Ghost Staircase

[Toad]

Post Removed

[roger_ele]

All thumbs up!

love the quarter turn from reality, good compositional flow and balance of colors. Perfect flow to the figure at the top. I don't have any suggestions for improvement, I think you nailed it. The tones all have a similar saturation so that they feel as if they were all done by the same brush, enough shading to to be facinating, enough highlights to be clean, enough balance and movement to be art.

Roger

[Toad]

A thousand thanks Roger! I worrry that my stuff is not very accessible. The thumbs up mean a great deal.

[Murray Harkavy]

Staircase

Toad__Great imagery__reminds me of the chambers forming a Nautilus___wonderful !____MH

[CJ Swartz]

Toad -- I hadn't remembered that you were the creator, but I certainly remember this image -- it has been one of my favorites on this site since it was submitted for a member mini-art challenge. I never worked on it because I thought it was so well done that I couldn't imagine making any changes.

That's still my impression as I look at it today. The line, the color, the texture all work together. I just love looking at it. My emotional reaction was different than your intention, however -- I imagined that the shadowy figure was a friend who was waiting for me to reach him at the top of the stairs.... Perhaps my reaction to blue skies and sunny colors.

[Toad]

Thanks you everyone. This has long been one of the shots that I am most proud of - and that I hope to enter in a major competition soon.

Interpretations vary, of course, CJ, and I should not be so quick perhaps to assign one to a photo. On the larger original version, it is more obvious that you can see through the shadowy figure, and I chose the most mysterious silouhette that I could find in my vaults for the "ghost" - so I guess that I hadn't considered other interpretations fully. I was going for sort of a Hitchcock thing here - which was where it ended up in my mind. It is interesting that you see this as a friend rather than a sinister figure. I think that probably says more about you and me than it does about the photo.



Thanks again everyone for the kind words.

Question: am I posting too many photos here? I recently read some rules that say one a week or something like that. I have posted 5 over the last 2 weeks. I would be happy to cut back if moderator or readers prefer.

[NiteOwl]

Great lines!

Or should I say, curves? I like this image. Although for me personally, there is something just a bit off with the composition. Gosh, I hope I am making no enemies! I really love the lines here...each step, the spiral, all of it,...but something seems to be missing. maybe it is because of the small size I am seeing it at a corner of my 19" monitor. I can't say for sure. I have seen enough of your other work to say, you are pretty special and pretty good. I will keep looking and watching for your name. Nice 'classic' art. I like to call it that, if I have seen it before just differently.

Take care,
~Niteowl

[Toad]

Owl:

Thanks for your comments - I think. I am seriously interested in pushing this one a lot further. I have shown it a few places with very good feedback. I would still like to improve it.

Can you be a little more specific on your suggestions please, for my benefit - I can sense that something is wrong by your comments but don't have much specific to go on.

"a bit off with the composition" / "something seems missing". I am anxious to improve as a photographer, but I am perplexed as how to move forward based in these comments.

Just a little more detail would help me.

Thanks much
Toad