this image effectively conveys an eerie mood

I'm not one to effuse over a photograph, but this does something to me. The subject, the lonliness and cold depicted bring to mind staggering off from a party after one drink too many, trying to clear my head. No one comes by to help, you have no company, so you have ample time to minutely study the empty chairs and tables as you struggle against spinning out. This picture brings out that kind of detail - banal in itself, but evocative in the extreme. A great picture (for me) of one of those - thankfully rare - "life" situations. In the distance you can still hear music playing and the distant sound of voices...

The image presented by this photo is very eerie and mysterious. At first glance, it appeared to be a cemetry ! The lighting effect and the shadows casted by the trees provide this photo with an unique emotion. Great photo.

The green, eerie light just screams out X-files to me. I think this a way cool image.

Thang got there first, but have you seen a series called "X-Files"?

I love these kinds of pictures. I really enjoy this one..thanks for freezing your butt of for a nice shot.

This shot invokes images of impending doom from an alien spacecraft located in the woods, very nice. If I have one critisism though, it's that fact that all the light is quite green except for a bit on the right hand side. You could probably get away with cropping it out if you want to.

It's funny, to me the scene looks like a nice, snowy, warm (around freezing), winter evening. My friends and I are out on a night-time walk enjoying the mild winter weather when we happen on this little park. We're dressed in our snow gear, so it's time to play!

I'm currently studying photography at the Rochester Institute of Tech and very recently we got an assignment to shoot under different types of lighting. (fluorescent, tungsten, sodium etc) and i think this is a very good use of the green cast of the mercury vapor lamps. I didn't particularly like any of the images shot under this kind of light by my classmates or mine but this one creates a cool mood and it just works.

Beautiful. Looks like a scene out of 'The witch, lion and wardrobe' books. Really lovely.

Crop out the red background on the far right, and you have a dynamite photo. The red dstracts from the cool colors consistent with snow the cold scene. PAUL D. ARNOLD

Beautiful shot. I agree somewhat with Tony's feelings as to the impression it gave me. Reminds me of many late nights in my late teens-early 20's. A perfect place to enjoy some 2am donuts. I also agree that while at first I thought the reddish building on the right added something, I don't think it does much. There seems to be some vignetting (sp?) on both lower corners and the right upper corner, which is a little distracting, but not much. I love the delicacy of the climbing apparatus, but the picnic table seems almost clunky. I would love to see a view from the other side of that table or if possible from further to the right of where you were standing to get the table out of the frame. Finally, and not to sound like a nitpicker because I really really like this picture, but the back edge of the snow is slighty higher on the left than the right. I think horizontals in general look more pleasing and peaceful when they are as flat as can be unless angled for a specific purpose. A great job capturing a mood on film, thanks for taking me back in time.

By no means whatsoever am I at all a technical photographer, but I like this image. It portrays a sense of solitude and desolation in a place that should be so full of life. The bench stood out to me as well, but overall the picture is a brillaint juxtaposition.

Paul said what I was thinking. An 8x10 format, cropped from the right, is SUPER. This is the kind of picture I can just stare at and stare at.

Dear Paul I disagree about the crop idea.

The orange over to the right is balanced by the larger area of faint brown orange on the left in the trees.... don't crop anything.

To me this photo is more than simply spooky or pretty. Its a complicated photo that for a change is worth ones time to explore. Great shot. Well done!

Cool and quite extraordinarily spooky

I actually love the bit of brick redish color on the building to the right...I noticed there is a ghosted tone of the color behind the trees on the upper left... To me, thats one of the reasons it works and the contrast between the warm and cold works for me. When I cut out the building on the right, it makes for a less complex shot. Excellent image - eerie and ghostlike.

The only real criticism I would have about this picture is that it seems to tilt towards the right. Otherwise I like it. There is sort of a cool, spooky aura about the scene. Good photo.

