Always fascinating to see what you post Cris, another great shot; great ambiguity re scale

Beautiful image, great color and detail.

I love your work. This image is also a standout. The unusual texture and striking color really make it work well.

That's it. You are now in my interesting people's list. And I predict a POW soon...:-) I still prefer the other one, but this is great as well. Fascinating work. I'm off to see the rest of your folders. Regards.

How often do we see orange? It almost looks like a micro image of some kind of funky mold on orange jello pudding pops. :) Love it.

I live in the bay area, and would love to see how you do this. Send an email, if you feel like being a teacher, or at least a momentary tutor. It sounds extremely fun. Great work. J.

I am so amazed with this image. The detail, texture and saturation in this photograph is so stiking. This is such an original reinterpretation of Natures' beauty. Great work.

Very good capture, Cris. This is a wonderful abstract.

Only critique: oh, hell, forget it. It's an amazing picture. Really, really amazing. Not only because of the incredibly unique capture method but also as a composition and study in color. Fabulous.

The number of times I have flown back into SFO and wished I could figure out a way to get a cool shot of those salt ponds beneath me would be uncountable. It's great to see that someone has figured it out.

It's a naturally interesting place, given the colors, but you've captured a great perspective on it, and done a good job presenting it. The faux-digital frame here really adds to the shot in my mind, and points out the potential this has to make a real impact on someone's (hopefully a gallery's) wall.

Nice job.

That's really great, I love the image, and the way you are taking them is fantastic. My congratulations!

I spent some time in your folders and hit your website, as well. I reall think your work is interesting and really well done. I love the abstract quality of this image. I will continue tpo keep an eye out for new work from you. Drew

I've been looking at your images, wondering why more people don't use kites to do their work, and it dawns on me...

hey, maybe the idea is somewhat original!

As I've said before, it's quite the take on a subject I've pondered many a time. Your other shots are, however, unique in the least. I love the kite perspective, and I love the selection of shots you show in your online portfolio.

Nice work, and congrats on POW. Hopefully, it won't be as ugly as it has been in the past.

-A

No offense Cris but why bother with kites if you can create this combination of colors and shapes in Photoshop? Is there something more to this photograph that I cannot see? Do a kite-lofted camera and radio-controlled shutter make it a winner? I am at loss here.

The commentators who say you could do this in PS miss the point: "It's the process!"

I couldn't tell without reading the tech notes that was a macro or a long shot. This adds to the image's allure.

I was wondering whether you took these in a random manner and then saw your comment on how you composed your kite shots. I'm not fully convinced, but maybe that's just because I know nothing about kite flying and like the comfort zone of a viewfinder. Whatever the means of composition, many of your pictures are fine work indeed (I especially like the undulating wave breaking on the shore).

Reading your web page was a treat, not only for the interesting and well written treatise on KAP, but for the enthusiasm it transmitted as well.

Thanks to you and these photographs, we can fly.

One of those abstract-type but natural (nature) pictures. Wonderful colors, nice tones, textures and a strong, diagonal composition. Just for the sake of commenting, for those interested in fractals (brown or pink noise... on engineering: science of complexity), I'm sure this image fits very well the 1/f rule (on the power spectrum) and that's why I'm sure most people will find this image "interesting" at least, except maybe to those already making images with fractals on the computer, as already posted by somebody up here. Congratulations on your method, it sounds and looks very original to me. Regards,

... which means ..."the Earth is blue like an orange"... <p> Chris Benton proved him right...:-) <p> "Looks like the second POW I predicted in less than 2 months... and now I can't say anything more than John Mc Laine... <p> "Good choice for POW. Deserving aesthetically, and deserving because of the quirky method of capture. Congratulations." <p> Indeed, we now know that the Earth is a juicy macro to the angels... (and no, I don't mean Tony Dummett is an angel...:-) <p> Congrats. Really brilliant work...

This is without a doubt a beautifull image. The texture the colors make the image catch your attention from the first moment you look at it. A very marvelous shot!

Well deserved recognition. I prefer a few others in the portfolio (e.g. Wave at North Beach, Pt. Reyes) but that's just personal taste. Amazing techique, and your selection of images and colors and patterns achieved are sublime. I love your work.

I love this picture. The rocky shore, the crazy, jagged shapes formed by the drying salt and then that orange that fades out to the bottom left.

