Hope you agree with the move to that of 'photography-> water', Mikel.

And on that note, might have been tempted to hold off posting this till the next contest starts.

Unless.. there will be others. :o)


You may be aware of Mary's; aka solita17 art in this vein ... as well as ... Rob; aka third_eye who shared a similar passion for shots like these. If not, check out their personal galleries.


The suggested movement on the water's surface is indeed entrancing.

And speaking of suggestions..

Lower perspective, perhaps?

Which will change depending on the circumstances.

Here, the thought is to heighten the interplay of lines created by the ripples and reflected subject by incorporating more perspective/employing a more 'angled' shot.


Clarity and focus are good good. As is, the colours. (That was hella nice camera.)

Funny thing is, I've been trying to take this exact same image, but none of my shots quite make what I see in my head... and it's still challenging me. Congrats! This is very very very close to my mind's eye. ;-)
mary

Simple and lovely, Mikel.

Hi, Mikel...

Once again you have elevated photography into the rarefied air of a very fine art form on the level of a very delicate Fabergé egg. Pretty tough to critique near perfection. Once again I don't see the need to change the perspective. You say potahto, I say potayto. It's a matter of taste, and this tastes absolutely delicious to silly ol' me. There was a contest a few years ago called "Simplicity". I specifically went to Morro Bay at sunrise to get a shot of the rippled wet sand at the receding water line just as the sun cleared the mountains to the east. I knew exactly what I wanted and got it. There was a really nice blend of reflections of orange from the sunrise mixed with blue from the sky. Amazingly I won the contest. The whole point is to shoot what looks good to you while listening to constructive comments after you post the shot with the hope that someone might make a comment that makes you think, right? For what it's worth, this one's another beauty. Imaginative, provocative, unique. That puts you in the upper .005 percentile here on Caedes. Brilliant work. If I had an AC nomination available, this would get it. Once again, I applaud you, award you a single "fave", two tahs and a dah (as in tahtah dah) and two ataboy's.

Roger

I just love these kind of pictures, keep trying and...posting!

Color, reflection and movement of the water are perfect :o)

Very nice reflections in blue. I like this photo.

Perspective is fine as is. Lowering it would continually reduce the reflections and perceived depths to nothing, the lower you go. Well captured, Mikel.

Original or creative? Both, Mikel!

Regards, Cornelius.

Nature's abstracts are my favorites. Inky swirls in the ripples of slight movement add much visual appeal as it makes me immediately feel transported to waters edge or a slow rowing boat.

You'll have to forgive me here, Mikel (and Doug as well.. who is far more knowledgeable than myself and someone who's opinion, critical eye and knowledge I respect).

I had downloaded your image and messed around with it some to try and achieve what I saw in my mind's eye, taking into consideration my words/comments above.

Just for my own benefit, initially.

As I do like to while away some (creative) time pleasantly doing just this ... when inspired by an image.


Long story short (maybe?) ... here is the result of that playtime:

"An Old Obsession" - reworked

Not quite a true rework, per se.

More so, that of seeing what results could be achieved by simply employing the Edit -> Transform -> Perspective function in Photoshop (with some additional post processing).


Changes are somewhat subtle, I know ... just was moved to share the results. Hope you don't mind.

As I am want to say at times, a high compliment is to be able to do just that.. inspire creativity in another person.

So..

Thanks for this image and the inspiration. :o)

Outstanding shot! Makes a great DT! I love the colors:)

Very well composed and interesting reflection of waves.
Ed.

Outstanding and love it, great action in the water with those reflections. Gorgeous colours

Hi Les. Interesting idea, posting the rework link right under the original, shoulda thought of that myself. :) I had to disagree with one thing you said, that your changes are "subtle", your rework feels like a soundly different image to me, yours has more drama and extremity, excellent qualities. For me, the original is close to the feeling of "slow time", something languid and pensive, which is a fundamental element of what this particular obsession is about. It is a problem with our constructive critiques, mine as much as anyone's, we cannot possibly know what the original photographer was trying to create and a fair portion of our critique passes out of technique and into the realms of personal taste without us even noticing it. I really appreciate the people who make the time consuming and erg consuming effort to give me detailed and considered feedback and I always read those carefully and look at my shot again, hard, with those comments in mind. Thanks for the all the work Les.
Mikel.

Beautifully Taken!!

"It is a problem with our constructive critiques, mine as much as anyone's, we cannot possibly know what the original photographer was trying to create and a fair portion of our critique passes out of technique and into the realms of personal taste without us even noticing it."

Good good observation, Mikel. And one that I wholeheartedly agree with.

That said..

Thanks for taking the time to respond on your image's page here and you are more than welcome for the other look/interpretation.

'Cause.. that is all that it is. Just my visually fleshing out my thoughts on your image.

Truly amazing capture!