Thank you very much. I thought it fitting. :-)

mark.thomas wrote:

Good question. AFAICT, the rulz only require an entrant to add "OLD" to the
filename. I wasn't aware that we had to put anything in the description
about it.

Actually, mine is an archive image, but only because when I went back to the
tug to shoot it again with a borrowed Nikon D40, and the line was in use and
I couldn't make a shot a tenth as good as the one I submitted.

I just noticed that mine has the exposure date under the image ... so that's
how we know that it's an archive image?

Thanks very much. That's two votes for me. :-)

Yes, it's almost like one of those monos with the colour coming through from
a layer below.

Thanks again. This is such a typical shot for me - I love to fill the frame
with something mundane that I find. But when I posted it in
alt.binaries.photos.original I didn't get one comment. Philistines! :-D

Thanks. I thought it was a strong contender for how it so literally depicts
the idea.

I'm not sure that one wouldn't be more fitting for "Soft and Smooth". :-)

Good on you for doing a review. I always value these. Maybe I'll do one
tomorrow ...

<mark.thomas.7@gmail.com> wrote in message
http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115176
Bowser - a really interesting image, but somehow it doesn't work for
me - I keep looking at it, and thinking there must be a way to make
this work better, but blowed if I can put my finger on it.  Good
exposure, good use of a pola by the looks.  Also interesting because
it is one of those images that even if you get the horizon dead level,
it still looks slanted..

-------------------------

Yes, I used a polarizer, since the sun was not at a great angle, and never
is on this dam. But it is a pretty cool dam. And my horizons are never
level, despite my use of a focusing screen with a grid. Yes, I know...

-------------------------

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115178
Bowser2 - Nice, powerful work, a scene that makes one pause for a
moment to think what would it be like.. - couldn't meet the mandate in
much more of an obvious way.  Just a bit uncomfortable with the
cropping, esp top and bottom right - maybe a little more front-on
might have worked better?

---------------------------------------

I'm not wild about this shot myself, and that's why I sent the dam pic, as
well. I took this one as a snapshot of a building near the entrance to the
prison (now a national park), and wasn't really thinking about a crop, or
composition, but it is a tough place. Birds seem to like it, though. Not an
artistic success, but none of mine ever are. But I'm guessing anyone who
looks at my stuff on "shootin" already knew that. Fact is I probably had
better shots of Alcatraz but my total lack of an "eye" ruled them out.

Your critique is kinder than my own, which is "Great Subject,
lousy shot."  As note, I submitted it against my better judgment,
but I'm doing what I can to keep the entry count up.

I took this candid at a small car show in a small town in central
Massachusetts named Wales.  The burnt areas are because I wasn't
prepared for the shooting conditions.  I had planned to have to
boost contrast with a red filter, but instead found myself shooting
under midday sun.  This shot cried out for fill flash, but I had
left the SB-800 in the car.

My alternative was a shot that also had serious contrast issues:
    http://webwhat.home.comcast.net/RoughTough2.jpg

I had also burned a lot of shots trying to capture a virtually
unrestored Studebaker pickup truck, but didn't get _that_ right
either.  Altogether, one of my most frustrating shoots in a long
time.

Hard water.  90+ degrees.  How do I deconstruct _this_ one?

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115136
Wilba: Definitive, classic use of the medium to make a statement
completely on point. Just the kind of image that draws me back to
enjoy the subject, composition, and to see new details on each
viewing. There is sensual information well beyond the visual and
intellectual. Rich.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115174
Douglas: You can tell any number of stories about this coming-together
of a pair. The color shading on the bills is remarkable.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115176
Bowser: My psyche likes images that keep my eye busy with rewarding
new detail (sound familiar?). This one has it all over, in addition to
a panoply of textures and shadings. I'm not much influenced by
slightly off-kilter horizons, as the world looks like that to me much
of the time. In this one I might have tried to find a way to anchor
the right end of the dam; on the evidence I know it's there, but the
scene leaves me with a little itch in the edge of my perception.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115178
Bowser II: I have a very somber reaction to this one, and I believe
that's appropriate. More details and shadings, and another of those
that has some kind of motion in it in spite of the static nature of
the image. It may be the only thing I'd have against it is that the
motion has no resolution. Can't imagine how to eliminate or ameliorate
that.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115179
Michael H: This is the kind of thing that brings a tear to my eye on
several levels: one is the perfect capture, balance, detail. Another
is that it pulls me in to let my eye wander in company with my
imagination: Whose was that? Did he own the car and the shack? The car
looks pretty solid, what there is of it; why has no one come to rescue
it, or at least give it a decent burial? I hope you don't mind if I
post it to alt.binaries.pictures.autos. This will knock them out, I'm
sure.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115181 - Mark.T said:
"Frank S (is that you, Frank Ess?) - I like it because it is so off
the
wall.  Inscrutable, odd, and indecipherable, just like the notes
beneath it, and just like the stuff you post here (if it is Mr Ess)!
I love it.  But as for meeting the mandate, how on earth does one
tell???  (O; "

