[Irma]

I took this series in a little river. The water was running slowly but I still could get some reflections with texture.

#1
My idea in this one was to work foreground-background. I worked lighter colors in the bush at the right and more contrasting and darker colors in the foreground. The reflection gave me this direction as I had more details in the tree than in the bush.
I added some texture to wrap the whole image.




#2
The same idea as #1 foreground/background, but this one a bit more abstract therefore I only have few branches of the tree. My design is a game of balance starting with the thick trunk and compensate with the group of think ones at the right. Also I tried to compensate my colors to make it look harmonic.




#3
Hard contrast and mainly work with light and shadows. I refer my picture as the morning light (right) and the dark blue sky after sunset (left).




Thanks so much for your advice to improve my pictures...

[Don Schaeffer]

I likw what you did to the colors.

[Irma]

Thanks Don...

I am very happy you mentioned the colors...

[nia]

WOW! They are all like a painting, you did great, dear Irma, I loved it, fascinating.

Thank you,
with my love,
nia

[Irma]

Thanks nia, I'm glad you like them....

[Toad]

Yes - the reflections. I have played off and on with these over the years and they are fascinating to work with.

Of these 3 images, I think #2 is the strongest. The stark contrast between the blue and yellow and the minimalist nature of the tree branching come together in this one. There are also some fine details that help balance the composition. The dark lines in the tree trunk and the little yellow vertical object to the right of the main trunk. Very nice.

#3 is my least favorite. The green color at the bottom is very lush - but it is quite clearly upside down which hurts the shot a bit IMO. I also don't like the blue wash in the top right corner so much. I would like to see a much tighter crop - maybe just the bottom right portion of the current photo.

I am really struck by how similar #1 is to one of mine: http://www.robertwill.com/Distortions/photo2.html I guess "great minds think alike"..

[Irma]

I also think that #2 is the strongest in the series, it is a clean composition. Thanks a lot for appreciating the details here...

#3 Yes, I left a bit of the ground here. I keep doing this, I always think about leaving clues to the viewer. I understand your idea about the crop. Following your advice I did this. I think it is pleasant and the composition improved. I added more light and color in the shadow areas too. I like it.



But this is the true image the one I got in love of. I really like it a lot as it is. I imagine one of those women, sitting in the ground with her head covered, very Mexican btw. But I was afraid that it wouldn't be understood, I thought maybe it is just a very personal thought... so I overlapped one side and I got the image you saw in my first post.



Your Amazona is beautiful, I like it a lot, and it looks so sharp and so clean.

Thanks so much for your comment and advice Toad. As always very much appreciated...

[Toad]

I also love your final image in the second set. Very strong narrative here - I see your woman and I can see her gazing into a warming fire as well. The darkness and shadows behind her add both background and a sense of foreboding to the story. Behind is darkness but ahead is light.

Well done.

[Irma]

Thank you so much for your comment Toad. I am so happy to see that you saw my woman....

I guess this is part of the learning process... sometimes you don't know if what you are looking or interpreting is something so personal that no one would understand. Then one becomes very universal (?) simple (?) and your work is just part of the stream and not interesting and innovating anymore.

Thanks again...

[NT73]

Restful images and nicely blended tones.

[Irma]

Thanks NT for your comment and your interpretation about my pictures... I am happy that you use the word "Restful"...

[NT73]

Thanks NT for your comment and your interpretation about my pictures... I am happy that you use the word "Restful"...

Is that the effect you intended?
I just say what I see.

[Irma]

I think that was my own condition when I took my pictures... and I wanted to show what I was experiencing then.

Let me tell you a bit about my last pictures...

When I began reading about Brain Training and thinking to improve my brain activities, I came across an article talking about meditation. An incredible article talking that in some schools in US Mindfulness meditation was introduced to kids, as a breathing exercise. It has been proved that kids taking this "breathing exercises" have improved their learning and there have been less conflicts in the class room.

I found a good book written buy a monk that tells you what Mindfulness meditation is, what you get and what you will not get by practicing meditation. It is nothing to do with religious celebrations but it is just to bring your mind to a state were you become aware of your own feelings, needs and everything around...

As you know, one thing leads to another. I looked for Zen photography and I found a fantastic video of John Daido Loori. He was monk and photographer. He wrote many books and gave many workshops about this kind of photography. He also wrote many books and he explains how to prepare yourself to take this kind of pictures.

Reading about all this I understood that when I went to the forest or to the lake it was kind of meditation too.

All these pictures in this series were taken in the same place. I was really calm and content to be there. I felt relaxed and that is what at the end I wanted to project. Already in my computer with my pictures in front I worked with colors and composition in a more conscious level, trying to engage the viewer.

It is interesting to see for example that my picture Emotions was taken in a very different state of mind. I was dealing with some personal troubles, my picture says it all.

Thanks for asking NT...

[NT73]

Re- Emotions.
Turmoil. Maybe that is what I meant, but could not express myself at the time.

Interesting.

[boogey111]

Beautiful and pretty please share me more pics about it because i like the trees so what do you say about it dude???????

[Korry]

You do realize you are answering a 3 year old thread and that dude is actually a woman, right?