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circle of zen
3rd Placecircle of zen
magnetic9999


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Multi-Image Compositions (Classic Editing*)
Collection: art/abstract
Camera: Canon EOS-10D
Location: studio
Date: Apr 26, 2003
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125
Galleries: Studio, Diptych / Triptych
Date Uploaded: Apr 26, 2003

 my little bamboo plant

Statistics
Place: 3 out of 116
Avg (all users): 7.1549
Avg (commenters): 8.1250
Avg (participants): 7.0860
Avg (non-participants): 7.2857
Views since voting: 14547
Votes: 142
Comments: 101
Favorites: 29 (view)

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AuthorThread
 05/06/2007 10:00:28 PM
Very beautiful colors and composition. I really love this... it is very peaceful to look at.
 05/11/2003 05:16:12 PM
Originally posted by paganini:

It's also an insult to Buddhists everywhere. This is not zen.


Zen is not necessarily Buddhism, nor is Buddhism exclusively Zen. Zen is conceptual, and indefinite. This photograph is as representative of Zen as a statue of Buddha, or Britney Spears.

"The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded...When a Zen master was once asked what Zen was, he replied, 'Your everyday thought.'...Zen is the ocean, Zen is the air, Zen is thunder and lighting, the spring flower, the summer heat, and winter snow...Zen is the man." (D.T. Suzuki, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism)

Your inflammatory attempt to define and "defend" Zen Buddhism is evidence of ignorance, not magnetic9999's beautiful triptych. I would advise you to refrain from creating conflict simply for the sake of the conflict, especially when it involves your making a fool out of yourself.

Martin
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/08/2003 06:55:22 PM
Very nice composition. and I'd just like to point out, since it seems other people who commented don't know this, but one of the few religious images Zen practitioners have is the great empty circle. It is supposed to be the simplest and most concise way of describing reality. Very clever composition.
And just to clear something else up, no self-respecting buddhist would be offended by the chinese characters (besides, buddhists generally aren't offended by other people's religions. They leave that to the monotheists). Zen (Ch'an to the Chinese) began in China. It is simply part of Zen's history.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/07/2003 01:54:56 PM
awesome plant!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 05:18:04 PM
Great shot Mag, congratulations....I feel really relaxed when I look at this picture, I think you really captured the essence of your subject here.... :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 02:23:15 PM
congrats, mag!

Message edited by author 2003-05-05 18:26:31.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 02:19:03 PM
//zhongwen.com/s/y89-1.gif

The specific character means "city."

What if he picked the one next to it, that means "wood" or "tree."

They are Chinese characters.


  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 01:29:25 PM
Wow. I see meaningless squiggly lines every day in all cultures. Hell Prince even changed his name to a squiggly symbol. One more ain't gonna hurt.

Great multi-image mag, 'grats on anther ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 12:15:14 PM
Woo Hoo Kollin,
Congrats on the ribbon and an excellent composite.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 11:46:14 AM
good job mag...too bad people can't just lighten up

Message edited by author 2003-05-05 19:51:51.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 10:58:41 AM
Thanks for your comments.

To Tony Ku: I just took a pic of the characters on the planter and used those as a design motif. Which is no different from showing a picture of the planter itself. If you have a problem with that you should take it up with the manufacturers of that planter. Let me know when they respond to your letter and what the response is.

Re: "zen": sorry but zen has a lot of colloquial meanings that arent necessarily connected with a religious dogma, that include meditation, peace, inner calm, enlightenment, desirelessness, etc. To me, this picture is evocative of those meanings. I can't imagine that such a usage would give offense, but if it did, my sincere apologies.

Message edited by author 2003-05-05 16:43:43.
 05/05/2003 09:25:01 AM
Bamboo!!! I just fell out of my chair ;-)
Congrats, dude.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 07:47:58 AM
Nice photo except for the characters. It's not real, it's a blatantly stupid attempt to make it seem Japanese and I consider it as somewhat racist. If you're going to do it right, use a real character and one that actually means something, instead of just plugging in some squigly lines and thinking that it meant something. Only people you can fool are people as ignorant as you are.

It's also an insult to Buddhists everywhere. This is not zen.

