Robz Thread - the Light of Change

[Rhynome]

Robz, what's that in your avatar photo? Care to share something with us since we've all stepped into the light of change?:D

Just to get the ball rolling I suppose:

Namibia

1.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/moi/namibia/back%20of%20neck.jpg
It's a bok/buck, maybe springbok, or it could be Vlad the Impala, I'll try and remember. I maybe could cut a little off the bottom of the photo, but it was in there when I took it, so I'm keeping it for now.

2.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/moi/namibia/Salt%20Pan%20Tree.jpg
Another photo, what a surprise!

3.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/moi/namibia/Lioness.jpg
A lioness, just chillaxin'. The rest of the girls were off shot.
Decided to make 'em a little smaller, save some of your bandwidth, at least.

4.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/moi/namibia/Giraffe%20Lone.jpg
Giraffe! Quite possibly the weirdest animal evar! Also, I believe Gab doesn't like them, so Gab, this one's for you.

5.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/moi/namibia/gunshot%20rock%20tree.jpg
More landscapes in the landscape section, and more that I haven't been bothered to upload.


Hi, all, *waves*!

[If/when the archived threads get moved across I'll just recreate this post in there, maybe.]

[Rhynome]

London

Just some photos of London, different photos to my CA.org thread due to crits I got there and, well, one or two that I just haven't shown.

Update 1: 28 Jan 08.

1.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/touristsbythamesII.jpg
Outside the Tate modern, by the River. Some phorumers said they liked this due to the framing 'cos of the trees.

2.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/lady%20in%20yellow.jpg
Lady in Yellow, the none-bland shot of the bridge. This is apparently preferred to another photo I took which had, well... damn it was dull.

3.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/waterloo%20bridge%20busses.jpg
I don't like this one, but I can't work out why, so I'm putting up here so hopefully you guys can come up with something constructive with it.

4.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/wharf.jpg
Uhm, photo, Canary Wharf, not much more to it, really.

5.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/st%20pauls%20and%20camera.jpg
Just trying to get a little something with the two towers, both entirely different sizes, both different colours, both for different reasons (one is to be seen, the other is for seeing) yet [hopefully] both draw [roughly] the same amount of attention in the photograph. Though the camera seemed to draw more, well, it's darker... what was I expecting?

6.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/southbank%20bench.jpg
It's dark, I have yet to actually get into a habit of tweaking my photos. I was aiming to make the point that I was on a bench and get the bench to frame the pathway. The idea of making it obvious I was on the bench is to make it fit an imaginary narrator saying "I was sitting on the bench". Basically, at that moment, I was working towards some sort of narrative photography. That if I wrote a story which required me, for example, sitting on a bench, then I'd be able to attach this photo to that particular passage.

Help me, photographymob.org; you're my only hope.

[Rhynome]

Foresty Stuffs

[Rhynome]

Continental Europe / European Cities
Much to my credit, when I went to some major European Cities I had one SD Card and could take, well, not many photos, so here are some of them!
Update 1: 30 Jan 08

Paris
1.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Paris%20Eiffel%20Tower%20c.jpg
Come on, you have to set the scene! The Eiffel Tower rising up from the sprawling metropolis of Paris; standing tall so all can look up at its majesty, with romance on her mind and something else on his... Who says I can't be a romantic?

2.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Paris%20Jewish%20Quarter%20Street.jpg
Jewish Quarter... schwarma!

3.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Paris%20Jewish%20Quarter%20Man%20I.jpg
A Sephardi fellow checking out some Hanukkiot.

4.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Paris%20Jewish%20Quarter%20Man%20II.jpg
Same chap checking me out, aww yeah!

Prague
5.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Prague%20Citadel%20Steps.jpg
Steps leading up, or down... dup... uwn... from the citadel (or whatever it's actually called, pretty much the palace). Oh, and a chappy playing a wind instrument, that was nice.

6.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Prague%20Cathedral.jpg
Architecture, ooh!