As to the earlier comment asking, "...why bother with kites if you can create this combination of colors and shapes in Photoshop?" If Maria was serious about the question, let's just say that there are many wonders of the world that we live in, and Photoshop doesn't have any filters that can render them. This KAP image was taken in a fraction of a second and makes me go "Wow!", not only for it's beauty, but for the way that it was done. I'm guessing something similar can be done in Photoshop but it would take days, and I might still way "Wow!" if you could create this in Photoshop, but it's a whole different kind of Wow feeling that I would have.

If I were to do it, I think I'd have more fun being out in the fresh air, taking on the challenge of getting the kite up, trying to position it, trying to snap the right image, and then going through the pictures on the computer later at night seeing what surprises the lens caught. Besides, trying to create this in Photoshop is not an option for me. I lack creativity and patience to come up with a work of art in Photoshop that could rival this capture of natural beauty.

If I were to apply great skill to take a picture like this I would be very PROUD of myself. If I was a novice and didn't know what I was doing with KAP and snapped a picture like this I would consider myself very LUCKY. Either way, I would be exhilerated with the results and would keep on doing it. Congrats on the POW!

A truly remarkable shot, and a different slant on the old admonishment to "go fly a kite." The textures and colours are superb, it's like a wave of liquid earth breaking on the shoreline with pure salt for spume. Your technique is inspiring, thanks for sharing the details with us.

Thoroughly deserved, my congratulations & regards.

Found abstracts to me are the epitome of a photographic eye which I would define as the ability to see things not as functional objects in the environment but as shapes, lines, textures, and colors that can be arranged through tradtional photographic means into a harmonious composition. The colors and especially the textures of this image are quite special. Do we have to know what the image actually depicts or how the unusual angle of view was achieved? On an intellectual level, I find it enhances the enjoyment, but even without any explanation, I find it visually stimulating. My favorite images can be enjoyed on both an emotional and intellectual level.

Congratulations Cris. The beauty you've captured here is so astonishing to me, even after viewing it countless times. A well-deserved bit of recognition.

Any one who has visited Cris Benton's folder before this POW can now resume breathing as we all knew it was just a matter of time before being selected.

An echo here to Balaji Rani about 5 posts above: "....POW....should be read photoGRAPHER of the week here..." and perhaps from here on out. The picture of the week is seldom not supported by an excellent collection of remarkable photos. PhotoGRAPHER of the week shifts the recognition from a piece of art to the artist.

A response to Magda, above. Well, the thing is this: you can do lots with photoshop, but you can't capture time and, of course, you can't capture the natural world. Cris's images do these two things. Yes, some are abstractions and studies in color and composition -- but they are also studies in motion, time, perspective and natural elements. This combination is what makes his images so unique and powerful.

Having said that, I am not a photographic purist and I truly enjoy some of the wonderful digital manipulations on photo.net and elsewhere. Photography has been a field rife with experimentation since the beginning (who can claim that Man Ray's darkroom -- which I've never managed to like! -- work was straight photography?). Having said that, a visual capture of the natural world, because it includes the ephemeral elements cited above, will always be different from a photoshop abstraction in the same way that a photograph will always be different from, say, an abstract painting or sculpture.

Again, Kudos to Cris, who has clearly poured lots of hard work and intelligent planning into these efforts, combined them with a terrific sense of humor and produced some wonderful images!

Some people don't see in this image what many others do see. That's not a failing, nor would I pass judgement one way or another, but questioning why one would do this when Photoshop is available is perhaps not the right way to put it. To my eye, this image is much deeper than a fractal-like edge separating an orange triangle from an uneven, earth-toned one. The strong graphic component no doubt is part of this image's success, but that success is also created in the subtle gradations and textural changes throughout the basic areas. In fact, those textural changes become more interesting to me the longer I look, making me wish for a large print or very high resolution file.

There's a whole essay in here somewhere about why we make challenging photographs when technology allows for shortcuts both in-camera and after-camera. I think I'll resist the temptation to explore it here. The real answer as to why do this with a camera and a kite instead of a keyboard, with regard to *this* image, is right there in the photographer's notes: the process entertains him to no end.

Well, the process, and, more importantly to the viewer, the result itself, has proven entertaining indeed in this image. Nice work.

