Favorite Photos

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 16:15]
Ciao cara Lisa,

You have indeed triumphed by convincing Malgo of the amazing benefits of using a tripod - and it has benefitted you here too! It must have been delightful to sit together watching the sunrise and this is a fabulous shot taken as the buildings became illuminated by the low sun appearing.

Your early morning start has let you capture the most delicious warm light and its glorious reflections on the calm water, all set against a beautiful sky. The composition is superb and the details and sharpness are exquisite.

Glorious!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 14:04]
Hello Rosemary,

You have given us a very interesting and informative note and also a most wonderfully intriguing photograph.

We have seen, both from yourself and from others, photographs of these beautiful women but they are usually in colour and also usually consist of a head and shoulders portrait or are a full image of the woman. This wonderful photograph, however, "homes in" beautifully on those matters which you describe so well in your notes and here our attention is drawn to the wonderful skin textures which are even more accentuated in this lovely black and white photograph.

And yet we also are attracted to the fabulous work on this woman's hair and the fine beaedwork she has from her neck - and the whole image is sumounted by her sensous lips and underlined by the cleavage between her breasts.

I can fully understand what Lisa means by the "sensuous" nature of this photograph but this is by no means a prurient observation. Your composition is very tastefully done and I suspect it took some considerable time and thought before coming eventually to this very pleasing and excellent "crop" of the original image. The light and contrasts are divine and the details and sharpness exquisite.

A photograph of which to be truly proud.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 13:28]
Hi Malgo,

Your story is wonderful! How lovely that you spoke with these people and gained their confidence and that they were concerned about you too. And how lovely that they agreed to have their photograph taken by you. You really are a charmer!

The lady looks very happy to have her picture taken but her husband doesn't look very amused or friendly. But perhaps that is just because it was so very hot - I can see the beads of sweat on both of them.

I know the background is a little overexposed, but that really doesn't matter at all. What really matters is that you got the picture; it's a fine picture of this couple and their faces and features are perfectly exposed. Lovely colours and excellent details and sharpness too.

A photograph to really treasure! Well done!

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 13:04]
Hi Mariusz,

A fascinating note you have given us as well as an excellent link too - lots of interesting facts on those pages too. In fact, I've been having a look at the "Francis Frith" website and I see two pictures - both a bit small - and they do show the statue pointing the other way - here and here! I think I told you about the Francis Frith website defore didn't I - or did I tell someone else?

Anyway, you should make no apology for having to avoid unsightly scaffolding - your picture is, in my opinion, extremely well composed and you have made the very most of that delightful sky. The people in the market place are well placed too and not at all distracting.

Lovely light and colours, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness.

A perfect upload for TE!

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 9:00] [+]
Hello Roger,

This is a most delightful shot, so reminiscent of your previous wider view of the Duomo and Campanile in Florence.

The lighting is lovely and, in my opinion, your exposure is spot-on.

I rather suspect that the slight lack of sharpness is perhaps due to the fact that this image appears to have been cropped from a considerably bigger one - and I see that this was taken at a focal length of 55mm. Perhaps (and without any vulgar implications whatsoever!), you need a little more length? :o)

I did actually write you a message on the forum but I'm not sure if you got it or not. I think it was written a propos a critique you had made of someone else's picture because I seem to recall that, in your critique, you mentioned the Tamron 18 - 270mm lens. Anyway, this is what I wrote:

"Hi Roger,

"Sorry to butt in here but I saw your critique of this lovely picture and noticed that you were asking about the Tamron 18 - 270mm lens. I'm pretty sure that it does, in fact, have a built-in autofocus motor as well as stabilisation. The DP Review website, I find, is a wonderful one for in-depth reviews of equipment and you can read their review of this lens here. They do comment, however, that autofocus is a bit on the sluggish side but it sounds as though it would be a great "all in one" travel lens.

"Photozone do good reviews too - have a squint here or here (for the previous version) though they don't seem too impressed with image quality.

"Kind Regards,

"John."

I'm not sure if that's at all helpful?

Anyway, I like this picture and, apart from its slightly soft focus, it's certainly most deserving of a full deux points.

