The Online Photographer

Baker's Dozen: In the Museum (Complete)

Photo by Benjamin Kelley, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. "I’ve been photographing my daughter looking at art for a number of years now. She was newly four here, in 2015. This was taken at our local museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, with John White Alexander’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil."

Photo by Rich Barbara, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. "I had to set the camera down on a bench to keep the ISO fairly low. Was afraid they’d move before I got the shot but I figured when the man sat down on the floor I had a bit of time. Taken at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh with an Olympus E-M10 and a 25mm ƒ/1.8 lens."

Photo by Albano García, Buenos Aires, Argentina. "I took this photo a couple of months before your call for work at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes here in Buenos Aires. My daugher Margarita loves museums, but that day she'd had enough.  :-)  Shot with a Sony a6000 with 16–50mm kit zoom I bought from my dear friend Juan Buhler."

Photo by David Mackenzie, Bedford, New Hampshire, USA. "We were running late one day in Paris and decided to visit the Louvre about half an hour before closing. Given the short amount of time we had we headed directly for the Mona Lisa. When we turned the corner into the exhibit space we were met by this. A docent told me were lucky to arrive so late so that the crowd was much thinner than normal. At least nobody was taking a selfie."

...Except the guy in front just to the left of the painting. And maybe one guy on the opposite side, just to the left of the end of the DSLR lens. Hard to tell. —MJ.

Photo by Stelios Karouzakis, London, United Kingdom. "This is a picture I took in 2015 outside the British Museum in London, with my new to me then (secondhand) DSLR. I'd been shooting for years with nothing but a rangefinder and a 35mm so that was an all-new setup for me. I remember I was determined to get a picture I liked that day for no particular reason, just to please myself. I was paying particular attention to the sun. I like the soft light and the gestures of the children. I have it printed and framed in my living room."

This is a particular favorite of mine Stelios. —MJ

Photo by Leon Droby, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, USA. "Being a local, I usually go to this museum a couple of times a month. And no matter how many times I go, there’s always something interesting there. Taken at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts, with a Fujifilm X100F."

Photo by John Denniston, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. November 16th, 2018—A wall being painted in readiness for a new exhibition at the Equinox Gallery in Vancouver, B.C.

Why I liked this... —MJ

Photo by Sergio Bartelsman, Bogotá, Distrito Capital, Colombia.

Photo by Nick Van Zanten, Grand Haven, Michigan, USA. Shot with a Nikon D700, 1/250 at ƒ/4. "Two of the potential voters in Art Prize 2010. Launched in 2009 as an experiment, Art Prize was designed to be a bottom-up rather than top-down art contest. Offering the largest cash prize in the art world, the venue, downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, was open to any artist. Any visitor could vote via the internet for their favorite piece. The experiment worked. ArtPrize has continued to grow and evolve."

Photo by Maggie Osterberg, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. "This is in the pelagic pool viewing area at The Monterey Bay Aquarium and the odd fish you see is an Ocean Sunfish, or Mola Mola. The giant tank held a variety of fish and mid-sea invertebrates, including a young Great White Shark. What I love about this shot is that it reminds me of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000,' with phone-toting tourists standing in for Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo. The kids in the lower left, putting their hands on the glass are endearing and, if I’m honest, a little bit creepy."

In the submissions there were a number of creative departures from the conventional idea of a museum—an "old village" museum of historical structures (Ronny Nilsen), a permanently docked warship (Kristoffer Tripplaar), the exterior of an alternative museum on the streets of an old town (Ray Maines), even the interior of a huge freight elevator at SFMoMA (Saul Rosenfield).

Photo by Markus Fischer, Germany. "This is entitled 'Inside the Camera'—which is where it was created, inside the room-size camera obscura located in The Photographers' Gallery in Central London. Hope that passes for a museum…great place by the way."

Photo by Mark Hobson, Adirondack Mountains near Lake Placid, New York USA. "My grandson in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Canada. Over the past year I have been 'converting' hundreds of my pictures into an 'old' snapshot format/look. The purpose is to amass a large body of 'snapshots' which I then place in POD (print on demand) photo books. My intent is to create legacy books which have the look and feel of the traditional/classic family photo album. Enough copies of each album/photo book are printed to distribute to immediate family members. In addition, I put 20–15 individual 5x5" prints into boxes and leave them around my house so family and visitors can handle and look at them."

As for the "good measure" 13th picture, it's humorous, but a little risqué too. I don't think it will offend anyone, but perhaps you should consider it NSFW. Therefore I'm hiding it behind this page break. Proceed if appropriate.

Baker's Dozen: At the Museum (Part I)

Photo by Benjamin Kelley, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Photo by Rich Barbara, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Photo by Albano García, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tired
I'll say a few words about each of the above pictures, but out of order. Last first.