Cris, This is a very beautiful and a very original image indeed. The way you shot it is unbelievable at least to me. A perfect 10 for originality and aesthetics and of course a perfect 10 for anything else which these two parameters do not capture, perseverance, passion for your work... well you name it. Oh yes congratulations on the POW.

"there are many wonders of the world that we live in, and Photoshop doesn't have any filters that can render them"

Well said Mark.

Regards

another great shot... although i'm not affiliated with them, i think you should consider submitting this image to science or nature magazine. these are the world's most prestigious scientific journals and either would benefit from having something like this grace the cover. these halophilic archaebacteria you capture (orange pigment is from bacteriorhodopsin, which does a very primitive type of photosynthesis) are frequently covered in research articles and photos like this are often sought out by editors as a segway into a story.

Congratulations Chris. I don't have a whole lot of time right now, but let me simply say that I have visited your portoflio many times in the past, and I am enthralled by both your process and your results... although I imagine a GREAT amount of luck is involved as well.

In any event, while I prefer the photograph of the "s" wave with the back-flow of water, I am very happy to have seen your efforts recognized. I will return later in the week to offer a more coherent comment.

I think I haden't ever seen a image like this.The texture of wave is very nice.But if we could see an animal or something else on beach, the shot would became much more nice.

I love it. the colors are stunning. The mention of kite photography has taken this image to great heights. You often hear who cares how it's done. In this case i do care. Full marks to you and your kite!

I think all is already said! Excellent picture. I agree with a comment above, I'm sure you have more fun with that kite than if you just try something in a fractals program. 10/10.

Just to echo the sentiments of others. very creative and very intriguing and also not my favorite of a very neat collection of images. Something about the fuzziness in the orange part detracts. Also as stated above, I think your pictures are very marketable. The Chaco Canyon pictures are aesthetically not as nice as others in your folders, but there are not very many really good shots of that place and I would have gladly paid handsomely for one or more of your nicely wrought kite pictures of the area.

I tried kite pictures once using one of those smithsonian kits, an instant camera and a tricky shutter release mechanism. One of those father-daughter projects that never worked out. Your pictures are better than I would have imagined kite pictures could be.

Congratulations.

Cris, I just want to say that I've also been watching your portfolio for some time. It's an inspiration to see a dedication to showing us a different perspective on the world not seen from planes, ballooning or of course on the ground. There is great beauty around us if we can just find the right perspective. You work hard at finding that spot. In answer to "Why not do it in photoshop?" Why would you want to? You can get out from behind the computer and enjoy the real world. I also enjoy some of the PS projects on photo.net, but they pale in comparison to the real world seen with fresh sight.

Thanks for sharing, and yes I agree "Photographer of the Week" and beyond is a more apt description of what you've shown us.

That is such an insane way to take pictures! Congrats on an original method and an original shot.

Ahhh... So happy to see an image of yours selected POW. My amazement of the beauty of these images just never ends - especially when I consider how you've done them. So clever, with just surreal results. Congrats!

I was so taken by this photo when I first found it (before it won POW) that I spent a day or so researching how to build my own kite. I'm profoundly jealous and can only imagine what I might have done with this technique in Antarctica. Marvelous!

I admire your ingenuity, but would suggest that a helium filled balloon would offer greater security and protection from catastropic failure. Interestingly enough, images similar to this can be obtained via the use of a microscope, which is not meant as a criticism, but only to point out how shapes viewed at very large and at very small scales can resemble each other.

I thought this was an awesome macro shot before reading the caption. Totally cool, you should be proud, you developed a technique and followed it through and now you are an inspiration to us all.

Cris, I come in late here and can only second all of the adulation. This photo and those in the rest of your portfolio easily stand alone as intriguing and beautiful images quite independent of the technique used to achieve them. That we then wonder how they were taken, and that we must often make an effort to know what we are looking at, makes their beauty all the more compelling. (What an enormous letdown it would have been to find they were merely photoshop creations!) I marvel at the skill that has been brought to bear. There is a passion and understanding of technology (well documented in your KAP site) quite beyond the normal technophilia of camera fanatics. And there is an aesthetic intuition required quite beyond that necessary for photographers who actually see what they are shooting. Bravo and congratulations.

Can't believe I missed this one, great shot! I just visited your site and was blown away.

wonderful foto

great photo of nature

This photo definitely makes it into the "art" category in my book. Unique and inspiring.