Delicious Clichés

[nathanm]

Sometimes when I go out into the field I can't help but feel I am merely wading through photographic clichés, pointing my camera at prototypically overdone scenes and basically gorging myself on raw visual syrup. But gosh darn it, sometimes it feels good to be a junkie! What could be more trite than Ye Olde Waterfall shot, right? But sometimes it just doesn't matter, I just need my fix of gooey color and oversharpened microdetail. Maybe it's like the pizza of photographs; you've done it all before but it's still good. This is my first box of Porta 160 and so far this is the only color LF photo I've taken which I actually like. Kind of grainy (even without my sharpening madness) but this is the closest I've come to not despising the dreary matter-of-fact color image. It gives me even more respect to you guys who shoot great color stuff, cause damn—it ain't easy to do!

[Charles Carstensen]

Great shot. Excellent contrast, color and composition. It is one slow shutter speed photographs of water that I like. Will make a great 30x40 print - eh?

[jb7]

I thought I'd seen all of these,
but that one really stands out-
very good indeed-

joseph

[nathanm]

Actually this one was one of the faster shutter speeds. I did four frames in total. The others are all super smoothed-over (and two out of focus), but this one was luckily not bumped out of focus AND had good water detail. Now that I think of it I shot this horrid cliche on three different films, Porta 160, TMAX and Velvia 50. Haven't seen the Velvia yet, but I suspect I cocked it up. You get so spoiled winging it with bw film and then the chrome comes along and says, "NO! WRONG meter reading! It should have been f/22.005 not f/22.000 you silly fool! Exposure denied!"

It will make a good 23.75x23.75" someday, but as fate would have it I've got matte paper and MK black in my Epson. Hmph. Should have bought the damn HP instead.

[Bruce Watson]

Great minds think alike maybe -- here's mine. From the other direction. In B&W. But the shutter speed is about the same ;-)

I like it myself. My wife likes it so much she insists that it's always hung somewhere in the house. What's wrong with liking cliches? Popularity is what makes them the cliches they are, yes?

[Toyon]

Why does it look like it was polished with steel wool?

[Monty McCutchen]

Nathanm

this is very well done

monty

[Vaughn]

Why does it look like it was polished with steel wool?

Might be where his comment of "over-sharpened" comes in...but it works well.

But if we are talking cliches...what about this one! I took it to play with the 28" element of my 12-21-28 Turner Reich on my 8x10, but I actually fell in love with the image and its light.

Vaughn

[Richard M. Coda]

Great image! Yes, color is hard for us BW guys sometimes. I'm just getting the hang of it after 27 years of BW! In fact, I take Rod Klukas' LF class here in Scottsdale. Our "final" is Wednesday night. I'm showing 16x20 color prints from 4x5 Velvia just to shake everyone up a bit. And now for something completely different!

[Paul Kierstead]

Wow, that really works. I am no big fan of fuzzy water shots, but I quite like this one; it certainly has a more abstract quality the keeps the eye and mind.