Venetian Flag

Extraordinary work! Stay well!

Admired in: www.ipernity.com/group/tolerance

D

D

Isisbridge and Tanja - thanks to you both.

No artistic merit whatsoever. My D stands for 'diarr' (as you well know).

Not so bad in the original, but made quite ghastly by that 'painterly' effect.

Mine normally sits for it.

The original picture was little more than a dull, passing, touristy snapshot, so this must be seriously bad.

I actually think that with the gondola inserted, an extra 1/2" added to the bottom of the frame (walking in a group, I didn't have time to change lenses) and with the painterly rendering which despite the overcast conditions makes the scene look quite bright and sunny (all of which took a lot of work) it's one of the better ones. But we've agreed to differ on that.

I agree that the original was a bit dull, but you have succeeded in making a not very silky picture into a sow's ear. Far from making the scene look bright and sunny, the 'painterly rendering' makes it very dingy, off colour and quite obviously fake.

The insertion of the gonola does nothing to improve it either, as it detracts from the main focus (flag) and is in any case hard to distinguish against the 'painterly' background.

One of your worst, in my opinion.

Your dislike of this picture has been noted, and requires no further elaboration. Where we differ, as well as in our respective artistic judgments, includes what we look to achieve with our pictures. To a pictorial, not a documentary, photographer, fakery, even when obvious, does not count against a picture, and where skillfully done is worthy of commendation.

And where unskilfully done, worthy of a D.

What puzzles me is why you were initially attracted to my own meagre efforts (to the extent of having one of my photos on your office wall) when our 'artistic judgments' are clearly so very different.

Many of my own pictures are 'documentary' and pretty mundane, whilst others could be rated in the 'pictorial' category. With the latter, I am not usually trying to be artistic, but see the artistry that is already there in the scene and capture it as it is.

This one, by the way, is quite outstanding.
<a href="http:

The only reason I haven't faved it is because I'm trying to keep an English (or British Isles) theme to my page.

This example is not unskillfully done. Note how the gondolier's hand is gripping the mooring post while he pulls the slightly-listing gondola closer to the wall, and how convincingly the detail in the bottom 1/2" of the picture has been filled in and re-created - no easy task. Without my pointing this out not a soul would realise the artifice.

And artistic taste isn't necessarily across the board; it may depend very much on the type of subject - architectural or natural and the type of lighting. Your sunrise picture which is on the wall next to me is a natural subject and naturally has all the artistry required, whereas the original version of the picture, above, had none.

Oh, I'm not saying you're not very skilled in your use of Photoshop and able to do a lot of clever things with it. I was referring to your notion that this 'dingy' treatment somehow turns it into art.

Dingy as it is, this picture has become what I privately term a "faveton" - one that has clocked up 100+ faves on Flickr. I know that popularity is no commendation or evidence of merit, but to me this is gratifying and justifies the time and effort I put into creating it.

Whatever turns you on. I've never understood why you're so obsessed with stats.
Are you still checking the figures for your draught excluder video?

Nothing turns me on any more, but the stats do signify appreciation of what (in photography) I try to do.

No, and I don't even know if it's still online, though it was certainly popular in its day. Alas those far-off, happy days are well and truly over.

I don't think you were too happy at that time, but, as the Queen once said, some recollections may vary.

Perhaps, but in that respect I was. In the last decade or so my happiest year was probably 2018, but it certainly wouldn't have been if I'd known then what I subsequently knew. Ignorance was bliss - at the time, anyway.

What was so special about 2018, or shouldn't I ask?

Even allowing for nostalgia, 2012-2018 were (although not without problems) pretty good years for me, my for the first time having the means, the freedom, and (or so I then thought) the good health to make good use of and to enjoy my time. 2018 was the best of them because, in addition, I had a whiff of what makes a man feel alive.

A kind of retrospective optimism.

Retrospective optimism? - On reflection, yes. Even in those days I didn't (nor dared to) look too far into the future.

Because we have different artistic judgments does not mean that those judgments do not in some cases overlap.

I'd love to see the picture "<a href="http:" you refer to.

I've noticed that when I copy a link from the 'in activity' section, it changes to a different picture as the activity is updated. Hence, the link I posted as an example of your outstanding artistry is now showing up as something else.

WHICH PHOTO is the example you cite? What is its title?

I can't remember now.

What was the subject??

No idea.