C72:Stillness advice pls

Deadlock

Hi folks - not been around in a while but I thought I'd jump back into things with this challenge.

Got a couple of macros from my new canon 100mm f2.8 that I'd love some feedback on, and which - if either - you think would be suitable for the challenge

The shots were taken last night by lamp light or candlelight against a dark red reflective background.

They can be seen here...
http://www.katsoulis.co.uk/dump/frozen_in_time.jpg
http://www.katsoulis.co.uk/dump/Frozen.jpg

Thanks

Swartzy

I like the colors
but as a viewer, I'm not sure what the pictures are. They don't seem to represent a stillness theme or feel as I look at them. I guess stillness (in my estimation anyway) would be a photograph that "tells" the story as in a picture is worth a thousand words. Conveying that at times is indeed a challenge. I'd love to see some other macros with your new lens (maybe on the macro & othershots thread). There are some great examples of stillness here in this thread for other ideas.

Zahid Niaz

I could not understand your images. I agree with swartzy that your pictures do not represent Stillness theme. Why not try it again ... shaping some idea to represent calm and quite Stillness.

sayntbrigid

They're pretty.....remind me of strawberries and custard )
It looks like the stillness of strawberry juice drops to me ..........I LIKE em...but I like the second one best.........more color clap

Deadlock

Thanks for the advice guys.

Sayntbrigid - thanks - its my favourite too

You are probably right about it being too abstract which I have a tendancy to prefer to the litteral.

For me the link was in the description of C72 where it said " Your shot should convey a sense of stillness or of a moment frozen in time. "

For me the emphasis is on the latter.

For me its about those bubbles trapped in the ice.
A moment that has passed...
How long have they been trapped there?
When will they ever be free?
A moment that is...
You can see the places in each picture where the moisture has caught the light. Moisture from the melting ice.
A moment that will be...
And you know that at some point soon those bubbles, one by one, will be freed.
Its just a matter of time...

Hence the names 'Frozen' (originally entitled 'trapped in ice') and 'Frozen in time'.

I belive that an image can be a work of art, which on the one hand can be a simple stimulating source of pleasure and in the other, one that can make you think.

Taking this symbolism into the world at large takes us to the rapidly retreating ice caps and glaciers around the world. We have seen them reveal a myriad of items from old planes, prehistoric man, lost climbers etc. What other secrets long lost in the ice have we missed and what is yet to be found. Then there is the science and the pollitics but I'm not going to get into that

The title is a tool by which to steer our thoughts. Perhaps therefore the original working title of 'Trapped in Ice' would have been better?

Or perhaps its just that the composition of the shot gave too much significance to the balance of light and form and lost the detail in the bubbles themselves.

Or perhaps I'm just too much of an abstract conceptualist!

If you have read this far, I hope my original reasons for submission make sense now.

Thanks

sayntbrigid

Everybody is different, and you can never know how the judges and the voters are going to think. Peoples thoughts about your photo are valueable, but remember.........opinions are like noses.....everybody has one, and everybodys is different. ..........besides, its a challenge to interpret the chosen topic in your own way.........its notta contest. I have entered photos that I knew were not likely a contender........because it was an idea I had and liked

Andyman

I like your first one (red 'n white) alot; however I agree that it doesn't convey stillness very well.

Perhaps a wider angle of the ice sitting somewhere in solitude?

Deadlock

Thanks for the advice guys
Unfortunately Andyman I would have to wait another 9 months for my fridge to build up enough ice to try something like that again!!!!

cheers anyway