On a Summer's Day

[aprilS]

Also a larger view (revised).

[Theo]

Where do i begin april? I really love it all the perspective works real well. I love the low to the ground feeling like i'm a kid rolling around on the grass. The clouds mimic the grasses in the front and the tall wispy feel of the taller grass makes me see the wind blowing the clouds along the past. Its almost as they are moving the clouds along on their way. Then you see that big black rail and it gives a sense of a path or a break in the grass even though you don't see it. and the surprise of the people nice although i think the picture could stand on its own with out them. I love the way the horizontal lines are on the thirds ie the railing and the hard grass or weeds in the lower third horizontal.

That said
the foreground seems a little flat would wounder if you did some dodging and burning in the grasses to give a little more depth. thats it for anything that i would change

as alway i really appreciate your works and your comments and advice

YOurs

[eob]

I like the general composition. It complements the theme and the subject of this photo. So does the color palette. Classical geometry helps convey the mood of a lazy, hot summer day by the sea.

I was studying this image for a while and something looked weird to me. Then, I switched to the enlarged version and that's when I noticed some strange things going on with the distribution of sharpness. I realize that some of the blur is due to relatively slow shutter speed, but that blur in combination with the depth-of-field-blur gives an impression that there's more than one focal point in this picture. In other words, I see closest grasses on the bottom unsharp, then there is a sharp area of grasses, then unsharp figures of people and sharp railing just behind them. Quite confusing...

[habakuk]

Somehow, and I start to comment where eob stopped, this multiple focal planes is what really makes me stay within the shot. Yes, it is confusing, it gives a weird sense, especially the blurred persons in the background. But it also makes me feel like looking at a painting. And this mixture of sharp and blurred, that highly saturated look, these pinky clouds really make me think of a oil painting.

What really strikes me is the fact that the blurred persons are both, blurred AND sitting in a hotspot of the composition...

The blur also seems to suggest heat, the sky and the moving grass suggests a fresh breeze. This is what I like here.

cheers
®

[aprilS]

eob, you are exactly right: this is a composite of two shots with different points of focus -- and perhaps I should have posted to the section "Postprocessing Techniques".

I received a number of suggestions for improving the foreground, so it wasn't working. But Theo, I liked your idea for trying to create more depth, and gave it a try:



The change is subtle, but an improvement I think because it helps clarify the layering bottom to top (or, front to back).

Lying in the grass, heat, a path toward a walk along the sea (or in this case, a very big lake :), a summer breeze... I'm very glad these associations came across for each of you, because that is what I hoped to bring out.

[Theo]

your right it is very subtle so much i sence it rather than see it.

yours