Stills

I have read about the production processes of your book and sympathize about the setbacks.

The idea behind "Places Amongst Us" is interesting in its exploration of how people might individualise a property on modern housing estates and I go along with what you say on your site. I won't respond here with a lengthy philosophical comment but make the observation that, in effect, these scenes are post-modern Americana. What would be interesting though, is to conjecture what it would be like to be present in 100 years time and see how 'picturesque', and appealing to photographers, these suburban dwelling areas will be.

The tree is surprisingly bright - is there so much light in California that the white houses bounce off fill lighting?! Your greens are different to Welsh greens but that must be due to climate differences. Could you have stepped a little bit to the right to separate out the lamp-post from the tree without losing the composition? Not that it is a concern. The picture is chock-full of observations on human activity and influence although you only reference a car: it is surprising not to see one! Indeed, the absence of people must be a defining principle of suburbia!
 

John, Yes, I think I have come to take for granted the sun and Spring greeness of SoCal, and thi swas a hazy overcast day, no less.

This was my digital backup snap shot. Made after everyone was off to work. I checked my film version and the lamppost is almost unobstructed, but the left side is cut off. I suspect that I will be back to reshoot this and be a little more careful of the composition.

The other composition issue is that this was with a wide angle on my DSLR (about 28mm equivalent) and my Medium format is a normal (80mm), but I am seriously considering a moderate wide angle, 50mm on the Hasselblad, which is about a little less than a 28mm equivalent coverage with the traditional 35mmm camera I think). But who knows when I will be able to buy that, so I will continue to make due with the 80mm, now I know to back up a bit;- )
 

I would lik to see more of the lamp post as well, I'm trying to look around that tree.
The intricate patterns made up from the blue balcony on the left balance the pink flowers on the right.
The green grass seems to balance well with the top half of the picture even so one is almost a solid shape and the other made up of many small leaves. I wonder if it is the detail in the grass blades and fallen leaves that help here.
The grass looks nice and soft and a short while away from a trim.
 

One wonders if such places will become museums and tourist attractions in the future. The low density land use and the water demands (not to mention the cars) seems to make their days numbered.

i remember once getting some sales particulars for a house which described it as having an 'almost semi-rural location'. And they probably didn't mean anything quite as green as this.

All of which is a long way of saying that I find this a though provoking picture rather than one whose pictorial qualities grab me.
 

This could easily be in Florida instead of California. If museums and tourist attractions are the future of these places, there will be lots and lots of them here.
 

'The low density land use and the water demands (not to mention the cars) seems to make their days numbered.'

Cut the existing homes up into multiple apartments, cover the parking lot with shipping containers converted into living units and turn the lawns into vegetable gardens . . .
 

I tried to convince myself that the lamp post didn't matter but it does because the two lean in parallel.

The coloured tree or bush on the roof is a great burst of contrasting colour.

The image has more interest for me to the right of the tree.
 

I'm with Rex on this too. Stood more to the right would bring in the lampost, remove the blue balcony railing and really bring out those reds on top of the roof. As it is, this is still a good record of a scene that may well change as Matt foretells it...