This photo definitely screams "x-files"... Where was the light coming from? I like it, seems like a promotional poster to one of those new alien sci-fi flicks. ;) -David, Shutterline.com

Hey, Ivan, I remember doing a school assignment like that, too. I also remember hating the sickly color I obtained shooting under mercury vapor lights.

But THIS photo is beautiful! I wonder if the snow makes the difference in color cast, or the 20-second exposure (reciprocity?)?

I agree with the comment about cropping out the red light on the right side of the image. I think it only diminishes the coldness of the rest of the image.

I'm a big fan of night photography, and this is an excellent example of using the different light at night to very good advantage! Unfortunately, there's almost only sodium lamps where I live, and I'm pretty tired of the strong orange tint they give color photos by now.. I'd love some of those mercury lights around here!

I like this very much. the light, the mood and the feeling of the image is very good!

I don't think I've got any reciprocity here. Seems very close to what i saw, but then again, what do you think about vision & memory of a person wandering out from NewYear party at 4:30am, remembering to drag out his camera AND a tripod?

its really really nice

I love the image, but agree with those who find the orange building on the right distracting. Since the photo is otherwise nearly monochromatic, why not go all the way and convert in to B&W?

I think the shadows in the photograph really draw your attention into trees, into the empty playground. What I end up seeing is an empty playground, devoid of usual childhood activity. The picture made me think of growing up, something that I don't plan to do, but still, the sun setting on an empty playground invoked plenty of symbols and emotion for me.

I'm a non-cropper for this photo. I really LOVE what the hint of red building does to this image. Without it, the photo would be wonderful. But with it, the photo is 'special'.

How true it is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Excellent use of vertical lines and intersecting shapes. In my opinion, though, this photo could use just a little cropping from the top so that the trees aren't so much a part of the photo. Overall, a great shot!

I think the warm colors on the right do not diminish the overall effect but rather gives a nice contrast with the rest. whether you crop it or not, it is a strong photo but I prefer as it is.

Beautifully lonely. This photograph screams quiet. So cold, so isolated………so well composed and exposed. Excellent work. Bravo!

The bright orange-red on the right hand side constantly distracts my eye and reduces the impact of what I think would otherwise be a very good picture.

Moscow.(2001.03.08)

Nice to meet you, so your Russian photography. I'm korean. I visited three month ago.

Your photo, It's excellent!!

pity i wasnt there :)!

This has all the classic qualities of a great landscape. I admire man-scapes and man and land scape combinations as well.

This follows the rules of thirds up and down and across. More importantly, there is a foreground, midground, and background all beautifully lit and detailed.

Most importantly, is this is an intriguing scene which I, and, from the other comments, most people, would like to walk into for various evocative feelings. ART IS THAT ABILITY TO TOUCH OUR AESTHETIC CORE AND MOVE US INTO YOUR WORK.

Congratulations on An Extraordinary Image. I gave this a 10, 10 with 5 seconds of looking at it. Thanks for the experience it provided me.

I love the color. Don't crop --- the warm red glimpsed through the trees on the RH side adds a lot (is that a red brick building lit by other kinds of lamp?). There seems to be a little vignetting in the lower corners which doesn't detract much from the experience of seeing the image.

I like the photo and the execution is great. Also, I would not want to drag around expensive photo equipment in the middle of the night in Moscow.

However, responses from this forum tell me that people do not photograph much in Russia, tourists or locals. I have grown up near Moscow and the scenery, the kid’s playgrounds (not an amusement part), looks pretty ordinary to me. My guess is because only a few photoneters visited Russia, they find the image original. The lesson for me is that any composition would be considered "original" as long as no one goes there. And yes, go to Moscow, there are some many things to do at night besides photography!

Absolutely beautiful!

There are two distinct camps here, and I'd like to add my 2 cents that the orange on the far side of the picture emphasizes the rest of the scene.

Without pain, there could be no...

I agree with all of the comments about the feeling and emotion that this photo evokes. It's pleasantly eery and just begs for closer examination and exploration!