Message edited by author 2003-05-05 11:50:23.
 05/05/2003 06:51:36 AM
This is so beautiful and peaceful. Perfect title too. Congrats on the ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 04:22:08 AM
Congrats, nice job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 03:12:13 AM
Congrats on another ribbon mag :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 02:23:07 AM
I loved the lighting on this shot, congrats , nicely done man!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 01:08:33 AM
Congratulations on a great pic and another ribbon Mag. Setting the bar for all the new 10D holders pretty high. Nice work! - BoB
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/05/2003 12:54:50 AM
Good job Mag. Go team 10D !!! :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 10:40:17 PM
Way to go Mag, you and that new camera of yours have become the best of friends I see.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:36:54 PM
woohoo mag!! congratulations! what a wonderful photo!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:19:19 PM
Nice job Mag!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:12:46 PM
Super Mag. congrats!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:11:32 PM
Go Mag. Congrats, I love this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:06:54 PM
Well deserved - congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:06:43 PM
Loved it while voting, and I love it now. Great work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:03:54 PM
Great shot, Mag. Congrats!! I really like the way you have the one leaf sticking out of the frame. Cool idea.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:02:31 PM
congrats mag!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
05/04/2003 07:06:14 PM
I really, really like this, and appreciate the effect you were going with by backlighting the main photo. I just wish I could have seen a TINY bit more of the main shoot. Very well done, though.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 03:31:16 PM
I like how you made the leaves go outside the border. very nice multi-image. worthy of print.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 11:55:53 AM
Creative. I can see this as a poster in an import store. My only nit pick would be the tiny blown out highlights that are minorly distracting. But overall very nice. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/04/2003 08:23:29 AM
Interesting "story".
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/02/2003 05:18:27 AM
Very good composition........ it is thoughtfully done. Cohesive in every way - colour/contrast/light & shadow.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/01/2003 08:00:40 PM
Interesting composition and layout. (Would help me out with my Feng Shui)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/01/2003 06:28:13 PM
Nice touch with the bamboo leaves going out of the frame. Still trying to figure out how to do it. Good individual images and composition of the three.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/01/2003 03:25:11 PM
Wow. What a wonderful lighting job. Excellent sharpness. You must really have a good camera to capture the subject like you did. :) Really excellent lighting. Jacko. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 05/01/2003 08:50:19 AM
One of my Favorites very well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/30/2003 08:38:41 PM
Wonderful photos wonderfully combined. I especially like the circle image, but all three work well together here. Nice lighting, moods and tones. Aaahhh.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/30/2003 08:35:21 AM
Nice feeling to this image. composition wise, I feel the elements are a little too compartimented. perhaps your subject on the left could have filled the space more generously without being enclosed in a frame. The two "cartouches" on the right are nice but the different widths of framing could have been avoided. if you created these borders using the "increase canvas size method", remember not to use uneven numbers of pixels to do so. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 10:50:48 AM
Really like everything but here it comes. i uderstand and like the idea od breaking the boundaries with the leaf. On the left side great but the truncating the leaf on the left really bothers me for some reason. maybe because it gives me a feeling of unbalance for an image that should be in balance.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 09:41:33 AM
Absolutely lovely. Looks totally professional. : )
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 07:21:06 AM
One hand applauds you
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 07:06:45 AM
Gorgeous colors and lighting...prof looking presentation. Tiny nitpick the edges of some of the leaves in the 'big' pic look choppy...that could just be me though. Great work! Lisa
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 04:37:19 AM
This composition is quite intriguing :) I think the creative lighting couples very nicely with the 'zen' mystique.

"Ah Cuckoo! My Impermanence! Deepen Thou My Solitude!" :) - Basho (I Think)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/29/2003 02:22:46 AM
Excellent set up. I really like how the leaf in the first picture extends outside the borders of the picture. It pulls the whole composition together. One of my favorites this week.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 10:09:23 PM
beautiful - amazing color. I really like how the leaves break the frame. excellent job with the background stuff too - the font, etc. really lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 08:17:08 PM
Very nice, looks like a poster.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 08:15:25 PM
Well you obviously have some graphics design experience. :) Great shot. Love the green and black.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 07:46:03 PM
I like the way the leaves go outside the frame. Good colors and shadows...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 04:30:17 PM
I really like the dramatic lighting and the deepness of the greens in this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 01:15:50 PM
great overall work. nice lighting and design.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 01:04:52 PM
This works so very well! I could nit you with the lighting/glare issue in the main photo, but this is so very cool, I don't care. 10 Rob the Swash
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 09:12:33 AM
Coloring is gorgeous!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 09:08:12 AM
Wow! This composition looks a LOT like mine! hehe... I like the leaves breaking out of the frame.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 07:48:25 AM
Love the way the leaves escape the frames. Nice colours, good individual images and lovely feel to the whole thing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 07:16:01 AM
I like the detail in each photo. The backround is nice too. Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 07:05:55 AM
Hummmmmm really, very nice. The Zen of photography.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 06:26:53 AM
Looks like a poster through and through. Great job capturing the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 06:04:59 AM
Top job! This is very professional.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/28/2003 02:27:44 AM
Put together really nice. Good Job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/27/2003 09:55:11 PM
Delicately lovely and peaceful...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/27/2003 09:18:53 PM
I love your lighting on this. It is beautiful. Awesome, Awesome work and photo's. A 10 all the way.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/27/2003 08:12:59 PM
I love the idea, the presentation is wonderful, with the Kanji which a nice added touch. I feel that the top right picture, is a little dark but also works as it adds the cirlce. One more thing, I think I would prefer it if the leaf wasn't cut off. Overall, this is a great picture. 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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