by Patrice Niset

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• This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.
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Patrice: Congratulations on POW! It is obviously well deserved. The ship's being illuminated on one side is amazingly dramatic. You gave this photograph the perfect balance of dark and brooding with light and brilliance.

I like the impact the ship has as an effect of its proposition against the tiny mole and the houses. I also like the dramatic light in this scenery. And even though it is quite night, there is light enough on the horizon to display the steam clouds rising up on the right.

This is an excellent, well-balanced shot. Congratulations from my side, too.

A few things bother me and some can be changed by cropping. First, what is wrong with the ship? It seems to be listing badly...Or is it just some trick of the lighting? I cannot tell, but it bothers the heck out of me to see it leaning so much to the left.

Light on the smoke or steam above the building bother me and needs to be cropped away. the trouble is that each time I try to crop away portions of that side, I am left with a worsening of the misshapen hull of that ship. I don't think it can be improved as there is something inherently wrong with that boat.

Willie The Cropper

A few things bother me and some can be changed by cropping. First, what is wrong with the ship? It seems to be listing badly...Or is it just some trick of the lighting? I cannot tell, but it bothers the heck out of me to see it leaning so much to the left.

Light on the smoke or steam above the building bother me and needs to be cropped away. the trouble is that each time I try to crop away portions of that side, I am left with a worsening of the misshapen hull of that ship. I don't think it can be improved as there is something inherently wrong with that boat.

Willie The Cropper

Overall, I find this to be a fine image. On the plus side is the enigma presented by the lighting and the wide angle lens (I presume the zoom was set near 24mm or 30mm, although the photographer doesn't mention that) that allows the hulking shape of the vessel to be imagined as something else, perhaps as a huge and oily whale. The slight lighting of the on deck illumination of the vessel compensates for the dark lighting and rounds out that impression for me (placing of an object like a finger over that part of the image changes the mood for me). Perhaps a dulling down of the bright on dock lighting near the front of the ship might be a bit better in terms of lighting balance (one might try adjusting the highlight control in Photoshop to see what difference that might make), but this is possibly nitpicking and I think that image is very successful as it is. Bravo on your sense of observation!

I like this image a LOT! As someone who also takes a lot of ship photos this one is excellent.
A few minor gripes: the image as posted and in the portfolio is really small -- esp. considering the large subject matter and detail most likely present. It's all missed in these teeny tiny posted images. And yes, I too feel I have to lean as the "ship is listing" due to the dark shadow at the bow.
Fine composition, nice night light, and wonderful exposure and a deserved POW. Just... why so small?

It's a bit of a boring photo, at least by POW standards. The only message or emotion this picture seems to convey is "This ship is big." There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but POW is supposed to be special. I also would like to see the large version of this picture.
The strange thing about this selection is that Patrice Niset's other work is very strong. The train, trombone, mill and guitar all stand out as much more interesting pictures.

My first thought looking at this image was that it was like deco period illustration. The colors and contrast add to that flavor for me.

I think basically that this is a pleasing image but I also feel like it hasn't yet been completely worked as it could be. I don't think the image is any sort of statement so I think there are things to consider:

1. Does the dark side of the bow serve any purpose? It can be lightened and that does help resolve the visual oddity a bit, so why keep it dark? It doesn't have to be grossly lightened to help with the visual, but some detail would be helpful if the dark isn't serving a specific purpose.

2. Is the area to the right of the ship, smoke and city lights, relevant? As it is, it seems to be another area competing for our attention. Burnt down, it might serve to inform us of the ships contextual location. Removed, at least partially, it would help focus us more on other parts of the image. Either decision would probably help the image.

3. As presented, the triangular movement between the ship and the front of the buildings on the left seems to be the intended focal point (aside from #2 above which confuses this point a bit). So should the side of that building and the dock, as it approaches the lower left edge, be so bright? Is there a reason not to burn down the sky above a bit as well( gets brighter as it reaches the edge)?

The image is not bad as presented, but I do think it is a bit under performed as there seem to be too many things drawing our attention and many without any payoff as they are presented. I personally think this could be a much stronger image with some additional working in post to emphasize what is important.