The tilt of the horizon line and trees on the left hand side of the photo are very distracting to me though, and give the image too much of a snapshot feel. A viewer will tend to skim over an image like this; take it too lightly.

As another reviewer mentioned, the horizon should be level. In addition, the trees either need to be evenly vertical, or they should be bowed towards the center on both sides of the image. As it is, the trees on the right are relatively vertical while the trees on the left lean dramatically inwards.

If you can perform some perspective correction to straighten things up, you'll have an incredibly strong image!

There is no clearly defined horizon in this picture anyway, so why is everyone complaining about it being uneven? Look at it closely and you will see that your eyes are just being fooled by the green light cast onto the uneven snow. The "horizon" looks just fine to me.

I personally think that cropping should be done on film, too. When I make a picture I only include exactly what I wanted to fill the frame, unless on a rare occasion I am limited by the focal length of my two lenses.

This photo instills the desire to go to Russia. The backlighiting works in a magical way.

I like the way the shadows form an array on the snow. Nice photo.

i've seen a couple of suggestions for a crop of the image on the right side...and i would not, strongly not.

reasons.... #1 [a minor one] you could crop out the building [?] and yet still leave some other color in, so you wouldn't get the image without the distracting color....#2 if you crop out the extra little bit of color, you would loose the fullness of the glow....and #3 [the major reason] this pictures begs you to look around - at first to see if anyone else is there, and then -- to get around the trees and see what that red thing off to the right is. the picture has a balance which the eye can follow around, and every so often you are pulled to the right. at times, i feel like moving my head left and right, to get around the trees.

in all, the better cropping choise is as-is, by far.

Crop AND don’t crop! To me they are two very different images and I can’t decide which one I prefer. The uncropped version is more interesting though.

What I like best about this picture is that it is comprised primarily of natural elements like the trees and the snow, but the light has an amazing power and makes everything seen un-natural. It is WAY COOL!!! I don't see anything wrong with the horizon line or the trees, I think it is just the variations in the DOF from left to right playing tricks on peoples eyes. I have never seen a perfectly straight tree yet so I don't expect there to be any in Moscow either.

What I find great is that the standard procedure in this situation would have been…

1. Identify the temperture of all light sources

2. Apply appropriate filter (or convert to B&W)

3. Set-up and take picture

I’d have to compliment you on your choice to stay true to the name of your camera (Rebel) and come up with this great shot. It made me think Ghost Busters when I saw it. lol

OK, before everybody jumps down my throat, I made a mistake. It isn't an EOS Rebel, it is an Elan. I checked earlier in the week and I am sure it was a Rebel but I guess I was wrong, sorry.

Love the shot. I must have stared at it for a full minute...just getting lost in it.

One idea that comes to mind is to have children create 'ghost' images by having them run through the scene while dragging the shutter. The idea would be to have them in motion so they are almost translucent. oooooOOOOOOOhhhh...kinda scary eh?

Nice photo.

I really like the atmosphere of the picture. The only disturbing thing is the orange part on the right, I don't think it goes well with the rest of the picture.

I've seen this photo before, I'm almost sure.

I was thinking that one of the remarkable things about this photo is its pseudo B&W quality, highlighted by the bit of color in the corner!

Composition: there is no center-of-influence; relationships between objects do not vector the eye around the frame. This is a tonal poem conveying a mood.

I agree with you Robert, the composition of this photo is very weak. The only thing that creates any interest is the moody lighting but that doesn't come close to making this a great photograph.

Hauntingly beautiful.

1. I like the photo.

2. The horizon is tilted, and it's not a trick of the light. It should be fixed. I hope Ilia doesn't mind that I tried correcting the horizon in my attachment.

When I saw this photograph, I couldn't help but stare in amazement. I think it is perfect, and I only wish I was there to see it for myself. What an amazing thing to see and capture for others to enjoy as well. Excellent Job!!

go to any wooded park at night after a snow fall and you can get a similar picture.

