Thank you Rafi for the comment and i'm glad to see that my comment was taken with such grace. I like the new picture of yours, the simplicity and brightness of the candles really emphasize the sixth fallen candle. Take care
Good to hear from you Jorge. The monitor thing is a big issue for every one. The only real help for it is calibration of the monitor. Macintosh provides a way to do this and you can use PhotoShop in Windows.
Sam Shepard is a great (kickass) playwright, screenwriter and actor (THE RIGHT STUFF, BLACKHAWK DOWN, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES). Other actors like John Malkovich made their names in his plays. It's always risky to recommend things even to close friends, but I'll take a chance. This photo reminded me of his FOOL FOR LOVE. That's on video, but it's a good read. You might also take a look at TRUE WEST and BURIED CHILD. All of his work is R-rated, by the way.
Of course, I could be wrong, and you might hate his stuff! Best of luck, --g
hey,that looks great...before i was actually thinking of eventually making it a b/w but i now see that sepia is perfect. As far as the saturation goes.....i actually decreased it before i loaded it on here..i think my monitor might be out of whack. Earlier today i checked it on a different computer at school and saw that it was completely oversaturated and dark...but the picture took up the whole screen...so i just figured it was a result of the cheap low resolution monitor they had. But now i'm home and it looks fine.....any ideas on a fix for this? Thanks for your comment by the way and i can't say that i am aware of Sam Shepard--is he an actual author or just mainly playwrights? Thanks for the welcome George, i'll make sure to check out your portfolio next Take care
This, and your other images, suggest that you have a fine poetic sensitivity. This one is very complex and provocative, suggestive--I think--of a hard-edged but romantic abandonement. (I am reminded of the plays of Sam Shepard. Do you know his work?) From a purely graphic standpoint, though, the high contrast and intense saturation might be overpowering its symbolism. You might try softening it a bit if that's to your taste. I went all the way with the version below that I offer only as a suggestion.
I really came to your site to commend you on the good suggestions you made to Rafi Springmann about his "Six Candles." I seconded your motion on his site. Coming here, I was delighted to find Rafi himself had responded in a characteristically open and generous manner.
Hope you continue to post--and to comment. A good eye and an open mind is always welcome.
This is our first, but hopefully not last meeting on the pages of "Usefilm", Mr. Gonzalez. I went over your entire portfolio twice. Not too difficult, because there were only three photos and yet difficult because the photos were all good and hard to select one to comment on. I finally settled on this one because I liked the atmosphere you captured in it. Conveying a concept via a photo is one of the most difficult tasks in photography and you did it exceptionally well. From your photos I learned that you were from the US. I passsed through your country twice and learned to love it. Usefilm members are usually friedly and polite to each other, but the site is not a mutual admiration club. Critiques are accepted (and sometimes followed)as well as acclaims and your constructive critique is no exception. I will, however add that I was standing in the middle of an audience and had very little options for manipulations. I attach a photo I took with no flash and in which I cropped out the air conditioner. Actually I took two, but one was so slow it blured the photo. You are, of course, invited to read my bio and pay further visits to my portfolio. I the meantime I thank you for your constructive critique about my "Six candles." Best regards, Dr. Rafael (Rafi for future communications) Springmann
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{K:102014} 5/6/2005
