2025 May Photo Share
Eric Loehwing | Published on 5/16/2025
May 2025 Photo Share
Alan
Alan submitted two photos from his travels to the High Arctic. The photo of the rocks he took for the contrast of colors, which we also liked. The absence of a clear subject to focus the viewer's attention bothered some, although Eric suggested that it could be a Rorschach test with a monster in the center descending towards the water. The polar bear photo was more documentary in nature, showing the influence of global warming. We suggested a crop to eliminate the foreground water and increase the size of the bear.
Eric
Eric's photo of an Ikebana demonstration at the Hume Japanese Stroll Garden in Locust Valley was taken from the front row. Some were bothered by the shadows on the woman's face, while others felt it added character. Karen suggested cropping out the tree trunk on the left. While the Ikebana shot was taken "on the fly", the tall trees over the path was arranged for maximum effect, both with the person to provide a focal point and the 9x16 format to emphasize the tall trees. Eric explained that he made 9x16 the default format, it can be changed after the shot to other formats when editing in the Apple Photo app.
Janina
Janina showed us how she enhanced her squirrel photo with various slider editing tools, and indeed one can see the difference in color tone between the two shots. However, some liked the activity of the squirrel eating the nut in the first photo and less of the green bush. We also felt both shots would benefit from cropping out at least some of the window above the squirrel. Both shots demonstrated the difficulty in photographing wild animals, giving us little time to make composition decisions as we attempt to frame the shot.
Karen
Karen did not want to lug her heavy DSLR on her trip to Disney World, so her shots were taken with her cellphone. Dick offered several suggestions when shooting fireworks: use a slow shutter speed and aim to be early, as the sky will become smoky as the show continues. As for the shutter speed, he explained that it's like shooting falling water: slow speed gives you the milky effect. As for the Disney castle, Karen tried to avoid the typical tourist viewpoint by shooting from a distance. By introducing additional elements in her composition she transformed the typical into something more interesting.
Art
Art told us that his dogwood flowers were taken with a TTArtisan F/1.4 lens, and that he has become fixated on short focal length. Whereas shooting wildlife gives one little time to compose, Art's still life flowers show the result of careful composition and editing. We discussed three shots; Art's favorite was the second shot seen here for its circular pattern, although Dick liked the more minimalist single flower.
Agnes
We've all come to appreciate Agnes's eye for a good photo, and the skyscraper shot was taken through the sunroof of her car as her husband drove through Manhattan. Remarkably clear, it was shot through the glass of the sunroof. We like the leading lines of the buildings pointing to the sky in spite of the converging vertical distortion. As for the Ray Ban sunglasses for taking AI photos, we expressed some reservations (about the product, not the photo.)
Dick
Dick's photos this month were more historical in nature, inspired by the film "The Bridges at Toko Ri. Back in 2019 he visited the Yalu river that divides China from North Korea. He explained that China (on the right) has repaired their side of the bridge, while North Korea has not. He also photographed the guard house at the border between the two countries in spite of the risk of being shot at by the guards. He explained they were distracted by preparing lunch, so he was able to get the shot unharmed.
Dorothy
Dorothy showed us more photos from her Alaska trip in 2008. She was fascinated by the sled dogs that were chained to their dog houses, as we saw last month. She also explained that the photo of the mountain range was unusual in that much of the time the weather was very cloudy. Editing was somewhat limited, as Dorothy's camera at the time was a point-and-shoot.