7.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Prague%20Clock%20Astronomical.jpg
Astronomical Clock, damn awesome! So damn awesome! It's like... awesome! Awesomely awesome! It's pretty awesome.

8.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Prague%20Clock%20Hebrew.jpg
Hebrew Clock, it goes backwards! Almost as awesome!


Budapest
Lovely city... scary people.
9.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Budapest%20Parliament%20I.jpg
The Parliament, I have some more shots of this, but this one for now.

10.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Budapest%20Danube%20Cross.jpg
Forgive me father, for I have noised. Tiny f-stop so to stop blur, damn blur! Oh, and full zoom, so you can't totally blame me for the artefacts.

11.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Budapest%20Danube%20Statue.jpg
Soviet Statue commemorating Nazi retreat? The Soviet Union, or rather the RSFSR at the time, loved making a big deal about liberating Europe, there's a plaque nailed right on to an historical building in Prague, lovely. Sure, they were better than the Nazis, but it still wasn't liberation. Anyway, that aside... statue! One of the only (seemingly) that wasn't taken to statue park.

12.
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/conceptart/ca%20et07/Budapest%20Danube%20Reflection.jpg
An attempt at abstract on the Danube.

There are more, some I'd deem better than the ones I've shown here, but I have a habit of not necessarily posting the ones I like... so I'll bring them up later so that when I'm scraping the barrel I can have something nice to show.

[Rhynome]

Narrative Projects to come in the... something future.

[Rhynome]

Trinkets

[someone]

I don't really have much for you... (I'm horrible at putting into words what I like or don't like about a picture :-/) I really like number 1!

I think, in regards to number 3, what I mostly don't like about it is that everything is so small and there doesn't really seem to be that much of a focal point. Also, for some reason, the way the boat on the bottom right corner is cut off is sort of bugging me (it seems like there should be more of the boat in the image). Also, it seems to me that it's generally lacking in the area of colour... It's not quite black/white or monochromatic, but there are no interesting colours that just jump out at me.

The last one is a little dark, and maybe it should've been lighter... But I still like it, and the point you were trying to make was clear before I read the description. I feel like I want to see something of interesting on the path closer to the bench... But it works as is too I guess

I love number 2! :D

(ah those were all referring to your second post by the way...)

The one thing I noticed in your first post that really jumped out at me was that the top of the buck's antlers/horns/whatever are cut off in the first picture. :(

And in number 4 (from the first post again), to be honest I didn't even notice that there was a giraffe in the picture until I read that, and then I had to look for it :o maybe it's just me though... Basically again, I feel like the focal point is really small, but not extremely isolated, and once again there aren't any extremely interesting colours (I'm a sucker for saturated colours hehe :rolleyes:)

Aaand this post is WAY longer than I originally intended for it to be, so I'm gonna shut up now and let the real professionals who know what they're talking about talk :D

[Rhynome]

Yay! Thanks for the crits. Hey, if you wanna crit me, do so! I won't stop you.

Yeah, I made a cut down version of London 3, but I didn't upload it as I wanted full on crits on the original, as that has more chance of success.

As for Namibia 4, I have some shots of Ostriches in the middle of the Salt Pan, they're much more isolated, but the giraffe's head poking out the top did grab my attention, but then again, I know it's there, you don't... I see what you mean by it's not isolated enough, I may crop it down a bit and whatnot, I wasn't all that happy with the photo, so I figured that by posting it people can tell me why I'm not happy with it.

Namibia 1, with the cut-off, yeah, that may be a bit annoying, but hey, I've grown to like it - it's a bit like you don't see the bottom of the animal, but/so you don't see the top either. I was just sitting there waiting for the animal to get into a nice position, and it got into that one, which I quite liked so I clickied, I was happy... it may be a rather nice photo, so thank the animal, it's the one that made it like that.

As for London 6, I'm bloody happy that the point was clear before you read the description, that means it worked, yay! Art should [most of the time, ideally] be so that the artist shouldn't have to describe the piece anywhere outside the piece itself; so yay for it working! Maybe next time I wander down there I'll ask someone to stand within the 'framed' area, or put something interesting there?

