Stills

Playing with the character of water is always tempting - and frequently rewarding. Here, one has a mixture of positive and negative features. On the positive side, spotting the break in wave characteristics either side of the rope was a big tick as was the decision to enhance that by differential tonal treatment. On the negative side the exact horizontal dividing line brings to mind the design of a flag; and the distribution of light from the reflection doesn't quite make up for the darkness and grey on the right hand side.

This is the third incarnation of this picture: once as your picture of the day, once on your blog on 13 Jan as "talking about pictures (small boats)" and here on Stills.

I like this as an exercise but am not totally convinced that I would want it on the wall.
 

Johnjo - crop? I played with various crops. Of all photos, this one looks like it ought to be cropable. But I found that everything I did made the picture worse. Loosing a little along the left hand edge, for example, creates too much of a loss in the top left corner.

John - three incarnations, but only one interpretation. They are the same file.

I'm going to have to rethink the 'on the wall' test. I've just been looking at John Sexton's work (see photostream) and I wouldn't want them on the wall either. But it is the wall which is the problem in that case, not the photos. If that doesn't make sense then you really will have to wait for my head to get clearer!
 

I would agree about the wall - but I shall wait for more when clarity returns!

I know that the three appearances are all the same image - just an observation on the promiscuity.
 

It would have taken me a considerable amount of time to work out what was going on here - so thanks for the guidance.

Even though the shades are pretty close together I sense a dramatic black and white change purely based upon the change in texture. This is what draws me in and I especially focus on the crossover line (how I missed the rope is still beyond me though).

The distribution of light on the top half of the shot adds a delicate toning to what would ordinarily be a dark vision. I am also taken in by a tunnel effect from the light and texture - a trapezoidal area with the base the whole width of the bottom and the top starting around midway along the top edge and ending about an eighth from the right hand edge.

There is also a distinct sense of movement with all the light and contrast play.
 

I feel much the same way about this shot as I feel about "Viennese Wall." In each case I think can see why the photographer took the shot, but I don't find the resulting photographs all that compelling for pretty much the same reasons; both of these shots seem to be largely about texture, something which doesn't come out in the current web presentation. Perhaps viewed as a large print on the wall that would change.
 

Simple and elegant, I like it. It is the type of image that most would walk past without seeing.