Comment at port4u.wordpress.com
I’ve put up 3 straight and after enhancement photos for your opinions. Please tell me honestly which ones you prefer, my version (which uses digital drawing, painting and other alterations) [version A] or the straight photographs [version B]. Your feedback will help me decide whether to either alter my style or conclude that this possible show may not be for me.
The reason I feel the need to do this is because today, 1/26/2015, I had rough critique from the Portfolio Review. I appreciate their honesty and will consider what they said. This is just one of several reviews designed to help prepare us for the selection by the Gallery, who will choose the winning entrants. It was pointed out to me that photographs, not Photoshop work on the images is what flies. Blurs and other tricks done in camera are OK. For example, they loved abstract images of trees blurred to look like a pattern and other similar things created by the camera. But I was told that mine looked like I used Photoshop just because I could, and if it wasn’t a good image to begin with Photoshop wasn’t going to save it.
Straight photography is not what I want to do and does not fulfill me as an artist. I think that if I just use my photos unaltered they will be like many other photographs of nature. I need to create art. I enjoy drawing and painting on an image, bringing things into it, and to fulfill my vision. I cannot hope to please everyone, and I do not always succeed in making a successful image because art is subjective. Learning photography and art is a process that never ends.
I added a version C, a compromise between A and B, of the Brown thrasher with less brown but still keeping my hand drawn outlines and brushwork. Version A I envision hanging in a room with pastel green-gray walls.
Version A. Brown Thrasher with Berry, Central Park 10/5/2014
Version B. Brown Thrasher with Berry, Central Park 10/5/2014
Version C. Brown Thrasher with Berry, Central Park 10/5/2014
Version A. Golden Leaf and Fall Flower, Central Park 10/25/2014
Version B. Golden Leaf and Fall Flower, Central Park 10/25/2014
Verion A. Hermit Thrush, Central Park 10/25/2014
Verion B. Hermit Thrush, Central Park 10/25/2014