Dido's Death Photo

Photographer’s Note

Yesterday I attended another tragedy.
This time it was an opera by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) "Dido & Aeneas", after the drama written by Vergilius.

It is a love story with a sad ending, so very suitable for an opera. In (very) short: Aeneas meets Dido, while being on a mission to find a new Troje. They fall in love, but Aeneas decides to go on on his mission, leaving a desperate Dido, who then commits suicide.
Displayed here is the moment that people say goodbye to Dido.

The performers were all amateurs from the Center for the Arts (Vrije Akademie) in Delft.

designsoul, Burnham, pasternak, Cuba-Junky, cbrman, Albrecht, bnallama, Liekje, ChrisJ, elmec, sergio1 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

cessy (13647) 2006-06-19 17:01

Hi Rinie
it's really a beautiful picture
the falling petals give the dramatic effect
great shot

Burnham (2426) 2006-06-19 17:10

What and odd bit of stilleben, sunglasses, sheep, toy cars, gloves, a lion, odd I say, odd :o) But it is indeed a very beautiful capture made evn more so by the red petals. It kind of looks like Michael holding the teddy on the right :o)
Altogther a godd decisive moment.

Cuba-Junky (2795) 2006-06-20 2:00

Great light, sharpness and colors.
Great laso how you captured the falling rose leafs and their beautiful red color.
An

bantonbuju (48796) 2006-06-20 2:10

hi rinie,
you had a gorgeous light there, perfect timing and you released the button in an ideal moment;
nice work,
best wishes, j.

cgrindahl (6109) 2006-06-20 2:56

You caught the moment perfectly Rinie and with a fine bokeh both in the foreground and background. I wonder what would happen if the lovely vase at the center of the image were moved to the side. As an experiment I created a workshop cropping the left edge of the image. See what you think.

This is a lovely image with fine clarity and color. That lens is a keeper! Your kit is growing too Rinie... ;-)

[workshop] [compare] +

RGatward (19749) 2006-06-20 3:38

Yes, I also like that baroque opera, in fact it's one of the few opera LPs I ever bought, the only other being Agrepina. Really nicely worked still life illustration for it here.

pasternak (13644) 2006-06-20 4:48

Hi Rinie,

It´s very unusual to see an opera shot on TE. At least I´ve never seen them here before. And what a shot! Composition, colours... I maybe would have cropped the man on the right though, and left only the hand... Actually, this shot reminds me very much of some Greenaway´s movies, Prospero´s books for example, or Drowning by numbers... Not for nothing Sasa named Vermeer, he´s Greenaway´s favourite painter...

Very nice!
Alexander

cbrman (19051) 2006-06-20 6:29

Hello,

Très belle photo. Prise effectivement au bon moment. Les pétales rouges sont vraiment attirant dans l'image.
La profondeur de champ et excellente et isole véritablement la scéne !!

Très beau

A+

Dominique

Isabelle (9014) 2006-06-20 11:15

can´t take my eyes off of the objects on the ground: the teddy bears, the small car, the glasses, the gloves, the paper boat, elements that lead the viewer to think of a child and therefore the image is even more poignant.
excellent work.
this great image is well rendered with Curtis´s alternative composition.

designsoul (21394) 2006-06-20 12:36

"Remember me, remember me
But ah! forget my fate"--what a gorgeous aria, Rinie! Love this opera... so tragic. You've captured the red petals by the Greek urn beautifully as they are falling. The little details also are lovely, the paper boat, the little stuffed sheep, the flowers and jewels...
First I had doubts about the composition but am great fan of it now, so I won't post my version after all ;-)--I realize how Netherlandish it is! Beautiful, again Vermeer comes to mind...

take care Rinie,
sasa
PS Green later...

everlasting (10940) 2006-06-20 12:44

Hi Rinie, beautiful light and such timing the petals just falling, I wonder how it would have been with just the urn, the petals and the hand.we will never know:)
----------
Got your voicemail, we had just left. Your choir sung out so well in the orchard, i was surprised by the acoustics. I heard others around me comment, these are not amatuers, surely. Hope the evening concert went as well!

nwoehnl (120) 2006-06-20 14:30

A lovely shot, Rinie, one of your best and most artistic ones I think. The lighting is quite exquisite to render the details from the stage, and of course the hand reaching in and dropping Beautiful work.

Albrecht (11213) 2006-06-21 14:34

HAllo Rinie
Mooi sfeerplaatje dat niet eenvoudig is te nemen. Die kleur en het licht zijn prachtig. Ik had de uitsnede misschien wat minder naar links gedaan, zodat de zonnebril er niet meer op kwam. Een ws misshien...
gr.Albrecht

[workshop] [compare] +

Engelina (0) 2006-06-23 5:21 [Comment]

Show Comment +

ChrisJ (70443) 2006-06-24 5:07

Hi Rinie

Superb sharpness, color & dof. I like the falling red petals. Good work!

jinju (14265) 2006-06-25 4:48

Hi Rinie,

I like this shot. Although I have to say that I would have gone a lot further with a crop than the others have. I like the hand a lot, how its formed ina claw like look. But Im not a big fan of the face. Ok, look at the worshop to see what I mean.

[workshop] [compare] +

kajspice (4534) 2006-06-25 10:52

Hi Rinie,

Sorry it has taken so long to come and visit you again...about those comments...I apologise on my behalf...no more mentioning of that neccessary.

I love Rafal's workshop and feel it gives ultimate importance to the motion action of the flowers without the person's face. It would have been nice to have a small amount of motion blur here, but this is really nice without it too...

Angelillo (9065) 2006-06-25 18:46

Hi Rinnie. Nice to meet you. I like really this shot, the subtle light involving everything as if they were just one thing. It's like the music. I love you your note. I've ever thought that a good image and a good piece of music are a perfect combination. Thanks, Rinnie.

elmec (12194) 2006-06-26 12:49

Rello Rinnie!
Very good idea for the photo and note!
I like composition with dark back!
Perfect done!
Best regards!

pridel (233) 2006-06-29 11:48

Hi Rinie
I was very afraid because I did not know the title of the opera. the photograph is successful, and the red of the petals claim passion in love. The hand is very dramatic.
Pascal
I like the Rafal WS

Flavia (10202) 2006-12-11 19:21

Hi Rinie,

Very beautifull, sensitive and dramatic picture. Excellent timing, I love the hands dropping the red petails, a strong scene. Nice POV, focus and light. I,m not sure about the little ours on the left, I guess it kind of distract a little from the subject.

Best Regards,

Flavia

sergio1 (12150) 2007-02-21 7:35