Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Second of two new monochrome prints I'm working on for camera club competition this evening Taken at the old Gladden McBean ceramics factory in Lincoln, CA.

As usual, presented with a mockup of matting and frame to simulate final look of the piece. No edits, please, but have at it with comments and/or suggestions for the final print. Thanks in advance.

Scuptor's Model: Gladden McBean

(Download)

Photog8 Loc: Morriston, FL

Beautiful image and presentation...good luck. Does the competition use prints or digital images?

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Both. We use PSA categories in both digitally projected images and prints. I seldom enter digital images because I don't care for the way projections alter the colors and density. Digital images and prints are judged seperately.

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

I love the lighting, especially the way how you have highlighted its side to make it stand out from the background.
Good luck.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

While this is a nice image, it is an image of someone else's creation. The real creativity is that of the sculptor or model builder, not the photographer. Taking photos of statues is only a bit removed from taking a photo of a painting or photo - the real image belongs to the creator of that subject. This is a model, but still created by another.

To be considered for competition and therefore to be able to claim /demonstrate creativity on the part of the photographer, there needs to be some VERY creative/original approach to the photograph.

Yes, the light is very nice and the quality of the image is great, it is still a photo of another artists work and the camera viewpoint appears to be just an eye-level shot.

When I have judged photo/print competitions, I have disqualified images of paintings (I really canon believe anyone thinks that is OK) and most images of statues/artwork unless there is some reason that it meets the Impact, Creativity, Story Telling, Technique points.

Having said all that, this is a great example of B&W and a super presentation. My comment only applies to the choice of the image for competition purposes.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Well, Captain, the judge we had felt the same way. He liked the image from the technical standpoint; good exposure, sharpness, tonality, etc., but felt similarly about the subject matter. His comment was that it needed more of the context; perhaps more sculpting tools, at tacked up sketch, or the like. He felt the context should have been the subject, not just the model.

I do agree. It was a thought (and concern) that I had had. But, I also liked what I was able to achieve with the print overall, so floated it in the club competition.

Result: 3rd place Master's Monochrome Prints. Advances to regional council competition, but I'm not going to expect much there.