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 4:08]
Hello Gert,

You have given us a fine trio of photographs, all well scanned, and a fine variety of interesting notes about the "Citadel" of Cairo and its magnificent mosque. I recall having visited this place at least 12 years ago when I had a very early 2 megapixel digital compact camera - I really must try to see if I have any pictures of it myself.

As with all the wonderful photographs which you post on this site, here we see not only images of famous buildings or interesting places, but we see the "daily life" of the people going about their daily routines and businesses in these places too - from the carrot seller here to the tradesman with his donkey in one of your workshop images. Wonderful insights into the lives of people in far away places!

And all three pictures, of course, show this magnificent structure very well with good scans of faithful Kodachrome and with excellent composition, colours and details.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 3:24] [+]
Hello Martin,

How delightful that you found this place on your recent "trek" through the Scottish Borders. But, why oh why, did you not get in touch and come to see us - this place isn't all that far from where we live - probably just about 35 miles! Last time I drove through here was last year in my little Austin!

Did you visit Traquair House? I must confess to not having explored that place myself - I believe it might be the house in Scotland which has been the longest occupied by the same family. And did you stop to admire this delightful little jewel which sits just at the roadside in Traquair and which you can also see here?

This picture from the Scottish Borders will, of course, have "yellowed" a large portion of the lower part of your map of Scotland but it is also a delightfully colourful picture with fabulous depth of field (no doubt on this occasion secured by the use of your small-sensor compact camera - you certainly would not have achieved such depth of field at f/4 with your 5D!).

Lovely spring colours (for spring does now appear eventually to arrived here), the cow seemingly happily munching the fresh grass, strong composition and excellent sharpness.

Lovely!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 2:52]
Hello Daniel,

What an impresive and pleasing composition! The curvature of the "N2" leads the eye perfectly from the bottom edge of the frame in a wide sweep across the smooth water of Lake Lugano, then off around the water's edge to disappear out of view behind the distant hills!

The very fine composition has given a wonderful depth to this fine picture which has lovely light and subdued colours, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness throughout.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 2:24]
Bonjour Jean Jacques,

This is a lovely photograph taken contre jour (as we say in English!) at the end of the day.

The sparkles of sunlight on the water's surface are delightful and the strong contrasts have made this almost a black and white image - apart from a couple of tiny flashes of red and the tint of green through the windows of the far boat's cabin windows.

A very fine composition with fabulous light, fine strong contrasts, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness.

Lovely!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 2:07]
Kalimera Ourania,

A wonderfully strong and impressive diagonal composition with glorious colours, lovely light and perfect exposure and sharpness.

You have "closed in" on this shot superbly to show us the fabulous details of the boat and the nets within it, yet we can still perfectly imagine what the "bigger view" looks like!

Very well seen and very well taken!

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-23 1:58]
Ciao caro Luciano,

A delightful photograph of men at work dragging a boat from the sea! Very well seen and very well taken.

Lots of lovely bright colours here as well as fine reflections of the workers' colourful clothes on the rather muddy water. Good diagonal composition, vibrant colours, fine light and exquisite details and sharpness.

Lovely!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 12:27]
Hello Soumen,

You have written a very interesting and informative note about this place and also given us a delightful photograph by way of illustration.

You have obviously used a very wide angle lens to take this one (10mm focal length according to your exif data) and so this has exaggerated the perspective and also brought about some "lean in" of the verticals, but I find this a beautiful photograph with the most delicious lighting and some gorgeous colours.

I see that John (jhm) has very kindly done a workshop for you. His workshop has certainly straightened the verticals very considerably but I think I would prefer something just a little between his workshop and your original photograph. It is, after all, normal for verticals to appear to "lean in" when we look upwards at a tall building or interior.

As I say, I like this picture a lot. The lighting is lovely as are the colours - especially in that gorgeous deep red ceiling. And the mixture of natural daylight from outside and artificial light inside works well too. Your exposure is perfect and the details and sharpness are excellent.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 7:02]
Hi Ann,

An interesting note but what a pity, as a purist, you had to deviate from the original Route 66! Well, at least you did cross this bridge (and back again) on foot so you can say you have travelled all of the original way!

