The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Sandsend, North Yorkshire, England
A scary looking weathered piece of groyne sticks out of wet sand at sandsend bay on the Yorkshire coast. When I saw it I immediately thought of Edvard Munch and his highly disturbing piece of work, The Scream. I did a colour version but arguably I think this has more presence and menace as a high contrast black and white image.
Specific Feedback
Any feedback welcome.
Technical Details
Pentax 67II, 90-180 zoom, f5.6 1/60 second, Fuji Velvia 50, scanned on a Nikon 9000ED Scanner and converted to mono in Channels on Photoshop CS5.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Yes, it reminds me of one of those New Guinea masks I used to admire years ago. I think the blurry hill in the background adds a lot as opposed to a homogeneous white background. I also like that the mask doesnāt merge with but that it floats over it. In fact, you can pretend that you donāt know what that is. The only suggestion would be to remove the āwhiskersā? You obviously left them on purpose, though, so you clearly think they should stay. Maybe darken them in to make them more prominent then? Just ideas. I tried different ideas but nothing that improves this, just different. Overall, I like the mystery of it, It could be a mask but it could me many things really.
Aah yes the whiskers, that was supposed to represent his tonsils in a wide open mouth. The trapped stone a button nose and the lopsided holes, the distorted eyes. It was taken some while ago (about ten years), a recently posted image by another NPN contributor brought it to mind again.
Hi Ian, Quite a powerful image, well seen. I like the whiskers. Such details for me ground the image by connecting it to the natural world it is drawn from.
Great choice to present it in B/W. Adds to the dark, menacing mood of what I see as a guard protecting the beach from those who would dare to enter. I see the āwhiskersā (uvula?) as a stick person with arms raised fleeing from whatever it is that requires guarding. Great shot.
Hello Ian,
My old mate. I like this very much, but after reading Igorās comment about āwhiskersā and your response suggesting ātonsilsā I zoomed in to āfull sizeā and was amazed at what I saw.
I suggest that you too take a closer look to see a āstick manā hanging-on for his life in the hope of not being digested!
The comparative scale of the distant hills and miniature figure then give a whole new dimension to the monsterās head!
Impressive indeed, if not slightly disturbing while Iām sat here alone in a darkened room.
Sleep well knowing what youāve created!
Nigel
Phone isnāt working at the moment so just thought I would let you know the aurora is spiking very big tonight and indeed last night. Around 800 thatās a huge red warning. Not sure if you are in Blighty at the moment but if you are point the camera roughly north at 2000ISO on f/4 with a wide angle lens for around 10 seconds and see if any colour in the sky you donāt need a tripod to see if itās there.
Hello Ian,
My old mate. I like this very much, but after reading Igorās comment about āwhiskersā and your response suggesting ātonsilsā I zoomed in to āfull sizeā and was amazed at what I saw.
I suggest that you too take a closer look to see a āstick manā hanging-on for his life in the hope of not being digested!
The comparative scale of the distant hills and miniature figure then give a whole new dimension to the monsterās head!
Impressive indeed, if not slightly disturbing while Iām sat here alone in a darkened room.
Sleep well knowing what youāve created!
Nigel
Hi Ian,
What, your trusty old phone isnāt working! I suggest you apply more coal & water before igniting and standing well back.
Iām now back in the UK, so thanks for Northern Lights tip-off. Sadly the weather at home has changed from sunny days and clear nights, to cloud and rain - so thereās no chance whatsoever of seeing anything tonight across NW England .
Nigel
Oh dear itās as clear as a very clear thing up here. If only you lived in Scotland, what larks youād have. We had a mega storm a couple of days ago. I was forced to quiver beneath my computer desk.
Hi Ian,
What, your trusty old phone isnāt working! I suggest you apply more coal & water before igniting and standing well back.
Iām now back in the UK, so thanks for Northern Lights tip-off. Sadly the weather at home has changed from sunny days and clear nights, to cloud and rain - so thereās no chance whatsoever of seeing anything tonight across NW England .
Nigel
As clear as a clear thing, eh, Iām glad weāve cleared that up. (However, what Iām not not so clear about is why my replies are being duplicated and their isnāt in sequence.)
Re being located in Scotland: be careful what you wish for because just the other day Bea and I were actually discussing how, once the place in Poland is built, we (well, I) might divide our time between Poland in Spring and Summer and Scotland for Autumn and Winter. Now that would be a lark.
|