BlacK & Gold

El Gato

Walking down a quiet alleyway, I stumbled upon this quaint, sunken (below ground level), tiny garden/outdoor courtyard seating area. It was empty and wonderfully quiet. The tables and chairs were covered in scattered leaves, the ground completely covered in these beautiful golden leaves.

From my elevated perspective it appeared as if the leaves had been sprayed onto a canvas-like background. The black tables and chairs stood out even more distinctly.

I decided against a wide view of the courtyard, instead focusing on just this pair of tables and chairs.

To me, it conveyed visually, the essence of this peaceful courtyard, and the undisturbed silence of fall.

black mamba

This, Al, is pure dynamite. It's evocative as all get out. I look at this and my mind wants to jump into the scene and find the metaphorical truth within. Powerful.

David_S85

Awesome comp and well seen. Just a little suggestion would be to attempt to diminish the footprints through judicious cloning to lessen a possible distraction.

El Gato

@black mamba said:
This, Al, is pure dynamite. It's evocative as all get out. I look at this and my mind wants to jump into the scene and find the metaphorical truth within. Powerful.

Tom....

Thank you for your comments on this one.

I don't often shoot "still life" (I guess this could be labeled as such), however, when I came upon this courtyard, I was just drawn to it...the clam, quiet, peacefulness.

The colors and the emptiness, devoid of people. Summer had passed, fall has taken over. Everything is slowing down, quieting down, waiting for the return of spring and a flurry of activity.

Thanks again, I do very much appreciate your comments and insights.

El Gato

@David_S85 said:
Awesome comp and well seen. Just a little suggestion would be to attempt to diminish the footprints through judicious cloning to lessen a possible distraction.

David.....

Thank you for your comment! Much appreciated.

Yes...judicious cloning, would indeed lessen the distractions, fully agree. This looks like a job for a nice, cold winter's afternoon accompanied by (or assisted by) a dram of my favoriate Scottish libation.

Thanks again David!!

Juano

Gorgeous shot, well composed, great contrast of hold and black. Besides what David mentioned, I would have hoped for a tiny bit of space at the bottom, a golden line of leaves under the chair’s legs. Wonderful image nonetheless.

El Gato

Cristóbal....

Thank you for your comment on this image.

I fully agree with your assessment of the need for a small space at the bottom of the image, to create a "golden line."

I need to increase my knowledge of the various post-processing tools out there or just get better using PS. I worked over several versions of this final image, attempting to find ways to select both sets of tables and chairs and move them as a group, slightly up into the image. Thus, creating that tiny space under the chair's legs.

I just could not find the right combination of tools within PS to simply cut-n-paste the selected part of the image into a different place within the image. I suspect that the tool or combination of tools does indeed exist, I just haven't master that process yet.

With all of the processing power within PS, a simple snip (cut-and-paste) tool would be ideal and save a lot of time, and reduce the learning curve. The coming winter months may provide the opportunity to take a course or two on improving my PS skill set!

Cristóbal, again, thank you for your comment.

Stumblebum

Brilliant

El Gato

@Stumblebum said:
Brilliant

Taz....

Thank you!!!