The third picture here was hard to pick. Probably a dozen people sent pictures on the theme of museumgoers resting, from a variety of viewpoints, and I could easily have picked four or five others as great representatives of the submissions. All had their charms and points of view, none were poor.

I do recall reading that people in general (not just kids!) have a tendency to overdo it when visiting museums. There's a strong tendency to want to see everything or cover it all. We've set aside the day, we've made the trip, and most especially we've paid our admission fee, and we've got to get our money's worth! So we trudge around the museum until we've had enough, then we trudge some more because we haven't seen this section or that room. (This is an example of the Sunk Cost Fallacy according to Richard Thaler). So we typically wear ourselves out and make ourselves cross. I have vivid memories of time moving with glacial slowness when I was a kid. No memories of being bored in museums, but I do have a distinct memory of being stuck at the Milwaukee Symphony while the orchestra sawed and moaned on and on and on and on while I squirmed in my skin. I sympathize with this little girl (her eyes are open, you'll notice—she's not sleeping).

In picking this from the others I do think I was influenced by the fact that I'm familiar with a lot of Albano's work. He took this one [a year and] a couple of months ago at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in Buenos Aires. "My daugher Margarita loves museums, but that day she'd had enough.  :-)  Shot on a Sony a6000 with 16–50mm kit zoom I bought from my dear friend Juan Buhler."

Essential transaction
When I saw the top picture I reacted as a photographer, not a viewer, which is a common mistake of mine. Having spent so many years as a photographer I became sensitive to what are called tonal mergers, where two parts of the picture that should be separated are the same tone and blend too much. An example of the problem I usually turn to is Portugal 1976 by Josef Koudelka...(click on the image at the link to see the larger version). I've seen prints of this where there's just the barest highlight between the nun's head and the man's jacket—crucial, in my judgement—and prints where there isn't. The latter would be a tonal merger. So if I were Benjamin Kelley I would have just moved to the side a bit to set his daughter's whole head against the lighter background of the wall.

But I didn't take the picture, and yes, there's a rim of highlight there, and no, it doesn't ruin the picture in any way, so...here's an example of where I shouldn't look at the picture like I had been the photographer, but rather just put my "viewer's hat" on and appreciate the picture that's being shown to me. You shouldn't react to a finished picture by thinking of how you might have framed it differently if you were the one taking it! That's not fair. One might as sensibly react that museums shouldn't hang paintings where they're struck by direct sunlight. That would be another first response to the photo that would interfere with seeing it for what it is. Anyway, once I let go of my first reaction, the photo grew on me more, and I found myself liking the obvious implication of childlike wonder and the contrast between the real sunlight in the room and the mysterious glow of the light depicted in the painting. And it's beautiful, and I'm just old-fashioned enough to believe that that never hurts.

It sums up the basic, essential transaction of museums. They display wondrous things, we look and wonder. Benjamin writes, "I’ve been photographing my daughter looking at art for a number of years now. She was newly four here, in 2015. This was taken at our local museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, with John White Alexander’s Isabella and the Pot of Basil."

Punctum

Punctum: A concept from Roland Barthes' book Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography.

1. To wound.
2. Denoting the wounding, personally touching detail [of a photograph] which establishes [for the viewer] a direct relationship with the object or person within it.

—Urban Dictionary

As for the middle picture, it's perfectly nice as a set piece, but then I noticed that whitish streak in front of the seated man. After a flash of puzzlement, I realized it's his other hand. That's something that would be considered an "imperfection" by some, but to me it's the punctum, the peculiar little odd detail that brings the rest of the picture alive. I realized the seated man is energetically gesticulating at one of the paintings, and from there I imagine his energized voice as he expounds on (enthuses over? Dismisses?) whichever of the paintings he's gesturing at, and from there I go to his rather mysteriously robed and apparently somewhat hunched hearer, and from there to their relationship and their possible history together as—what? Spouses, friends, student and teacher? Those thoughts brings the picture alive for me and draws me into its aliveness. From there I can appreciate the set piece, the nice formal qualities of the picture.

Rich took the picture at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a with an Olympus E-M10 and a 25mm ƒ/1.8 lens.

Photo by David Mackenzie, Bedford, New Hampshire, USA

Last in this first installment is this happy shot from Dave Mackenzie. I read a book about the Mona Lisa once...it's curious how the painting got the status it has. Dave relates: "We were running late one day in Paris and decided to visit the Louvre about half an hour before closing. Given the short amount of time we had we headed directly for the Mona Lisa. When we turned the corner into the exhibit space we were met by this. A docent told me were lucky to arrive so late so that the crowd was much thinner than normal. At least nobody was taking a 'selfie.'"

...Except I do see at least one person taking a selfie! At the top of the crowd above the striped hat. I imagine many people have taken pictures of this scene, but Dave's is a good one. I like it.

