portrait of the artis.

[daq7]

My question is this. Is the following piece just too overproduced to render discussion of the specifically photographic aspect of it useful? Or is there some n00b thing I did that has all the experienced people pointing and laughing?



I like many things about this work, but I never liked that it has so many vectors around and away from any center of interest. It is almost as if there is a center of interest somewhere down below...

[draymorton]

Like it a lot.

[Frog]

One thing about being a newbie is you have fresh eyes and will bring your own view of the world to your work. Capture that view so that it speaks to you and then if you have to adjust so it speaks to others, then do so, but only if it does not compromise your original vision.

That being said, this does not speak to me nor do I even know what it is. The important thing is whether you like it. If you want a center of interest, maybe you can put another element in. Is this a still life of something you can re-shoot. I'm thinking it is pea-cock tail with frost on it?
Another element could be anything that fits in the composition and either compliments what is there or contrasts and adds tension.
Keep it up. I like your willingness to learn.

[Shebang]

I like it! Don't have a clue what it is -- but, for me, it doesn't have to be anything. I like the colors, textures, patterns, depth. I played around with my state-of-the-art 8.5 x 11 crop tool (aka paper) and I like it even better cropped from the right to the first line extending off the top of the frame.

You are coming up with some great photos.

[daq7]

Frog. I suppose it ought not matter what it is. It either is beautiful as an abstract or not. And on that account it suffers more from not having good composition.

It is a photograph of a shattered window on a wreck in a junk yard. It has a lot of photoshop "painting" to selectively enhance saturation and to use darker layers to enhance organic shapes.

I have enough feedback from places where people vote with views to realize that it is basically irrelevant as an image. Some people like it, but it isn't brilliant no matter how much effort I spent on it.

Still, it has a beauty if you take it for the texture and weird detail. I like it.

Producing works other people care to look at is not something I am good at, but I am hoping that by listening I can maybe improve.

[Frog]

All the work you put in on it will pay off. I would have no idea how to do it.

[jetrim]

daq7,
I wouldn't beat myself up over pleasing other people. Recently, someone posted this famous photo from one of history's great photographers - Henri Cartier-Bresson, in a Flickr critique group as a joke and the shot got literally ripped to shreds. Most thought is was pure garbage. Trust your instincts, and shoot what you love. You'll find your audience (or more properly, they'll find you). As an abstract I like this shot a lot, but more importantly, I think the processing has some enormous potential for other shots in the future.

[draymorton]

daq7,
I wouldn't beat myself up over pleasing other people.

Honestly, the only people you should really care about pleasing at all are the ones who are paying you. The rest is just totally unnecessary stress.

[Don Schaeffer]

This is a rich beautiful piece. The fact that it almost looks like a feather or an insect scale or a hundred other things just adds the wonder of it.

[w.slayman]

I am not a huge fan of abstract or HDR but this image is captivating, colorful, unique and quite beautiful. As the others have said the only things that matters are 1. Do you like it and 2. Does your customer like it. Very nicely done abstract which shows great imagination.

[armando_m]

Interesting!

I'm sure it can be sold in a gallery of modern art

[daq7]

This is a more remote shot of the shattered window I used to make this abstract. The abstract I posted was a tighter macro shot of this window.

I am tempted to level paint and saturation paint this in a similar manner, but I am not convinced the detail will be there to give me what I want. Anyway...

[LeeIs]

I like the first one. Awesome textures, colours. The composition is great also.

[MarcusK]

daq7, forget about the second, the first shot works for what it is....

It can not be judged, in my opinion, on the same level as other photos... this simply an abstract shot, and while I personally do not necessarily enjoy abstracts, even when I happen to shoot one myself, yours works beautifully... it could be a screen saver or desktop background, or better still a very nice and colorful frame to put up on a wall...

Think of it this way, once.. bored to death, I fired up iTunes, played some songs, started the visualizer and shot the imagery... when I showed my friends the shots, as though they were abstract shots I did, they were all stunned... until they realized how I did it

Nothing to say about it.. this either works for some or it doesn't... much like all other abstracts... it's personal!