Yes, I am he, he is me. I made several portraits of this bench, and
I'm not sure any of them made the link to "Rough and Tough" any
clearer. It was rough when new, has a patina of saw-cuts, drill-holes
and other scars, and keeps on ticking. I guess the fooferaw of the
birds, birds, birds makes the bench itself kind of inaccessible. I
suppose it's easy to see something not apparent to others when one is
emotionally involved with the subject. Other attempts at
http://www.fototime.com/inv/C6C90DF9FF87E71

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115183
Mike B: I think I know this guy, and his tics and scent, and
prospects, and I'd rather see his face than his shoulders well-exposed
(heh). A prototype of the rough and tough guys I remember from every
era I've survived. I'm /certain/ I know this guy. I bet I could
confirm it if I could see just one hand clearly.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115185
Jim K: Very nicely done, caught the expression in a critical moment,
plenty of that absorbing detail to wallow in. Trouble is, I appreciate
this kind of shot for a short count, and it's over; I guess I just
don't have that much empathy with arachnoids, although I /really/ like
them and appreciate the work they do.

Thanks to all who joined in the expression of "Rough and Tough". It
seems everyone did a better job than I did, but it was fun and
rewarding, I hope. I appreciate the feedback/analysis/comments from
members of this group. My esteem for you-all is increased daily,
especially when aspects of the craft and art are verbalized and
illustrated as in these exercises.

Thank you,

Wilba - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115136

I enjoyed packing many strong elements into this scene - the drape and loop
of the line (like a limp penis and scrotum), the flashes of red deck and
blue water, the dirty texture of the line, and the impression of strength in
the bollards. I deliberately went for a dark look, but against a black
background it's maybe too dark in the shadows.

Douglas - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115174

A dramatic and colourful scene, but as is often the case with your photos,
my dominant reaction is a series of "what ifs". What if we could see all the
beak? What if the composition put the focus of interest somewhere other than
right in the (vertical) centre? What if we could see enough of the bird on
the right for it not to appear disembodied? So for me it looks like a
novelty snap rather than a well constructed image.

Bowser Ver 1.0 - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115176

I'm not sure what others are on about with the levelness of the horizon.
AFAICT the distant horizon is dead level. Maybe the dominant diagonal and
perspective distortion gives the impression that it isn't. It looks a lot
less wierd without the perspective distortion, and that makes the foreground
more dramatic, which for me accentuates the roughness in the scene.

Bowser Ver 2.0 - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115178

I love derelicts, and this one has an interesting connection with the topic.
If it was mine I'd tweak of the highlight levels to brighten it a touch, but
I understand entirely if you chose a sombre mood to match the scene.

Michael J Hoffman - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115179

I like the scene (more derelicts!), it's well executed, and I want to walk
into it and have a poke around. OTOH, it doesn't particularly connect for me
with the topic. I can make a connection if I try, but I don't find it
compelling. Am I missing something? If it was mine I'd probably crop 5-10%
off the left, right, and bottom.

Frank Sheffield - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115181

Surreal and intriguing. I'm happy for a photo to make me wonder what is the
subject (the statue, the birds, the flower pot, the bench ...?), as long as
it is interesting to look at. And thanks for the story. I get it. :-)

Mike Benveniste - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115183

I wouldn't be surprised to find this in a Cartier-Bresson collection. He
looks to me like someone I would have to keep my eye on. Maybe that's
because he looks like he's throwing a gut punch. It wouldn't look out of
place if he had a wine bottle in his hand. There's a thought - is he the
famous boy with the wine bottles, all grown up? :-)  Great response to the
challenge. This would be a winner for me if the exposure was OK.

Jim Kramer - http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/85115185

Technically excellent and a high wow factor. This one challenges my
definition of tough. It fits with the connotation of aggression, but I think
of toughness more in the engineering sense of strength and resilience, and
spiders are ultimately too squishy for that. :-)

Well done everyone.

On Sep 7, 6:49 am, mark.thoma...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks fo the generous critique!  The image was made at a now out-of-
business garage here in my hometown of Delta, Pennsylvania. Mr
Stewart, the owner, had several vintage automobiles (this one, for
those interested, is a Nash) in various stages of disrepair on the
property.  Stewart's son Ralph, who maintains the place, has been
selling off these chasses(?) just to clear the lot.

To make a long story even longer, the garage used to be a general
store back in the 1800's and early 1900's.  The shed pictured was
purchased and moved to its current location by the propiietor to house
feed.  The structure had, prior to said purchase, been a storage
building for dynamite used by workers at the local slate quarry, which
has long since gone out-of-business.

Prior to being a garage or general store the main building (not
pictured) had served as a stop along the stage coach route which ran
from Harrisburg to Baltimore, according to Ralph Stewart.

Michael

LOL. You should have told us all that with your image. :-)