[Part II will appear on March 28th, 2021*.]

Mike

*Just kidding. Sorry I lost the thread on this. It got engulfed in my unmanageability and the oceanic disorganization of all the raw material (inside and outside of my head) that I trawl through to make TOP. I shouldn't say when I'll get to the other nine, but hopefully it won't take a year for Part II...though I never know...sigh.....

If you need a reminder (and why would you not?), I made a call for work on the theme of "At the Museum" an entire year ago (I think exactly, though I haven't checked) and then I very badly dropped the ball and just didn't come through with the edited picks. Now with more time at home, I decided to address the problem by chipping away at it a few pictures at a time. I apologize for the delay—the long delay—but if I'm honest there's really no excuse. I'm sorry. Mea culpa.

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Featured Comments from:

Dogman: "Excellent choices to start off a new Baker's Dozen! Reading the article, I'm reminded how I no longer look at photos as a photographer but as a viewer. A 'consumer,' if you will, of photographs and images. When I looked at photos with the photographer's eye, I looked for errors and flaws. Then I came to grips with the fact that the photographs I like the best are candid moments and found objects, none of which are ever perfectly arranged subjects. I like the imperfect elements that make their way into photographs. They become Barthes' punctum for me."

Benjamin Polidario: "The photographer's/viewer's dilemma: is it similar to a preacher's dilemma when he listens to another preach? I often critique instead of just basking in the message. Bad, Bad, Bad."

David Lee (edited comment): "Nice post. Your comments about people trying to get the most of their very expensive museum tickets are spot on. I was talking about this with my son not long ago. The Met used to have a policy that the price was 'suggested,' so you could either pay full price or whatever you could pay. Now that policy changed and you are charged full price. Not sure I agree with it. The Met has a lot of works that were given to them for free in order to give all the people a chance to enjoy them. The Gelman Collection comes to mind, for example. I think that people should be charged as in a parking lot, full first hour and then on 15 minute increments. A lot of people go the museum to get the selfie and buy a souvenir in the shop.

"I used to have a layover in Chicago. We used to stay in The Palmer House, not far from The Art Institute. They had the same policy as The Met and I took full advantage of it. Paying maybe a third of the suggested price and then going to see the four or five paintings I loved. In and out in about one hour. A visit to Central Camera in Wabash Avenue was also a required stop."

Mike replies: It was one of the great things about going to art school in downtown Washington, D.C.: a lot of museums are open to the public, so you can pop in and out. I would often do what you describe, just kill some time by "visiting" a favorite artwork for a few minutes, or find a peaceful corner as a place to read.

MHMG: "I do admire the first photograph in this Part I series. Great for the photo opportunity, but shame on the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for allowing direct sunlight to strike the painting. We're talking 40,000+ lux illumination levels on the lower half of that painting, and yah, the museum conservators could have filtered the UV radiation at the skylight/window source, but they will find out in just a few years how much fading can occur with blue wavelength radiation at such high intensity levels. Just sayin'...epic fail for museum staff, great shot by the photographer!"

[MHMG is an expert on light fading and image permanence—Ed.]

Rod S.: "The top picture by Benjamin Kelley is really quite lovely. My initial thoughts were surprise that direct sunlight was being allowed to strike the painting, but simultaneously 'wow, isn’t it beautiful.' I understand your point about the tonal convergence, but in this instance it is very slight. Benjamin has chosen to follow the more important principle of keeping his perspective true. If he had done as you suggested and stepped to his left, both the verticals and horizontals of the painting and floor would have been skewed out of their true relationship. The result would be ugly and 'unworthy.'

"Part of the success of this photograph comes from the gaze of the child, while another, perhaps under-appreciated, contribution comes from the inclusion of a child, with her expected animated manner, injecting an informal point of contrast into a structured and formal setting. Bravo, Benjamin."

Ben: "What a pleasant surprise it was to open TOP this weekend to find my photograph there—right after putting the subject to bed, in fact!

"Thanks to everyone for the kind words, and thanks to Mike for featuring the photo. It's a favorite of mine; obviously it carries personal meaning for me, so it's nice to read positive comments from others. Chris's comment echoes my own feeling about the composition, that I like how the top of her head continues the line of the shadow. Maybe I'll try to print it sometime, see how it turns out. And yes, the strong light on the painting is concerning. Perhaps they've corrected it...maybe once the museum opens again I'll go have a look! Thanks again, I'm quite flattered. Hope everyone is staying healthy and keeping up positive energies!

"P.S. Regarding Moose's comment and photo, my wife and I got married at the Worcester Art Museum.  :-)  Funny, the little coincidences...."

Editing the Baker's Dozen

I now have about 300 submissions for the Baker's Dozen, so it's off to work on that.

