Cloud Over Port Mahon

[AndrewMcD]

This cloud over Port Mahon caught my fancy yesterday.

[Wavelength]

Simple, enchanting image.....

[AndrewMcD]

Thank you Nandakumar.

[Tom Barry]

I love the simplicity and sense of vast spaces in this image.

[Manfred M]

Sorry Tom, this type of image does not work at all for me.

There was a brief period where this type of image was popular some 10 or 15 years ago, tiny foreground and lots of sky. It quickly went out of fashion because for the most part they do not work. They can work in situations where the tiny anchor on the bottom of the image complements an interesting sky, but you don't even have one of those.

[Shadowman]

I love a good cloud shot and this is a nicely formed shape, however the subject only covers a small portion of the composition and the boat and horizon appears a bit stretched across the image, nice effort.

[AndrewMcD]

I find it somewhat amusing that I've emulated a style of photography that quickly went out of fashion by producing a photo in that style that does not work. I suppose over a life time we have subconsciously stored images we have seen and they influence how we see things? There is nothing new under the sun....or in this case the cloud.
I agree with Shadowman's comment that "the boat and horizon appears a bit stretched" but in the same way that Nandakumar found the image "enchanting" so the scene struck me at the time.
Thank you to all for taking the time to comment.

[Manfred M]

I find it somewhat amusing that I've emulated a style of photography that quickly went out of fashion by producing a photo in that style that does not work. I suppose over a life time we have subconsciously stored images we have seen and they influence how we see things? There is nothing new under the sun....or in this case the cloud.

Photography, like many other fields, where the "opinion of experts" drive what is in and out of fashion. Clothing, eye glasses, architecture, design,management practices, software design principles and of course art (including photography) are all influenced by these "thinkers" and often we do wonder what specific mind altering substance that they are using.

Over the past few years, I have gotten connected with the local fine art community, rather by accident. The photography school I am dealing with (rather than the one at the local community college) has a fine arts direction, so students get an exposure to this aspect of photography from both a historical and current viewpoint. I do scratch my head over a lot of what I see, but at least get a view of these things. High sky images like this one, HDRI and even B&W are currently out of fashion, as are portraiture with anything other than very flat lighting and the subjects should show no emotion (this seems to be referred to as the post-photographic genre).

[AndrewMcD]

Manfred,
Thank you for the background and insight to the state of modern fine arts. I think ultimately that most of us that spend significant time here are interested in creating some "art". Knowing some art history as well as what is currently fashionable helps me better understand the technical and aesthetic issues involved in the production of fine art. In this instance by fine art I mean making a photograph that is something other than a snapshot. Thanks for your comments and efforts to help us move forward with our photographic journeys.
Andrew