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Isisbridge

Isisbridge club

Posted: 08 May 2018

Taken: 05 May 2018

0 favorites     25 comments    144 visits

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Keywords

River Wey •
Wey •
Millmead •
Guildford •
Surrey •
river •
riverside •
spring •
trees •
England •
English •
Britain •
British •
UK •
May •
2018 •
landscape •

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River Wey at Millmead

River Wey at Millmead
Guildford, Surrey
25 comments - The latest ones
 Howard Somerville
Howard Somerville club
swan
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
That swan sure knows how to ruin a good picture. (looks like he's flown off now)

But even without the swan, you have ruined the essence of the picture by adding a fake sky and changing the spring trees to a gaudy shade of green. You have also cropped the chestnut candles on the left and truncated a beautiful stretch of river, leaving the scene looing like Could-be-Anywhere.

You are technically very good, but sadly lacking a photographer's eye.
8 months ago. Edited 7 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
I, at least, am the first of those things.

As for looing like, that's a matter of public convenience.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
Producing technically brilliant crap.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
If I lack a photographer's eye, then my faving and commending others' work is no value, sadly. And owing to that lack, possibly, while I do see merit in many of your pictures, I see very little in this one. However beautiful the river and the trees, when as visually monotonous and repetitive as they are here, only so much of them should be included.

My pictures get rubbished when the eye is led in more than one direction. Here, the eye is led nowhere. Even if you don't like the swan or the sky, removing the western third at least makes a focal point of the buildings, birds and the rightmost tree, which are (relatively) interesting, and a bit more East would have helped here.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
I would rate this as one of my best. The trees aren't monotonous, but awesome in their spring green finery, blending so well with the clear morning sky and evocative of similar mornings in childhood. There is sufficient variation on the left to prevent any visual monotony, but you have bizarrely cropped this area out, causing your own version to look monotonous.

It is not intended for the eye to be led anywhere, except to the riverside trees and perfect blue sky. The buildings are certainly not the focal point, and I would have preferred them not to be there. The rightmost tree is not a main point of interest either, but included only to balance the leftmost trees, with the whole connected by the faint contrails.

Your version is quite unbalanced and devoid of any atmosphere. The magic of the day has been lost with that inappropriate sky, and the gaudy greens are quite nauseating.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
The gaudy greens and sky apart (only so much can be made of a low-res screen capture) my version is at least a picture. Yours may to you evoke pleasant memories, but that's a very personal thing. I find it seriously lacking in interest and my eye wanders around wondering what it's supposed to be looking at.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
Your version is a picture D-void of any interest and with nowhere for the eye to rest without being distracted by something else. The sickly colour scheme cannot be blamed on factors other than yourself, and the cloned swan seems to be peering into a deep pool of despond.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
1. Whose version are we taking about?
2. As I've said, this was just a quick thumbnail adaptation of a screen capture. Were it a serious attempt at a picture, the original colours and even sky would have been retained. It's the composition and content which are the point.
3. It must have swam (or flown) up from the Thames near Slough.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
 Isisbridge
Isisbridge club
1. YOUR version, of course (your complete D-basement of a good picture).

2. Your sense of composition is (in my opinion) seriously flawed, not just with this one, but with many of your own.The point here is NOT to lead the eye down the river to some half-hidden buildings, but to emphasise the long stretch of deep-green river bordered by the spring-green trees and perfect blue sky above. Even if you retain the original colours, you have missed the essence of the picture with your ridiculous crop and made it very boring.

3. The swan should be roasted.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
And in MY opinion, if this is one of your best, it doesn't say much for the others.
8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
That is your lack of discernment.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
The "point" of your picture may be those things, but that point will be missed by most people who look at it, for the reasons I've explained. Perception of the "essence" of anything can often be a two-stage process, and the first (as in this case) must be something that catches the eye and sparks interest in it, and that is lacking here.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
Which I'll demonstrate, if you so wish, by praising this picture unreservedly.
8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
No, please don't praise a picture you don't like. I have little inclination to engage with the "good shot" types who never have a bad word to say about anything.

What catches the eye here is the greenness of the spring trees against an almost summery early morning sky. Enough variation is given by the larger trees on the left. There is no need for a swan or an eye-catching red boat, either of which would distract from the essence of the picture.

Did you know that Greensted is still invisible?
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
1. I'd better condemn it then. If my sense of composition is so poor, and I lack both discernment and a photographer's eye, if I dislike a picture, it must ergo be good. That is my point.
2. Those people like to encourage others and look for what's good in their work, not find fault with it.
3. I speak as I find; there's nothing here that catches mine.
4. It should be visible. Try pressing your "F5" function key to refresh you browser.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
1. That makes no sense at all, but I agree about your sense of composition.

2. No, I'm referring to the people who make trite comments, obliging one to thank them and make similar trite comments on theirs. I have no interest in that type of social interaction and place no value on it.

3. That's fine, and I do the same with yours. I honestly don't care whether people like my photos or not, though I might be a little peeved if someone tries to ruin them, as you've done here.

4. It's visible since I alerted you, but wasn't before.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
I get the feeling that when I like or praise your pictures, my judgement is sound, but when I occasionally criticise or try to improve one, it's worthless.
8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
Not at all. You faved one recently that I personally don't think is worthy of the accolade.
www.ipernity.com/doc/isisbridge/24370933

Your criticisms are occasionally acted upon, but your "improvenents" are generally quite laughable (as here).
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
In which case, please ignore any faves or positive comments I've made, because they're worthless.
8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
If you say so.
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
I just accept that different people have different artistic perceptions and styles, but where theirs differ from mine, I do not rubbish them or their work.
8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
You do with mine, and I don't mind in the least.
You're welcome to rubbish as many as you like.

You've certainly rubbished this one!
8 months ago.
Howard Somerville club has replied to Isisbridge club
The very odd one or two, yes. But the difference is that I rubbish the picture, not the photographer, saying that he or she lacks a photographer's eye, discernment and a sense of composition.
8 months ago. Edited 8 months ago.
Isisbridge club has replied to Howard Somerville club
Quite a few actually (though moreso on f*ckr) and it's a trend that you started.

I occasionally take your advice with regard to cropping, but you're not someone whose advice I value when it comes to colour and composition, although I do admire your technical expertise and your skill with photo-editing. That is my honest opinion, and if you see that as "rubbishing the photographer", it is a criticism that you have invited yourself by your continual attempts to alter my photos in line with what you see as your expertise.

When I referred to your "lack of discernment", it was obviously a tongue-in-cheek response to your comment that, if this is one of my best pictures, it doesn't say much for the others.

Saying you "lack a photographer's eye" is a perfectly reasonable response to someone who ruins a good picture in the way that you've done here.

And saying you have a flawed "sense of composition" is a criticism of your work rather than you as a person. It's the main reason I am unable to like many of your otherwise good photos.

We used to have a good laugh about the diarrity of it all, but you now seem to be taking things FAR too seriously.
8 months ago.

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