Joe
Looks like you got caught up in a deluge with this one. Fortunately you found some dry ground to put the image together. Very simple and has a certain appeal but perhaps need a little more emphasis on some of the edges to draw it away from the background.

Ian

Hi Ian

Dunno about crackers and all that but maybe this one will do for the time being. It just about sums up my glumness at the atrocious weather we had yesterday.
And for anyone who might be interested, this was shot on my old Samsung DSLR and old Pentax screw lens via adaptor. "Warpiness" is the rain on the car windscreen.

Hi Joe
looking with anticipation to what you come up with next. Don't care how you made the images apart from the interest side of things regarding technique but as to the pictures themselves the grater will probably be of use in some other image and the table top shows good depth but overelaberate. Waiting for those real crackers to appear which have the wow factor. Keep them coming.
Ian

... and here comes the second one....

Hi Droog and all

Haven't tried any portraiture yet. Indeed hardly scratched the surface so far. Also havent tried either my cyanotype paper nor the pinhole camera but will wade through the lot in due course.
In the meanwhile attached here and following are two quickies I shot this morning for posting on another site I am associated with. Both shot with the adapter, the EOS and an f2.8, 55mm Super Takumar SMC Screw thread lens. Lens aperture was f16 (minimum on this lens). Must rummage about and fetch an f22 lens though as there isnt enough dof even at f16. No close up attachments or such like used on these shots. Exposures of somewhere around half a sec. More will follow as it all happens.

Hi Eddie
First of all I'd like to say I think this is for me one of the best galleries so far depicted on the Release site. It has variety and shows off a lot of skill across many genres, something not many photographers are able to achieve.
You have given us an abstract design, close up natural history and at the other extreme fast action photography.
I disagree with a lot of what my fellow critics have said but of course that's the subjectivity of assessing an art form.
Anthony and Cleopatra is very strong both in colour and design where the elements have been very well positioned in the picture space. Yellow and blue go so well together in my view. Then you've broken it down into diagrametric components which echo the main subject. I would only agree with Martin in that I think there is one line too many which offends the eye and thats the right angle coming into Cleopatra's nose.

Aussie Sidecars In Action is a great example of this sport captured at speed where once again by luck or skill you have the cars positioned wonderfully with the foreground one nicely in focus and the one behind just diffused slightly. Out of focus background that looks all dirt sets the whole thing off pictorially. I think the trailing leg sticking out really gives it a sense of high octane drama.
I shall carry on later.
Ian

Hi Joe

It would be interesting to see what these old lenses can do, via the adaptor, with less extreme depth-of-field and at more normal focal lengths.

Have you tried any portraiture?

Hi Dominic,

I love your image (and helped to choose it for our site).  Like another contributor I'm not one of life's dog lovers but can understand why people keep such animals when they look as inviting as this one.

I particularly enjoy the story about the back seat passenger awaiting an absent driver.  It reminds me of a photographic taken by one of the classical "greats" in the monochrome photographic world - not Cartier Bresson but one of his ilk.  I agree that monochrome is absolutely right and gives a really classical feel to the piece.

Constructionally, I disagree with all the contributors above in that I do not feel the vertical bar helps the picture.  Without it you would still have a separation between the front and back of the vehicle and the story would be intact.....in fact assisted by having a natural rather than artificial separation.  

I was particularly interested in your biographical description and wonder how you feel your health issues have affected your approach toward photography and perception of the world around (and perhaps within) you.  It would be really good to hear more from you on this subject.

Many thanks for an excellent image for Release

Martin

Hi Eddie,

Many thanks for submitting this interesting panel of images for the Release website.  Unusually, I am going to be one of the first to comment, partly because I am just about to depart for two weeks in France.

Looking at your panel overall, my feeling is that your strongest images are the natural history ones.

I'm not nearly so taken with Anthony & Cleopatra as Joe as I find the colours a bit garish and I wonder about a potential conflict between the rather angular shapes (triangles and straight lines) and the repeated romantic subject matter.  I'd be interested in other people's views here.

Forked Tailed Drongo, on the other hand, is fantastic.  Timing is excellent (assuming this was obtained and assembled naturally) and I love the association between the bird's red eye and the flower it is descending upon.  Excellent

Going Down is, in my opinion, a bit muddled with too many figures getting in the way of each other.  The dust thrown up helps to give a sense of activity, however.

Jetcar is interesting but I wonder whether there is a pictorial association between the car and the flame and whether you had the best angle here.  You can't win with photography can you, as I am sure it was fantastic to be there when you took the shot!!

Mating Zizeiria.  Lovely timing and shapes throughout this image.  It seems just a tad bright to me on the lower one, but on the other hand that was the lighting conditions when you took it.  Very enjoyable indeed.

Bee Hawk.  I really enjoyed this image.  Timing and positioning are excellent and I loved the translucent lighting
on and through the wings. 

So again, many thanks for your panel and I look forward to seeing what other commentators have to make of it.

Martin the Medieval
(Member of the Release Team)

Will do Mike, but I am more likely to be going for less extreme close ups and a bit more reality but will see what happens. Then there's the other lenses which I'll be trying out too. Anything that comes up, I'll post here.

Ta,  Joe