Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Good Taste

What’s the one thing we are completely attracted to that we cannot possibly live without? Something in which we can indulge our fantasies, something we must fear and respect, and absolutely must have to survive? The answer is water (well, sex, too, but this is a family site). Our bodies are composed of nearly 98% water, and this forms the basis of our attraction. I know for a fact that we Etsians are drawn to water in a huge way, because I just looked at a plethora of images of water as I put together this week’s posting. See what I’m talking about below...

Here we have an incredible, perfectly composed wide-angle shot of water in its most peaceful and beautiful setting. It's called “Moving into Stillness” and it comes from the shop of Irene Suchocki.

Irene’s choice of keeping the shadow in the left foreground balances the composition and gives the shadows of the old pilings something to lean toward.

Here is one of the liveliest and most elemental images of water in the collection. Lori Mackay of LittleOddMe presents this in an ACEO (Artist Card Editions & Originals) called “Cornering.”

Lori’s candid capture of a splashy moment evokes the joy of summer heat in the city.

From BraidedLight studios comes this beautiful image in black and white. “Stern Line in Moonlight” was a nighttime, one-minute exposure of the moon reflecting in the water at a dock. It is at once intimate and lonely.

Evoking the spirit of Hawaii in this inventive shot of the ocean from the viewpoint of a windsurfer, KenMauiPhoto’s “Reflections Maui Hawaii Ocean Wave” makes me want to dive in.

Using water as a subject partner to form a strong image that’s a unique viewpoint on a very familiar subject, NestaUsa gives us “Pink Paradise.” Tandie uses the Polaroid transfer to her advantage here. This is a fantastic and simple method of this process that really works.

Here is the image I went to sleep with last night. inherdarkroom’s starkly beautiful "Two Poles" black and white image is haunting. It’s a photograph of something almost scary and dreamlike. What came first, the water or the poles?

Finally, here is one I took in Chicago recently. I took the fountain photo in the courtyard of a church on Michigan Avenue, right along the Magnificent Mile near the Sears Tower. It’s a beautiful old ivy-covered church and the green draws you in to take a rest and just breathe for a moment. I have a custom setting on my camera that allows me to highlight the greens and blues of a scene and it keeps me from having to do any post-editing. I printed this image and fell in love with it. I haven’t listed it in my Etsy shop, but I just might soon.



A world traveler and self-taught photographer, look for Ann wandering around city streets and tromping through woods and hiking trails with her camera. After owning an international transportation business for many years, Ann has found her creative spirit again through the lens. See more at Ann's shop and her website.

4 comments:

this said...

Thanks so much for including my photo in this great writeup, amongst such lovely other photos. I am really glad you loved it. :)

Judi FitzPatrick said...

Ann, I hope you list yours, it's sure to be a big seller. The other shots you chose are just wonderful. Keep up the great work.
Peace, Judi

inHERdarkroom said...

Thank you, Ann, for including my image. I liked your interpretation of it!

Anonymous said...

It was so hard to keep my choices down to this number! There are so many great images to choose from. If you query "water" on an etsy search of photographs, there are 145 pages of photos to look at!