You're not in Chicago any more.

pbromaghin · Oct 26, 2015

Wow. One comment in the critique gallery. Mainly, I posted these because they come out of a new, antique camera and I am so ecstatic that my granddaughter will grow up where she will be a hick and not get shot at. Being a hick is not fatal. Getting shot in random drug violence can be. I grew up a hick not far from this location and in many ways I am still a hick, even after working for 2 Fortune 100 companies and one of the largest non-profits on earth. I really like this series because it captures the idyllic setting that Laostyle17 has entered, where he is dodging duck shit on the dock instead of bullets in the air.

blansky · Oct 26, 2015

Ok I'll comment. As far as the editorial goes and the content of the picture goes they are two different things for me. I'm glad you are where you wish to live and that's all well and good. As for the pictures, they are quite well handled for what you were trying to achieve, namely solitude and I guess safety. In this particular one, I don't like that the head cuts the horizon line. Also the fact that it's an antique camera means nothing really except to you perhaps, which is fine. If, in my opinion you wish to raise the level of gravitas of these pictures, they would need to be black and white. For me the fact that they are in color, gives them a decent snapshot look. I think it's just a fact of life that color makes the pictures rather ordinary, and black and white elevates things to an arty level. I hope I wasn't being to blunt.

pbromaghin · Oct 26, 2015

Blansky, thank you. I really enjoy your technical and artistic criticisms. You and a few others seem always able to put your finger on the things that make my photos come up just short of being good enough. There is always something else to consider next time before triggering the shutter.I guess these don't really belong in the critique gallery because of the non-serious attitude in which they are shot. Yes, solitude and safety are what I was trying to get. It is just a decent snapshot, which is about all I'm looking for when carrying that camera, but it does capture the emotions I felt at that moment.

HiHoSilver · Oct 26, 2015

'Maybe an odd comment, but a hearty agreement w/ pbromaghin on the value of blansky's critiques. Anyone trying to learn/improve needs the input rather urgently. Blunt or otherwise, when blansky takes the time to critique, I listen rather carefully. 'Wish I had my head as well wrapped around the elements of composition. If apug is to have any value as a learning environment, the value of such critiques are priceless. I still shoot color, but am very much falling back in love w/ mono. I do like how the lines of the dock work w/ the horizon line - a bit of a pythagorean fetish, maybe. Having followed some similar lines of history & now living where power goes out a dozen times/yr. The question of how to foreground that peace & joy is not easily answered. They can quickly follow lines of Norman Rockwell or the like. I have to experiment alot & know that few will be winners. Thank goodness for film in 100' rolls. And to every person that takes the time to give quality critiques like blansky.

blansky · Oct 26, 2015

HiHoSilver said:
'Maybe an odd comment, but a hearty agreement w/ pbromaghin on the value of blansky's critiques. Anyone trying to learn/improve needs the input rather urgently. Blunt or otherwise, when blansky takes the time to critique, I listen rather carefully. 'Wish I had my head as well wrapped around the elements of composition. If apug is to have any value as a learning environment, the value of such critiques are priceless. I still shoot color, but am very much falling back in love w/ mono. I do like how the lines of the dock work w/ the horizon line - a bit of a pythagorean fetish, maybe. Having followed some similar lines of history & now living where power goes out a dozen times/yr. The question of how to foreground that peace & joy is not easily answered. They can quickly follow lines of Norman Rockwell or the like. I have to experiment alot & know that few will be winners. Thank goodness for film in 100' rolls. And to every person that takes the time to give quality critiques like blansky.

Thanks guys, but it is just an opinion, like everyone else's, meant as a point of view. One thing about us artys fartsy types is we often get sooooo close to our work, that we fail to see things or since we were actually at the scene, we try to add something that wasn't really there. We are wrapped up in the emotion of what we felt at the time, or something that "spoke to us". And sometimes that "thing" fails to present itself in the print, or something else entirely jumps out. Sometimes our pictures are like a Rorschach test and everyone brings their own baggage and experience to a picture. So basically, I think it's a good idea to take the critique, digest it, and see if it works for you. Don't forget we are all at different points in our arty journey, and what we like today we may change in a couple of years. So there ain't no right answers.

You're not in Chicago any more.

pbromaghin

blansky

pbromaghin

HiHoSilver

blansky

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