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Instrument of War
Instrument of War
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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Round (Classic Editing)
Camera: Fujifilm FinePix S602Z
Location: Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, Gardone Riviera
Date: Jul 15, 2003
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 160
Shutter: 1/250
Galleries: Emotive, Travel
Date Uploaded: Jul 15, 2003

 Il Vittoriale degli Italiani is the house of one of the ringleaders of the fascisti movement in pre-war Italy: this is a detail of a deck mounted gun on a small warship that is installed in the grounds - walking around it was one of the more bizarre and surreal experiences of my life, surrounded by trees, and with a view over lake Garda, it is both fabulously surreal and quite frightening. It's to the Italian's credit that they've preserved the place as a monument as much to vanity and folly as for the sheer spectacle.

If only I had had the time and circumstances to record it properly.

This shot is rotated 45 degrees, flipped both horizontally and vertically (it looked upside down with the leaves visible over the gun), and contrast and brightnedd adjusted a little. And neatimage, of course.

Statistics
Place: 77 out of 293
Avg (all users): 5.5502
Avg (commenters): 7.0000
Avg (participants): 5.5154
Avg (non-participants): 5.6076
Views since voting: 887
Votes: 209
Comments: 9
Favorites: 0

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AuthorThread
 07/22/2003 10:45:08 PM
*critique club*

Overall
You've set out to meet the challenge by presenting a photograph which contains many circles. You meet the challenge directly.

Composition
This photograph is designed according to the rule of thirds. The main line of circles falls exactly on the upper third line and the circle in the bottom right on the right third line. The top left background is blue and the bottom right, green. Primary colours balancing each other.

Colours
I'm not sure about the exposure here. Old machinery should have a rust colour, or, if polished, should be bright. The off-brown colour range here doesn't seem to fit my knowledge of machine colours. The silver areas are a little weak, and if brighter, would have helped the colour range.

Concept
There's a true sense of irony here. Roundness usually has the feeling of pleasantness, warmth, comfort. You've chosen to counterplay this with an instrument of destruction, of war. By chosing a camera position very close to the machine, you take us right into the detail of war. This is a very unpleasant image, I feel. The primary background is also well-chosen. The blue is man-made, the green, natural. This strengthens the sense that war is both man-made and natural. Scary.

Conclusion
I would have liked for the colours to have been more accurate, or more vivid, depending on how you choose to portray your meaning. The crop, the camera angle, the dof are all good.

Best wishes

Jim
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/22/2003 05:38:21 PM
I like the complexity in this shot. But it looks a little underexposed. I think some more contrast would help the subject stand out a little more. I'm not a fan of the border.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/22/2003 12:45:35 AM
Its a nice subject... has it been rotated so its upside down? If yes then it seems to give a sort of 'off' feeling to it i.e. why did you rotate it... If no then I just seem to get a disorientated feel from the trees in the lower right. Nice colours though, nice sharp focus, good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/21/2003 10:55:39 AM
Very nice composition, good job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/19/2003 04:02:47 PM
Very neat perspective.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/17/2003 07:39:44 AM
Like the comp, well shot and like the pano cut
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/16/2003 01:53:48 AM
This has a disturbing feeling of being upside down.....
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/16/2003 12:37:09 AM
Nice idea, although the background is slightly offputting. Nothing much could be done about that though i guess! Good shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/16/2003 12:04:53 AM
nice shot....what is it
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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