Water... C&C

[almo]

I have been trying to look at things through a different perspective recently. I feel that sometime I am too quick to throw away an Image. I have never been very big on abstract images, but I am beginning to think maybe I should give some of these images I would otherwise throw away a second look.

Here we have water. I was admittedly shooting the small yellow dragonfly as a test of my new lens, but as you can see, even at 400mm I got a huge frame of the water surrounding it.

What I am looking for her is not so much a critique of technique, but rather of style. Is an abstract image of water, such as the one below, worthy of being a photographic subject unto itself?

Thanks!

[Mr Yuck]

I think it's an excellent texture/pattern shot. Alone, it's alright, but perhaps combining this with another image is the thing to do?

Convert it to sepia and then layer it on another image, and then turn the opacity on this wayyy down and see what you get.

See this one for an idea of what I'm talking about, grass layered with the picnic table

[CLKunst]

What I am looking for her is not so much a critique of technique, but rather of style. Is an abstract image of water, such as the one below, worthy of being a photographic subject unto itself?

I made a photo of water in the pool that I mirrored out and it was the FPOTM for the project forum in July. In fact I have lots of pictures of the surface of water and they are all quite different and interesting, at least to me anyway. But you probably wanted the short answer, which is yes.

For this shot I like the direction that the water is pointing and the texture is quite interesting. I think that having the dragonfly there is a definite plus. I think the overall tone is a little more contrasty than I would prefer. Overall, a solid shot with many points of interest.

[Didache]

I'm with Mr Yuck on this one .. the textures are interesting, and there is certainly scope for abstract imagery, but on its own I don't think this particular image has enough to hold the attention. Most of the water is out of focus, which I don't think helps in an abstract where you really want almost all of it sharp. The little clump isn't interesting enough or big enough to lift it - maybe something like a red maple leaf would work better?

Cheers
Mike

[almo]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Like I said, it's not so much this particular shot that I am looking for crits on, rather the style, and I think I got some great feedback on that.

My vision has been somewhat narrowed in the past few years. I have not seen things through the eyes I did when I was newer to photography. I have become far to critical of myself and my work, almost to the point of giving it all up.

I had gotten to the point where all the fun and joy had been removed from the hobby. And saddly enough, it was no one other than myself that killed that joy. However, recently I have been trying to reevaluate myself, and my photography, and I am happy to say that I believe that it is starting to have an impact of the way I feel about my own work. And, perhaps, more importantly, I am starting to feel that old joy returning!

Thanks again guys!