It is interesting to note that if none of the alien and X-files phenomena exist this picture would create a different feeling (for me anyway). However I am quite impress with the picture here to capture some detail in the tree trunks. Great work!

definately x-files-ish. cool shot!

Awsom Shot! Love the eery lighting! although the dull orange light in the extreem right kind of takes the spookyness away. Good work. Keep it up.

Great Picture I can feel the cold at my back.

Nice moody picture, but: it does need some perspective correction and a center of interest. As is, it is just a moody picture. Well done, though.

I used to do love doing this kinds of photos when theres nobody around. It's quiet after a snow fall and everyone is inside after a day at the park. Makes ya feel kind of original being there at that time, like you are your own person. love the lighting. But I want to know if it's moon light or just ambient light that's lighting the trees in front.

This is poorly composed and trite.

Cropping wont to anything to better the image. The orange light only adds to the mystery. Its not distracting, in fact it balances the image.

Beautiful photo... and feels like a magical place. Excellent work!

This photo has thorougly captured me! Taken me...entirely to another place. A crisp,cool,dark enchanting moment frozen in time that is anything but still. I'm lost and renewed with my arms wide open I go willingly-amidst this illusion as if I ever had a choice from the instant-the instant my eyes became fixed on this magickal blend in the glowing!

Blown away..entirely by this photo. For me this is by far, of the hundreds if not thousands I've seen out here on photo.net, not only my favorite photo but sure to remain right up there for many moons and photos yet to be viewed.

Congratulations on capturing a truly remarkable photo. This is beyond splendid! Along with the many other who have commented-attesting to your well deserved accolades what more can I say that hasn't been said, and moreover,that I remain hard pressed to put into words (and speaking as a writer-that being one of my crafts I consider may well convey best what I want to say here...)..and that is, simply put-thank you,thank you,thank you for sharing this!

I haven't posted anything as yet to photo.net but preparing to in the near future. As I embark on my journey to resume my love of photography it is rare qualitative shots like this I can,at best,aspire to capture in my own place & Time.

Wow that sounds awesome...so goes my contributing vote that Ilia may further be inspired to play a little longer in this mystical playground. For technical measure it would also be a great learning experience for some of us out here not as experienced working with shutter speeds and the special effects you've referenced as of yet.

J.A. - wow... you are ... quite eloquent to put it mildly.;)
No special effects were used here(Photoshop or otherwise) - it's a lucky combination of light snowfall (temps just above freezing - so snow sticks to the branches) fluorescent streetlights of two different colors, shutter speed and apperture listed up there, right next to the image.
As for the "play a little longer in this mystical playground" - I am sorry but today that place is years and thousands miles away from me(which, I guess, makes it even more mystical;)

Ilia, So that imagery--'creating ghost looking images [children] running through this scene...' would require you return to the playground literally? I didn't realize that. I thought you could play in a full featured program like PS but I guess not. As of yet I have no hands on experience and very limited knowledge of PS, thus, my 'vote' to consider a revisit into the magickal playground was an easy (and selfish) leap to make.

Is it the '..drag of the shutter...' that would need to be done from the actual site--no option is viable to work with the originals that you took? And as for the 'translucency' same query. And one more question for consideration from this jumping off point is there anything at all similar i.e. 'ghostly' images/features like that could be played with for the exploration of it?

How can a picture like this one ever be rated 1/1 or 1/2 ? It isn't perfect to me, but I thought 1s and 2s were reserved to technically poor and totally uninteresting snapshots... <p> I like the mood of this very much. I just think the control of contrast and colors could have been slightly better. And that's about it. Cropped or uncropped it is fine by me besides that.

This makes me want to try something like this myself.

What a magnificent photograph! I have not critiqued pictures before on this site, but I am drawn towards this so heavily. Breathtaking!

I've been looking for playground compositions for some time and this is a great one!

Like a good old painting. It would be magnificent with a human being in it. Very nice shot.