Hong Kong garden: "The trunk" by Pascal Riben

[pascalriben]

Click a link to see the ORIGINAL SIZE or the PORTFOLIO gallery

 

[amolitor]

Now that is pretty darn nice. A little riff on Adams "Aspens" but with a distinctly asian look to it. Well done.

 

[pascalriben]

Now that is pretty darn nice. A little riff on Adams "Aspens" but with a distinctly asian look to it. Well done.

Thanks! The photo was made alone, just need to press the shutter button!

 

[jenko]

The plant design on the trunk pulls me right in. The diagonal shade in the background subtly sloping upward from left to right adds depth to a strong vertical structure. Your b&w conversion in this one is also nice. Good stuff!

 

[pascalriben]

The plant design on the trunk pulls me right in. The diagonal shade in the background subtly sloping upward from left to right adds depth to a strong vertical structure. Your b&w conversion in this one is also nice. Good stuff!

Thank you for your kind comment jenko! However, the way you analyze the photo is absolutely not the way I use to compose a photo (for example, I never see a diagonal in this image and even now, if I understand where you see it, personnally, I don't really "see" it).

 

[amolitor]

I don't think anyone is ever really conscious of everything in the frame, if there's much of anything in it in the first place.

We all tend to "see" different things, and everything else fades into the background. That doesn't mean that the background doesn't matter. Where jenko sees a diagonal, you simply feel that the frame is well balanced and grounded, or even that it simply "feels right". Perhaps you see the repeated patterns in the trunks, where jenko barely notices that and thinks only "I like the trunks"

But it's all still there, and it all affects us one way or the other. The best pictures are where the things we see, whatever they are, work with things that we only feel.

I find value in trying closely looking at pictures, and trying to make conscious the things I only felt unconsciously. Not everyone does, though!

 

[pascalriben]

I don't think anyone is ever really conscious of everything in the frame, if there's much of anything in it in the first place.

We all tend to "see" different things, and everything else fades into the background. That doesn't mean that the background doesn't matter. Where jenko sees a diagonal, you simply feel that the frame is well balanced and grounded, or even that it simply "feels right". Perhaps you see the repeated patterns in the trunks, where jenko barely notices that and thinks only "I like the trunks"

But it's all still there, and it all affects us one way or the other. The best pictures are where the things we see, whatever they are, work with things that we only feel.

I find value in trying closely looking at pictures, and trying to make conscious the things I only felt unconsciously. Not everyone does, though!

What is important is to find why a picture "works" and I don't think the way jenko do it in this photo is the good way

 

[KenC]

Now that is pretty darn nice. A little riff on Adams "Aspens" but with a distinctly asian look to it. Well done.

also seems a little Paul Caponigro to me - he has some tree shots where there is a prominent, often foreground tree which divides the frame like this into two parts, each of which could work as a separate image

 

[joyserran]

This looks beautiful. I just love that the leaves goes up on the tree that it became the main point (for my eyes)

 

[The_Traveler]

Pascal,

Although I like some of your pictures, I will not be looking at any of them any more for the simple reason that you aren't looking at anyone else's images to give comments or critiques.
This is a community that is only productive if we all take part; you aren't doing any posting except to your own images so, for that reason alone, I'm boycotting your stuff.

Lew

 

[pascalriben]

Now that is pretty darn nice. A little riff on Adams "Aspens" but with a distinctly asian look to it. Well done.

also seems a little Paul Caponigro to me - he has some tree shots where there is a prominent, often foreground tree which divides the frame like this into two parts, each of which could work as a separate image

Thank you KenC!

 

[pascalriben]

This looks beautiful. I just love that the leaves goes up on the tree that it became the main point (for my eyes)

Thank you joyserran: the leaves on the tree are, indeed, the reason why I have taken the picture.

 

[manicmike]

Posting your name in every thread title, your user name, signature, and website in your signature seems kind of pompous to me.

 

[Gavjenks]

I'm not a big fan of the overwhelmingly vertical nature of the subject matter, placed into a horizontal orientation. It feels clashy and uncomfortable to me.

 

[sleist]

Pascal,

Although I like some of your pictures, I will not be looking at any of them any more for the simple reason that you aren't looking at anyone else's images to give comments or critiques.
This is a community that is only productive if we all take part; you aren't doing any posting except to your own images so, for that reason alone, I'm boycotting your stuff.

Lew

I'm of 2 minds on this. His posts are verging on spam in a sense. They seem like more of an attempt to get traffic to his site than anything else.
It's not the first forum that felt this way about his posts either.

On the other hand, he is posting his work and accepting comments without being defensive. Some of it is quite good - if a bit repetitive.
I'd rather see someone who puts his work up for comment than all the pompous, blowhard, know-it-alls that post next to none of their own work.
And when they do post, it looks like they don't listen to their own BS.

It is what it is.