[Rob Barron]

This statue is outside the Tower Hotel right next to Tower Bridge in london. Went for a slow shutter speed to soften the water. Impossible to get an angle whereby the lights beyond were not in the shot but I actually quite like them in this one. See what you think

[skipper954]

I like the warm colors and the complimentary forms of the statue. Also like the gradient in the sky. I wonder if the BG should be blurred just a tad to draw more attn to the statue. Maybe a progressive blur (which I am just learning to do )

That being said from a technical standpoint, emotionally, this picture doesn't do much for me. However, ya can't please everyone.

skip

[Angela]

It's a lovely shot Rob, my only point would be that perhaps it's cropped a bit tight on the top and the left hand side?

[fionaB]

well you already know i adore this image. i have to disagree here with skip as i think that a blurred background would blend too much with the softness of the water. i think the sharp background makes the soft water more of a focal point ( does that make any sense)I would if possible have liked to see the dolphin in profile rather than the girl but hey i dont know if that would improve it or not ........... its just my curiousity.
all in all a superb image

Fi

[skipper954]

OK, Fi, I tried a slight gradient blur, and it really didn't make a difference.

[danpen]

I really like this one, there's a monochromatic feel to it, which gives it a certain harmony. I really like the light on the statue and the effect with the water.

[Markulous]

Like the graduated sky and off centre comp

Don't mind the BG lights

Dislike the burned highlights (albeit there aren't many) and where that fountain is playing(!!!)

[Rob Barron]

Thanks for the comments, I deliberately chose to avoid blurring the background because of the FG being soft with the water, as Fi said. I agree Angela, the crop on the left is a bit tight, the top I can live with because it is in an empty space so doesn't affect it so much but sadly the left had to be cropped there simple because of the amount of junk on the left that I wanted to crop off. This was sort of the best balance between the two.

There are two reasons why I didn't side profile the dolphin Fi, one is because actually the angle I took it from is the ONLY angle with relatively little behind it. Move around it and you have the wharf, the hotel, the tower and tower bridge, all of which spoilt what I was trying to achieve. If I could have turned the statue I would have done :o)

The other reason is because, and I KNOW this makes me sound really prudish but that doesn't worry me, looking at the dolphin from the other side, the water height reaches almost directly in the region of the girls genitalia. Whilst I am well aware this is just a bronze statue so there is no rudeness involved, the way it turned out with the fountain really did draw your eye straight to that point of the statue and I wasn't happy to do that.

I worked hard to try and get the dolphin into a position where it had as little as possible behind it, hence you can see the dolphin's left fin is just away from the BG in its own space. It probably doesn't seem apparent, but I spent absolutely ages trying hard to get just the angle that gave the right shape, the right BG, etc. Was harder than it looks to be honest. I was very happy with the way the lighting worked out though.

Thanks again, all comments most appreciated.

Cheers,
Rob