This is one of my favourite pictures. It's made in sept 1998 with my old Pentax ME and 28mm prime lens, which was stolen last year :o( Anyway, I'm curious about your comments!
Best,
Rolf

-- Rolf Rosing (rcrosing@dds.nl), March 20, 2000

Answers

I like it and I take quite a few photographs like this. However, the light through the trees sort of distracts, although I'm never certain how to resolve this myself.

I did a series of shadow photographs while sitting on a bench in San Francisco's Union Square on January 1. The photo below is from that, and while it has a different feel, it does use the long shadows.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), March 20, 2000.

A little bit more about this picture:

It wasn't well thought over or done with a model, but I was actually just sitting on the ground of that neat little square and clicking away to try my (at that time) new wide angle lens.
When got the proofs back from the lab, this on almost jumped into my hands, while the rest was quite disappointing.
I was kinda surprised with that woman walking there, I must admit that I didn't pay much attention to her at the time I took the picture (maybe I should have, for more than one reason :o)
(I know! Shame on me! But hey, I just had that lens on my camera for the first time!)
So please keep this in mind while judging my (first) posting...
Thanks!

-- Rolf Rosing (rcrosing@dds.nl), March 20, 2000.

wonderful lighting, very good timing with the placement of the figure (even if it was luck); in all, an excellent image that evokes a sense of quiet tension. i do think the bottom inch or so (measured as viewed herein) could be cropped. the shadows are a little *too* long, imo.

-- wayne harrison (wayno@netmcr.com), March 20, 2000.

As fine a moment as I have seen. Simple, but just suggestive enough to nudge the viewer to fill in the blanks. Pure photography.

-- Ron Erwin (thebookbarn@prodigy.net), March 21, 2000.

This is a beautiful shot. I wouldn't crop it at all; you'd crop the shadow off of her head, and IMO, the long shadows help make this picture what it is. The swing of her coat is especially nice: it suggests a briskness of pace, a purposeful gait, a rush on the way to some important business (or perhaps fleeing from an late afternoon encounter with her married lover). It reminds me of that classic b&w shot (couldn't tell you by whom at the moment) of a man running on a dark street in moonlight, and you can't really tell if he's running towards the camera or away from it. Same here; though I do get the sense, from the delicate highlight limning the back of the jacket, that she's walking away from us. Wonderful exposure, and I think HCB would agree, the jacket's flip creates the decisive moment -- even if you weren't waiting for it.

-- Matthew Keller (matt_keller@yahoo.com), March 21, 2000.

Very nice shot, Rolf. For me, the light through the trees on the left ADDS something ... I'm not sure what, but covering it made it a different picture, and I like it better with.

Matt, I had the same first impression about the flared-out coat. But looking closely, it seems that the shape is largely due to a pyramid-shaped form beyond the woman... (there's a matching one to the right). A happy juxtaposition in any case... definitely adds to the overall impression!

-- Larry H. Smith (LarryHS@webtv.net), March 21, 2000.

Correction... I was mistaken about the "pyramid". I took another look. The SHADOW tells the story!

-- Larry H. Smith (LarryHS@webtv.net), March 21, 2000.

Wow... Thanks for all your compliments!

But Larry, I don't see what you mean with the pyramid shape beyond the woman. On the right there are people sitting on a bench (which you can see more clearly on the original print), so I guess that it is really her coat.

And Jeff: that is a great picture too! For me it has the same feeling many photos by G. Pinkhassov have, really a very fine composition.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts,
Rolf

-- Rolf Rosing (rcrosing@dds.nl), March 21, 2000.

Nou, nou,nou, meneer Rolf, zijn wij nu publiek. Uw fotografie is zeer mooi en al dat gedoe over die hoeken en jassen enzo.. ik zou me daar niet zoveel van aantrekken want het gaat toch om dat gehele beeld en dat is werkelijk heel mooi, zoals ik al gezegd had, maar ja, ik heb daar geen verstand van. Maar ik moet wel zeggen dat ik het heel leuk vind om al dit positieve commentaar op mijn broertje te lezen. Doei

-- Letski (aletter@cable.a2000.nl), March 21, 2000.

Rolf,

As I said in my follow-up, the shadow proves that the shape IS the coat. My mistake was in thinking that the person(s) sitting on the far end of the bench was instead the triangular base of some kind of monument or something. The not-very-clear-on-my-screen "coat" looked like possibly a second (matching?) "monument"... perhaps a pair - one on each side of the walk.

Again,...VERY nice shot!

-- Larry H. Smith (LARRYHS@webtv.net), March 22, 2000.

Larry,

I guess we posted those answers at the same time, 'cause I only saw your follow-up when I was finished with my reply. But you're absolutely right that you can see it in the shadow of the coat.
Best,
Rolf

-- Rolf Rosing (rcrosing@dds.nl), March 22, 2000.

I particularly like the balance between (i) the strong perspective given by the shadows of the woman and the tree, and (ii) the dark trees on the left and the white house fronts on the right. Even 1/2 a stop different exposure would have given a very different feel to the light and shade.

-- fw (finneganswake@altavista.net), March 23, 2000.