Post by alexr on Mar 17, 2018 15:48:52 GMT
Sorry, but I'm going to have to go early with the IOW this week; if I don't do it today (Saturday afternoon in the UK) family commitments mean it won't get done until about Wednesday. And to be fair it is the 18th already in some parts of the world.
As I said in last week's thread, I thought that was one of the highest quality sets of IOW images we have ever had. So I approached this week with a sense of foreboding about a possible anti-climax. But I needn't have worried, you've all come up trumps again. I have picked out the following for honourable mentions:
drjoerogers's In the Manner of Da Vinci:
To be honest I am not normally drawn to portraits but this one was inescapable. The lighting has been set up to perfection to accentuate the rounded skin of a child's chubby (and cherubic) face. The eyes are pin sharp and startlingly intense, particularly when set against the softness of the skin tone. It is always brave to crop right into a face, and then to leave a large area of negative space, but this shows just how well that can work, focusing the attention yet still giving the image room.
Sepiana's Mostly Red:
My instinct is always to admire simple graphic, almost abstract images, and this is from the top drawer. I am immediately intrigued by it, and can't quite work out what it is but the simple and stark colour choice and great textures and horizontal lines lead to a lovely result. What I would say is it very nearly made IOW except for the white area breaking the frame at the bottom. Everything in me wanted there to be a full red surround to create the frame. Obviously if it wasn't like that, it wasn't like that, but that doesn't stop me wanting it to be.
Sydney's The Finish Line:
Lovely watercolour effect, but what I really love about it is the composition. Every element perfectly placed, the main boat takes centre stage, albeit placed on the thirds, with the red buoy providing a small but bright point of interest to balance it. And everything is leaning at exactly the same angle. Luck, judgement, timing or processing? I don't mind which, it just works wonderfully.
But my IOW goes to fotofrank's Getting Ready to Open:
Frank has selected the perfect angle to take this from, with the two matching parts of the flower and the gorgeous spiral viewed from the top. I love the delicate subtlety of the lighting; there is no obvious source yet it is beautifully lit all round, allowing the veins of colour to be seen in all of their glory. The depth of field separates the image from its background, which itself has nothing to distract the eye at all, but keeps it in its natural context.
As I said in last week's thread, I thought that was one of the highest quality sets of IOW images we have ever had. So I approached this week with a sense of foreboding about a possible anti-climax. But I needn't have worried, you've all come up trumps again. I have picked out the following for honourable mentions:
drjoerogers's In the Manner of Da Vinci:
To be honest I am not normally drawn to portraits but this one was inescapable. The lighting has been set up to perfection to accentuate the rounded skin of a child's chubby (and cherubic) face. The eyes are pin sharp and startlingly intense, particularly when set against the softness of the skin tone. It is always brave to crop right into a face, and then to leave a large area of negative space, but this shows just how well that can work, focusing the attention yet still giving the image room.
Sepiana's Mostly Red:
My instinct is always to admire simple graphic, almost abstract images, and this is from the top drawer. I am immediately intrigued by it, and can't quite work out what it is but the simple and stark colour choice and great textures and horizontal lines lead to a lovely result. What I would say is it very nearly made IOW except for the white area breaking the frame at the bottom. Everything in me wanted there to be a full red surround to create the frame. Obviously if it wasn't like that, it wasn't like that, but that doesn't stop me wanting it to be.
Sydney's The Finish Line:
Lovely watercolour effect, but what I really love about it is the composition. Every element perfectly placed, the main boat takes centre stage, albeit placed on the thirds, with the red buoy providing a small but bright point of interest to balance it. And everything is leaning at exactly the same angle. Luck, judgement, timing or processing? I don't mind which, it just works wonderfully.
But my IOW goes to fotofrank's Getting Ready to Open:
Frank has selected the perfect angle to take this from, with the two matching parts of the flower and the gorgeous spiral viewed from the top. I love the delicate subtlety of the lighting; there is no obvious source yet it is beautifully lit all round, allowing the veins of colour to be seen in all of their glory. The depth of field separates the image from its background, which itself has nothing to distract the eye at all, but keeps it in its natural context.
