Simplicity

[Clifford_Sax]

It`s been a while since I posted. Turned 40 in the meantime (!). My urge recently in all aspects of my life has been a desire for, and a turn towards, simplicity, paring down, throwing stuff out and just de-cluttering my life. This is also reflected in my photography. I picked up the camera today for the first time in weeks. Please let me know what you think of these two and if they reflect this desire for simplicity or if the various elements simply don`t add up to much. Oh and don`t read anything into the gravestone image - it was the light and shadow that caught my eye!

Tech details for those that want them are for the gravestone image:

CAMERA : Nikon Coolpix 5700
METERING : SPOT
SHUTTER : 1/476sec
APERTURE : F7.1
FOCAL LENGTH : f44.7mm(X1.0)
SENSITIVITY : ISO100
WHITEBAL : AUTO
SHARPNESS : AUTO
DATE : 06.05.2004 18:51
QUALITY : 2560x1704 FINE
SATURATION : B&W
FOCUS AREA : RIGHT

And for the Statue:

CAMERA : Nikon Coolpix 5700
METERING : SPOT
SHUTTER : 1/500sec
APERTURE : F6.5
FOCAL LENGTH : f25.4mm(X1.0)
SENSITIVITY : ISO100
WHITEBAL : AUTO
SHARPNESS : AUTO
DATE : 06.05.2004 18:38
QUALITY : 2560x1704 FINE
SATURATION : B&W
FOCUS AREA : CENTER

[another view]

You got my attention with the title of the post. The first image is very well done; it's the quality of light that does it here. Clean and simple which I'm a fan of.

But the second shot is really great. Very different, and I love the little bit of leaves that show at the top with all of the shadows of the leaves. Only thing I wonder about is making the ground under the vault a little lighter if there's detail on the original file there.

[Young Shooter]

yeah the first one is the best nice lighting looks like you did a little work in ps to me

[Clifford_Sax]

Yes, forgot to mention post processing! Cropped a little, 1 degree rotation, added a touch of yellow to the whites, and finally a slight gaussian blur and also the ubiquitious sharpening which is always needed with the Nikon.

[Clifford_Sax]

You are right about the foreground detail but the reason it`s not there is that I was shooting through a bush from below ground level - I was on the street looking over a wall to the raised ground of the graveyard - and the foreground is concealed by some bush leaves very close to the lense (it was a large 28mm - zoomed in).

Thanks for the (complimentary) critique!