see the opening scene of an old Twilight Zone episode set on another wasteland of a planet. These would be some sort of power source or something that this particular civilization relies on to live. My Favorite Martian!? That first appeared a decade before I was born. By the time I was a teenager, it was a "cool" novelty "old-time" show to watch. I remember watching it and enjoying it, but I can't remember any particular episodes. I haven't thought of it for a long time; so I'll have to watch an episode again!
Chris Jablonski Between first two, the second. Image 4 too is interesting.