Alone (2)

[Donald]

I posted this image that was captured on Kingsbarns Beach in Fife.

Not to restrict myself to showing humans apparently alone (whether for good or bad reasons), I thought we could impart the same sense of 'aloneness' onto animals. So, from the same session...................

As always, your thoughts and comments welcome

[Mike Buckley]

Though this one is very nice and though I prefer the tonalities in the sky just a touch more than in the other one, the other image with the man's posture and placement along with his long, diagonal shadow between the two dark areas makes that one really magical in a way that surpasses the above image.

[ionian]

I agree with Mike - it's a good image, but the other one was outstanding. In this you have nailed all of the technical elements, but your previous image had the technique along with the serendipity of the wave and lines all leading to the man in a dejected pose. Not to do it down - it just comes off second best in a comparison. Plus I'm a cat person...

[Round Tuit]

I am not known for my artistic ability but will venture an opinion anyway. I agree with Mike and Simon that this one doesn't have the impact of the shot with the man. One reason, for me at least, is that I expect the owner of the dog to be just out of the frame and therefore do not see the dog as being alone. A fox would have worked better.

From a composition point of view, I would suggest cropping the beach to place the dog half way between the frame and the water. You could crop an equal amount from the right if you want to keep the square format.

For what it's worth.

Andre

[ScoutR]

Ahaa! The man in the other shot was waiting for his dog to come back.

I like this one too Donald, BUT, it does not have the same emotional impact as the first shot. I think it could, because when I look at the shot, the dog looks a bit old and tired, BUT somehow or other the only reason I think that is because I would expect most dogs out for a walk on the beach would be more energetic looking, especially a Collie. I'm not quite getting that from the shot itself.

I don't know, I'm having trouble explaining this, maybe if the dog was a bit unkempt or in a different pose???

I'm not sure about the crop either. I've scrolled around with it and to my eye this one looks better with no sky at all, or with the sky but less beach.

[Manfred M]

Donald - just continuing my thoughts that I started on "Alone"; this shot is nicely done, but there is nothing that particularly draws me to it. Technically and copositionally it is well done, but it seems somewhat ordinary and this is related to the position of the photographer. "Alone" had a great PoV. Had you been lying down, instead of standing, perhaps that might have added a bit of a twist to this scene?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Donald,

On the technical front, two things I would do are;

Slight anticlockwise rotation
Clone out the bright white dot in the sea near horizon on right hand side (it is just a bit too bright to ignore)

However, I am being really picky mentioning either, but I know you'd rather I did, than keep quiet.


My thoughts are apparently in line with other views expressed above regarding this image.

Now to the merits of this shot vs the human one; 'Alone', which I also think works better, due to the human's posture, we can imagine so much more, amongst other differences (e.g. Manfred's discussion of the camera's viewpoint).

I agree with the view that in seeing such an image; the dog is clearly following, or returning to, its owner*, who is out of shot.
Now if it had been sitting or lying, looking forlornly out to sea, then it might have struck the 'loneliness' chord in me.

* This thought is possibly pre-conceived by me because it has been shot in UK; where feral dogs are very uncommon, in other countries, I gather it is far from rare to see dogs out 'on their own'.

Hope that helps, Dave

[Shadowman]

The collie looks intent on getting to something, so perhaps the loneliness will be short-lived. Nicely captured.

[Donald]

Thank you all for your comments, with which, generally, I agree.

I never intended that this would be a 'compare & contrast' image with my 'Alone' image referenced above. This one is clearly not such a strong image. I would see this as a contender for inclusion is an album or project of 'Life on Kingsbarns Beach. It would never be an image to be presented in its own right, which I think 'Alone' is.

The BA course I'm undertaking is beginning to teach me the strength and value of not thinking so much about the 'single image' as about the set; the series. Not everyone is going to be a wall-hanger in its own right, but as part of a series, it might be an important image.

[Mike Buckley]

The risk in displaying the two images as part of a set is that they are so similar that one is inevitably going to be preferred over the other one. For me, the choice would be to display greater diversity within the set. As an example, I can so easily imagine exploring the theme of being alone and including the other image of the man at the beach, the image of the lone bench looking out toward the sea, and one of your favorite images of a lone tree.

[Manfred M]

This is something that was discussed during the portfolio development course that I took at the local community college last summer and the upshot was that while common themes can and do tie a range of images together, anything in a portfolio need to be the strongest images.

The upshot was that if you don't think that the image will stand on its own, it should not be paired up with another just because they happen to fit together. I suspect that this may have reflected the professor's or even the view of whoever put together the curriculum, but I suspect that others might not agree.

[FootLoose]

I think one reason that this image doesn't work in quite the same way as the previous one, is that the subject in the previous scene was dominated by the environment - land, sea, sky all dwarfed the figure. But in this shot, the subject is closer to the reader, and therefore appears to be more a part of the environment

[Wavelength]

I was going to say the same words as Andre has mentioned....yes, the dog looks very posh and healthy the owner is just behind or ahead..... Leaving behind this point, i really liked the image