New Joiners - People #486

This looks like it is a group of young boys cave diving but I could be wrong given the abstract nature of the image. It is so intriguing. I love the centered individual coming back up from the rock face whilst those around look down into the pool of water. The highly saturated colors work very well especially the skin tones and water on the skin against the light flickering off the water. The shallow depth of field gives a real sense of an enclosed space and adds to the drama. A wonderful capture and I am sure the photographer is part of them rather than just someone taking pictures. Wonderful.

The sense of movement comes across so well in this vivid color photograph. The central figure glances down at the people in front of them. This is not an easy picture to get right with shooting into the light of the fire. The photographer has controlled the exposure very well so we still get detail in the faces, arms and legs of the people dancing. The warm colors work well and gives a sense of mystery to the entire frame. Really well done. This is a photograph full of rituals and really it is about storytelling.

This is such a surreal photograph with the changing of the color to create something that starts to look other worldly. The abstract nature and tight crop of the stairs against the now green skinned person is so strange but I am compelled to keep looking. As we are so used to watching films about the Hulk and other strange superheroes we start to almost forget that this is not a real persons color and that is the skill of the photographer to give us a glimpse without revealing everything. I'd love to see a series of this type of work. Weirdly wonderful. Well done.

This reminds me of the film The Truman Show. The perfectly cut lawns, the cars at this wonderful angle all lined up. The painted houses and the lovely blue sky suggests everything is perfect. This is achieved by the skill of the photographer to take a high camera position and the use of a wide angle lens allows them to get all the detail in. The lone figure washing the truck is enough to think about the other people who live on this well manicured road. A really well constructed and controlled photograph. Well done.

I love the grain of this picture and use of composition from the photographers high picture perspective that gives us a real sense of movement within a crowd. The closeness of the bodies and tight crop really gets us the viewers into the action of the scene. Their is so much going on that my eye is taken across the entire frame from the wonderful couple in the top left corner to the figure central in the bottom of the frame with the heavy chain around the neck. A wonderful expression of human life. Very well done.

The beginning of a life is always wondrous but is not an easy subject to photograph. At times they can be too graphic in what they show, others just miss the moment. This photographer has done all the right things very well. They have not gone in too close but allowed the scene to just happen before making the exposure. The inclusion of the doctors and surgical instruments really gives us an insight into the procedure as the head is revealed. The use of color works well as does the wide angle lens to give us an overview of the space. I know this is a picture of a birth but because we get to see so much more it does really give us an insight to such an event. Very well done.

This is a lovely formal candid portrait. Great use of post production to clean up the lady who we focus our attention on. The use of black and white enhances the stylistic nature of the picture as does the pose of the lady looking out of shot with her hand holding the book beautifully. It could almost be staged given how perfect the formal picture elements are within this photograph from the men in the background to the reflections of seats in the bottom left corner. The light on her face is beautiful against the dark veil. A truly wonderful constructed photograph. I wish I knew what she was looking at. Stunning.

A beautifully exposed and controlled editorial style portrait. The light on the face captures the mans expression perfectly which is not easy given the light coming from the window behind. The tight crop allows us to focus on him and the wonderful details in the panels on the wall. The warm side light on the face gives an extra dimension to the image and really makes him stand out from the background. A well constructed portrait that would look well in a magazine. Well done.

A really good example of the photographer getting in close and reaping the rewards. It is difficult at a pride event or carnival to separate an individual from the crowd but this tight crop really focuses on the person front and center. The use of black and white makes it stand out from traditional images full of color so we get to really see the formal picture quality of the photograph. The stare into camera is strong so we make eye contact ourselves. Great exposure and skin tone and the detail in the head wear is perfect. A powerful portrait.

The positioning of the photographer hidden behind the tree is only given away by the mans acknowledgment of the raised arm. Their is a sense of tension in this photograph. The subject of the two soldiers carrying guns and the wild African plains in the background. We get a real sense of scale and the environment that the photographer and subjects are working in. The warm saturated colors work very well and the use of blur in the foreground of the tree and leaves really draws our attention into the frame. Technically the image is well composed and very well exposed. A photograph that asks us questions which is a good thing in this instance but does not provide all the answers.. A superb capture of a very intriguing subject. Well done.

I can imagine it must have been very easy to miss a photographic opportunity like this. Luckily for us this photographer did not. The tight crop works really well as do the balanced colors of the wood frame against the expressive face staring out between them. The low camera angle works well with the subject and allows us a glimpse into what looks like a private moment. A great image that would fit well into the pages of National Geographic magazine. Really well seen and captured.

The passion and concentration really come across in this superb example of a candid sports photograph. The drama will take place out of shot in a few seconds time ahead of when this picture was taken but the image reveals so much of what will happen. The wide stance of the young boy ready to aim and throw the ball to the hoop, the concentration of those blurred in the background waiting in anticipation of the outcome.. The light on the face really lifts the scene as does the use of a shallow depth of field as we first concentrate on the main person then slowly move around the frame. The conversion to black and white gives a real edge to the picture. It could almost be a film still from a Martin Scorsese scene. We will never know the outcome of the shot but we along with those watching hope. Amazing picture.

This is a lovely photograph. Full of tension with the isolated individual in a working phone booth which is not something you see very often these days. The colors work well with each other and taking the picture at night creates a tension between the subject and viewer. What would have really elevated this photograph would be the additional exposure so that we got further detail in the background and bottom half of the image. A longer exposure would bring in that detail. A lovely image with a little more care would have been placed far higher. Well done.