Power and Strength

[henryhurrry]

My favorite place to go are the gardens of Versailles. It helps that we live only a stone's throw away. The statues and how the old masters portraid man, women and children is fantastic. Here are a few images I captured on my last walk. If you are ever near Versailles leave yourself a day to visit the gardens, a day for the town and maybe even walk through the palace! Enkjoy.

 

[midget patrol]

Versailles is a beautiful, beautiful place. I was there a few years ago on a week-long france vacation. Absolutely astonishing.

Now, for the photos:
1. The immediate subject is the brass hand coming up out of the foreground. I assume this was the intention, as the focus also seems to be there? If so, the brass background really detracts from the intense color of the brass subject. Good motion stop, great tones and DOF. Great shot.

2. It seems almost as if there's too much water in front of the statue. It kind of obscures it. Not enough to make it blurry but just enough to be distracting.

3. Great shot. Most of the face is clear of water. The tones and colors are excellent as well. :thumbsup:

 

[kilifila66]

Loved Versailles, didn't so much love Paris while I was there. Or maybe it was because Paris didn't love me. Either way I didn't get to see the gardens at Versailles because there was a concert there that day and it was 15 or 20 euro to get in. I politely took my shots from the upstairs windows and called it good.

I agree on the first photo, you have conflicting subjects because of the colors, though the DOF makes it pretty clear what your intention was. Your stop time is perfect though. Am I jealous of the stop time, maybe a little.

The second photo I have trouble with because of the shadow captured on the statue above the shoulders. You lose a little something there IMO. Secondly, I agree there is too much water in front of it. Maybe decrease your DOF to only the statue and give a bit longer exposure if possible, that might clear things up.

I like the third shot, it has a little shadow in it but nothing distracting. I know how hard it can be with those fountains and shadows, even my fill flash on the d70 can't clear it up at times.

 

[henryhurrry]

Thanks for the comments.

As for the first photo, maye I will have to post a slightly different angle, but I can understand the comments. This is the fountain of Encelade which is based on a Titan for conquering Olympus.

This is my favorite fountain as it shows Encelade fighting his way out of the dirt - the hand is just coming to surface, while he is still captured within the ground.

I guess I feel too stronlgy about htis first photo to see the conflict you mention. A common problem in photography - emotion getting in the way of vision.