Yay for your post, that's what I say!
Cheers!

[someone]

ta! I can see the logic in "the bottoms not there, so neither is the top". It works... I still do like the picture!

[Rhynome]

Shameless self-promotional bump.

Europe, post #4
Update: 30 Jan 08.
12 Pictures. (http://www.photographymob.org/forums/showpost.php?p=127&postcount=4)

Death to 56k!

[darkchild]

Very nice architecture in #6!

[TASmith]

good use of perspective in the parliament shot. I really like the desert/africa shots most. Post more of those, they could be great reference photos. You should get more into photoshop. Lots of these pics seem too light, although it could just be my laptop screen.

[Rhynome]

Israelstine... Palesrael... oh, sod it, Canaan.
I didn't really predict going here, so it's not in my pre-prepared 56k murdering posts, but I may stick it in the European thread or maybe twin it with Namibia as it's practically European in its social form yet at the same time arid in its geographical form. You'll see more of the latter in the days to come - expect this thread to be (hopefully) updated a fair amount. Not all Kna'an photos are going in this post, some will be in trinkets, some will be in successive posts. I'm really only writing this as a reminder for myself, otherwise I will forget and have a mixture of disorganised posts. Just Jerusalem for now, Tel Aviv to follow.

For now just a few choice photos before I can get them properly sorted.
I have somewhat of an obsession with taking photos of people from a bird's eye view. For one it removes any scars, broken noses, colours of eyes, etc. that might give you a swayed view of them, and rather portrays them as they would wish (or not wish) to be portrayed, in the clothes that they wear, they shops that they enter. Furthermore they are totally oblivious to the presence of the camera and so it is less a portrait of someone (which it seems ought to be a two way affair) and rather just an observation of them.

K'n #1
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/David%20Tower%20Haredi.jpg


K'n #2
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/David%20Tower%20Eastern%20Orthodox.jpg
(for a country with a whole lot of sun people wear a whole lot of black, okay, I can understand that if you're in the shade, but not if you're in the sun)

K'n #3
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/David%20Tower%20Arab%20Man%20Stall%20Holder%20Shop ping%20Trolley.jpg

K'n #4
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/David%20Tower%20Leaning%20Man%20in%20Alley.jpg

K'n #5
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/Retaining%20Wall%20Troops%20Oath.jpg
Locked inside this cage again.


K'n #6
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/Jerusalem%20Dome%20of%20Rock%20City%20Portrait%20I I.jpg

In this photo, again from the same vantage point, I have attempted a portrait. It is often said that cities have soul, a character, a visage. Here I have attempted to portray old Jerusalem. It is by no means a portrait, but the portrait layout of the photograph and the Dome of the Rock at the top almost mimicking a face or head is meant to spark some recognition of a portrait style photograph. I hope you didn't read this before looking at the photo as, with the photo of the bench in the London post I hope it worked without me having to explain it. I also pray that I don't sound too much like one of those terrible artists who attempts to justify the vague expression of their art by making it sound really high-brow and complex when, instead, they have just failed at expressing the most fundamental principle of communication. You know the type, the "expression of my soul and the solidarity I feel with the oppressed" type.

Staying in a Moshav (a capitalist town, but with community support) I decided to try out some other types of photography, starting with a failed macro (got the focus horribly wrong, does make for an interesting photo, but interesting and nice are by no means the same thing)
K'n #7
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/Moshav%20En%20Ayala%20Macro%20Phail.jpg
I would've liked more of the flowers and less of the gubbins in focus.

K'n #8
http://www.robert.cometblue.com/images/Israel/Moshav%20En%20Ayala%20Moshav%20Style%20Relaxation. jpg
Relaxing moshav style.

[In other news, I found some drying flowers, put them on the battlements of the old city in Jerusalem; just as I focusing a breeze came along and blew them off - the only bit of colour in a sand and sandstone city; it would've looked beautiful! Damn you, convection, damn you to hell!]