A very well composed image with strong light and contrasts and vibrant colours. The edge of the roadway on the right (I guess that's what they call the "nearside" in the U.S.) and the blue fencing beside it lead the eye well into the picture - as far as the eye can see - and the superstructure of the bridge, in all its blackness, stands out strongly against the clear blue sky.

Lovely light, contrasts and colours, perfect exposure (in difficult contrasty conditions) and exquisite details and sharpness.

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 5:35]
Bonjour Denis,

An interesting note and a delightful and colourful photograph of this delicate looking wooden bridge with its gorgeous reflections on the calm water. The red-roofed houses and the clear blue sky top this picture off beautifully.

Lovely light and colours, perfect exposure, good composition and exquisite details and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 5:03] [+]
Hello Martin,

This is a delightful and well executed panorama with exquisite detail throughout - just so many things to sit and look at. Was this made up from several separate images? If so, it has been exceedingly well done - there are a few fences and the like running from side to side of the image and tell-tale "breaks" in those sorts of things are usually the "give away" for a poorly executed panorama composed of several different images. Mind you, the high pixel count of your camera means that it is quite feasible to produce a wide image such as this from just a single shot!

Good light and colours, spot-on exposure and exquisite details and sharpness. An interesting note too!

Lovely!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 4:17]
Ciao Silvio,

An interesting note and a beautiful photograph of the rolling countryside of Castelluccio.

The town sits proudly on its hilltop, lit in lovely bright sunlight and the patterns of the shadows of the clouds upon the surrounding green fields are delightful. Wonderful light and colours, perfect exposure in this long focal length shot and exquisite details and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 3:50]
Hi Mike,

Oh, dear, and how many times do I wish that I did have the opportunity to include people in my pictures? Many people here will say that the inclusion of one or two human beings often enhaces a picture rather than detracting from it and, in this case certainly, I have to agree.

This photograph would be far less appealing had those two people not been sitting in the foreground - they really do add greatly to the composition. There is, firstly, a strong line of composition - their line of sight to the lighthouse - and, secondly, a fabulous "triangle" of composition here too - the couple sitting, the lighthouse and the sign which warns of dangerous cliffs.

And, besides, the bright clothing of the two people really adds a lot to the foreground which otherwise might have been a bit bleak and uninteresting.

I think that this is a terrific photograph and I think that your inclusion of this couple greatly enhances it. For my part, it is a picture I should love to have taken - very well composed, lots of foreground and distant interest, perfect exposure, lovely light and colours and exquisite sharpness.

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

tyro (13101) [2013-05-22 3:34]
Ciao cara Lisa,

Nice to see you back posting some pictures again - I presume that you are now back home from your trip south?

This is a another fine picture which (like some of Malgo's recent amazing photographs) really shows the benefits of a tripod - or a handy bridge - in achieving super-sharp images. I presume that you still keep the camera strap around your neck when balancing it on a bridge for a picture like this!

This is a fabulous long exposure shot, super sharp and with lovely reflections on the smoothed water and with lovely contrasts of the artificial light against the soft blue natural light of the dawn. A fine composition with gorgeous light and colours, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

KLB (23713) [2013-05-22 2:04] [+]
Bonjour Francis

J'aime beaucoup ce genre d'images auquel je ne me suis pas encore essayée, mais qui m'attire de plus en plus ;o)
La dynamique est très bonne, avec des bonnes lignes de fuite, et le traitement est intéressant.
Bravo.

Karine

tyro (13101) [2013-05-21 12:41]
Hi Mariusz,

As always, you have given us an interesting note - and a very fine photograph to illustrate it!

By stepping back a little and using a longer focal length, you have "compressed" the perspective well and made the abbey and church appear larger within the frame of the jawbones than that which we usually see. The effect is delightful and makes much more of a feature of these fine old builtings. I know that we do not see the wider view, but that is compensated by a fine foreground of red roofs.

Lovely light and colours, perfect exposure, superb composition and exquisite depth of field and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.