Blue vase

I liked the colors and textures here.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …66040953@N03/12​600520113/

I like the light. Great capture as always!

Nice lighting. The warm/cold contrast is really pleasing to my eye. Also, very nice idea for photographing absence.

However, a bit more on the conceptual side of things. And someone disagree with me if you see things differently, because I very well may be WAY off on this. But on first inspection, this image seems to me to be ALL about absence. A vase with nothing in it, seats with no one in them, a table with no food on it. And that's a VERY good effort in photographing such an abstract concept.

My only minor complaint is that the absence seems to be pervasive here, which means that there's nothing there for it to contrast against. Just a suggestion here. And I sort of hate doing this, because this is speculating. When I say, "maybe try this", I don't know if that's a good idea because I haven't done it. You were there, so for all I know you may have tried it and it didn't work. But I'm thinking, maybe focus on the absence of one particular thing, and then contrast that with presence elsewhere.

Example: flowers in the vase might be cool, if the absence in the rest of the scene remained intact. Food on the table could accomplish the same effect. Such things could denote an intended use for the space, which makes it all the more uncomfortable that the space is going to waste.

Again, just an example. Maybe those examples wouldn't work. But my point is, I freaking LOVE this image which I feel is all about absence. But what is the image saying ABOUT that absence? Is that absence good? Is it bad? I am having a hard time saying, because the statement just seems to be kind of neutral.

Again, great freaking photo and a very nice concept. I just feel like maybe it could use a little bit more conceptual clarity. There's absence of multiple things here, and I think that's a bit problematic because there's no presence for that absence to contrast against.

Thank you both for your comments. To be honest, what caught my attention and why I took the photograph was the contrast between the warmth and textures of the woods and the cold hardness of the ceramic vase as the morning light struck them.

Clean Gene, thanks too for sharing your thoughts and interpretation of the image. I'm glad it was so thought provoking for you. The empty space to the right of the vase was to make room for the light reflecting off the china hutch in the background. Perhaps the feeling of absence also projects a sense of loneliness. If I were to put flowers in the vase, it would probably be a single rose that is bent and a bit wilted with perhaps a single lost petal that has fallen onto the tabletop.

navydoc wrote in post #16698387
Thank you both for your comments. To be honest, what caught my attention and why I took the photograph was the contrast between the warmth and textures of the woods and the cold hardness of the ceramic vase as the morning light struck them.

Clean Gene, thanks too for sharing your thoughts and interpretation of the image. I'm glad it was so thought provoking for you. The empty space to the right of the vase was to make room for the light reflecting off the china hutch in the background. Perhaps the feeling of absence also projects a sense of loneliness. If I were to put flowers in the vase, it would probably be a single rose that is bent and a bit wilted with perhaps a single lost petal that has fallen onto the tabletop.

That's cool. I think that the colors and the textures are also really interesting too, but the thing that really grabs me here is the sense of interest or absence.

I'm not saying that the image isn't about those other things too, it's just that the absence was the thing that immediately grabbed me, and I can't let go of it. Whether that was the intent or not, it's just the most prominent thing I'm seeing here.

Granted, just because I see it doesn't mean it's there. Like I said, maybe I'm the only one seeing that, in which case I'm probably wrong.

Also, don't take too seriously my ideas about adding certain things. That was just farting out ideas. I generally don't like to do that when commenting on other people's work, because how would I know that's a good idea if I didn't try it? I can talk about what ISN'T working, but it's kind of silly to speculate about what WOULD work when I haven't seen the comparison. I threw the comment out there anyway, but don't take it too seriously (if at all).

Also, I'm not saying that this image isn't working. I think it's effective and it's definitely working in most areas, but to me it still feels like there's some small thing that feels a tiny bit "off" about it, and I'm not quite sure why that is. All of the things that I really AM sure about, I think they're working well. But I still feel like SOMETHING is off, and I don't know what. My previous post was mostly just speculation about what is making me feel like something is off. Whether that speculation was correct or not, I can't know without seeing a comparison.

But I really do love the image. I know that sometimes I might seem like I'm complaining or putting an image down, but I really only comment on the images that I like. If you see me saying ANYTHING negative about an image, it's only because I already like the image. Images that I hate aren't even worth the keystrokes.

EDIT: Or hell...maybe my reason for thinking that something is "off" is just me wanting answers. I already said that I'm seeing absence represented here, and that I want to see what that absence means.

But maybe you shouldn't tell me what that absence means. Maybe I don't need to see your answer. Some art raises questions while providing no answers, and sometimes that's enough. Maybe the thing that I feel is "off" about this is just due to the fact that it made me think about loneliness and absence, and then I get uncomfortable because you haven't spoonfed me all the answers.

Excellent handling of hard light.

tmcman wrote in post #16723321
Excellent handling of hard light.

Thanks. I hope you viewed the image on my Flickr page full sized.

Great composition and lighting.