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| Gallery Picks of the Show
2 Men, 2 Visions by Dick Bennett and Carl Crumley
Gallery
Partners' have chosen their "Picks of the Show"
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All images copyright by the individual photographers
Partners' Picks |
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Leopard Cub
by Dick Bennett
Dick Bennett has produced this
captivating photograph of a beautiful leopard cub. For good reason he
needed to take this photograph from a significant distance from the cub
and by shooting through a variety of interfering subject matter. By
using selective focus he was able to isolate the cub and the gray rock
upon which he/she is perched as the only subject matter that is
distinctly in focus. The viewer’s attention, like in all photographs, is
attracted to the sharpest objects in the image. By virtue of its
sharpness the leopard cub perched upon the gray rock becomes the subject
of the photograph.
There are other reasons that our eyes and
minds are attracted to the cub. Stare for a moment at the two eyes of
the cub. Notice that the cub’s eyes stare directly back at you. Dick
skillfully captures this threatening feeling of “eye contact” between
the cub and viewers of the image.
The alertness of the leopard
communicates further the feeling that he/she may be ready to charge the
viewer. The body tension of the cub’s shoulders and the slight curl of
it’s paws around the rock seem to produce good positioning for launching
an attack. By capturing these subtle but telling features in his image
Leopard Cub, Dick has produced a powerfully interactive image
linking the leopard cub and the image viewer.
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Angel Fish
by Carl Crumley
The Angel Fish image is part of Carl’s “What is it?” series, one of his
six groupings in the show. Carl
enjoys an eclectic approach to his photography searching for those
images where the “camera sees what the eye can’t see”. The
Angel Fish is one of those images. Carl refers to it as a happy
accident (and we all have those), but recognizing what you have after
the fact is also an important aspect of photography. This
image, shot at a shutter speed less than intended, contains just a bit
of motion blur that makes it a recognizable abstract. An angle fish is
discernable, yet the movement of it has created an other-worldly effect
that is very pleasing to the eye. As
Carl has suggested, our vision of
this scene, would have seen an angel fish in an aquarium.
A camera allows us to play with what we see and create something
that we can’t see with our eyes… slow motion captured in a still frame!
Nice work Carl.
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Sleepy by Joann Long
Utilizing color, selective focus and composition, Joann has
created a beautiful photograph.
The lush green of the background and the leaf compliment the
green of the frog. The use of selective focus renders the
background a neutral pallet on which the leaf and frog are then
the subject of interest. Outdoor photography is often challenged
with overly busy backgrounds. By keeping the plants behind our
frog out of focus, this overcomes this potential problem very
effectively.
The way the leaf has been photographed and the image composed
takes your eye to the face of the napping frog. The lines of
the leaf's center move from the lower right to our model, the
frog! Green is not an easy color to work with photographically.
In this photo Joann works with variations on the color green to
make for a wonderful example of how to keep an image almost
mono-chromatic but still be very interesting as a "study in
green".
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Dirty Windows by David
Schroeder
David’s forte lately has been for
minimalization and strong abstracts that highlight texture, color, lines
or whatever he wishes to emphasize as he peers through his lens.
David challenges the viewer to view something specific rather than
stepping back to see the full scene. Dirty Window is a
symmetrical design of six windowpanes, though no one pane is complete in
the frame. Each pane is dirty, but not as in brownish or brackish color
that obscures the view. Rather, it appears as if someone has taken a
brush and finely brushed or swirled a substance on the glass. This
whitish color may have been from a long ago paint decomposition that has
streaked the window. Upon closer examination, as one looks through the
windows there are splashes of color like someone used a large strokes of
different colors on a tapestry. What emerges are blurred colors that
seem to represent plants. What is clear is that David places these
colors in the left side of the frame near the power positions thus
creating a tension with the symmetrical feel of the windowpanes. As with
a landscape image the sharp focus foreground of green plants with
touches of red serve as a counterpoint to the swath of color hiding just
inside the middle ground window that has a pleasing texture. All of this
adds the perception of depth to the photo that may not have been
apparent at first glance.
David searches for patterns and
textures where others may over look or not deem important from a broader
perspective. Ironically, he challenges us to see a broader perspective
within a very tight frame. Dirty Windows is a very pleasing
work of art.
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Whiskers
by Michelle Turner
Michelle has presented an excellent series of
photographs taken on a recent trip to Antarctica. Noted photographer and
educator Jay Maisel teaches that
one component of a good photograph is something he calls “gesture”.
For example, a picture of a small boy with his
hands at his side is far less engaging that one where he is doing
something, like waving or hands on hips, etc. Jay teaches that gesture
is not only something that can be shown by people, but it can be shown
by animals and inanimate objects as well
Another component of a strong photograph is a
strong graphic composition for the viewer to admire.
This photograph presents all of these factors in a very creative
way. The sea lion is not
shown in complete form, only the head and one of its flippers is
presented.
There is a whimsical feeling to the photograph, the
tendency to anthropomorphize animals is something that we all do and
this image allows the viewer to do this, attributing strong feelings
about the subject to the viewer.
The use of minimal color is very effective,
reflecting the minimum pallet that is most likely presented to the
photographer. The blue
background, the amazing actual color of ice in Antarctica nicely frames
the body of the subject.
This photo is NOT just a documentation of what a
sea lion looks like, but is ABOUT the sea lion.
The viewer feels a strong affinity to this animal, and the
enjoyment that it appears to being displaying.
Even lying on the frigid surface of the ice!
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