Here's my process:

• First I search for "BDMuseum" in Mail, which brings up all the submissions.
• I've looked at most already when they came in, but I'll go through them again slowly and look again.
• After waiting at least a few hours and maybe till tomorrow, I'll go through and flag all the ones I think are prospects. With that many submissions, there will probably be 30–60 that I'll flag.
• Then I'll go through the flagged ones again. At this point the pictures are already familiar to me, so I'm looking for which ones seem to have "legs," staying power. I'll be pretty aware of which ones I like more than when I first saw them, and which ones less.
• Then I'll pick the ones I think have to be included no matter what the final set looks like...the "shoo-ins," to use an old expression. I might have to choose between repeated subjects. For instance, in this batch I got a number of pictures of museumgoers sleeping or resting, at least three of which I already know I like, and a number of "abstracts" of architectural details. I probably wouldn't include more than one of each in the final set (if that).
• At that point I'll have a nucleus, so the task becomes to fill in around the main picks to make a coherent, balanced set and a pleasing sequence. I can't tell you how I do this or what I look for; it's mainly done by "feel" you might say. Does anything look out of place? Do two pictures have echoes of each other and need some space between them in the sequence? This is the stage that I'll also check for unintended related elements...for example, do multiple pictures feature strollers, or one particular dominant color? I might choose to mitigate that, but maybe not. On the flip side, there may be something I need to balance out some choices I've already made. One thing I don't consider is the sex of the photographer or where they come from. If three pictures in a row are by women or there turn out to be four pictures by photographers from Italy, that won't bother me. I also don't play favorites with readers who comment a lot, or who I've met, or who might be friends. Well, friends might have a little higher bar than the rest of you. Otherwise it's a pretty level playing field.
• In sequencing I like to start and finish strong, with a strong picture in the middle. But that's not written in stone; maybe there could be some other path, like distant views moving slowly to intimate ones. The pictures sort of tell you what sort of sequence they need. Also, it's not absolutely critical, so there's no sense getting crazy about it. Sometimes one ordering works as well as another.
• Once I have a pretty good fix on the choices and the sequence, I'll review what I have for written material and consider how to present it. For example, in the "Yellow" portfolio I wanted all the pictures close to each other, so I put the written material at the end.

How long will this all take? Well, until I'm satisfied with it—until I feel like I've made the most enjoyable post I can out of the material I have to work with. If that takes four hours total or fourteen, I don't really care. Nobody cares how hard you worked. :-)

Have a nice weekend!

Mike
(Thanks to everyone who submitted)

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(Not) everything must fade away

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'At the Museum' Update

I've gotten about 230 submissions for the Baker's Dozen portfolio. I'll be doing the initial edits no later than this weekend, so if you still want to submit something, plan on doing it before the weekend.

Lots of great stuff so far. This is going to be another tough one to edit.

Mike

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Everything must fade away

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New Baker's Dozen Call For Work: 'In the Museum'

Xander at the Corning Museum of Glass. iPhone snap by Mike.

It's been a while since we had a "Baker's Dozen"—a dozen JPEGs of readers' pictures, with one extra for good measure, curated by moi, AKA Yr. Hmbl. Ed.

Each time we do this we have fun and create a lovely little virtual group show. If you'd like to see older ones, click on the "Baker's Dozen" category in the right-hand sidebar.

I promised we'd do "grandchildren" as the next subject, and we'll get to that someday. But now, inspired by the lovely lead picture in Mark Power's post and the dueling frames in Moose's, I thought we'd try JamesM's idea of "In the Museum."

Any picture taken in, of, or about a museum or art gallery (or anywhere you go to look at art) is fair game.

How to Submit

This is a call for your own work, and you must own the rights to it, so please don't send me anything but that.

By submitting, you give me permission to reproduce the small JPEG of your picture on TOP and that's it. Your copyright remains yours.

To submit, use the subject line:

BDMuseum

Just like that...no spaces, spelled exactly like that, no variations. Capital "M" in "museum." The reason is that when I begin building the post, I will search my large email stack for that phrase as the subject, and if your email doesn't come up, then I won't see your picture.

Please pay attention to that, as each time I specify this I do get submissions that don't have the proper header. Those inevitably get lost.

I'll announce the deadline when we get near it. No promises when the results will appear...I've learned from experience that these features just take time to build, so it'll get done when it gets done. There's only one little man behind the curtain.

Email ONE (1) JPEG, 800 pixels wide, saved in sRGB. Include in the email your name, where you live (people keep forgetting that), any technical details you care to share, your website URL if you want me to publish it, and whatever you want to tell other TOP readers about your picture.

Lots of people write a paragraph explaining their picture (see the "Yellow" portfolio for examples), so if you don't, just be aware that your picture might seem a little "naked" after it gets picked. (Because of course yours will get picked.)

My email address is mcjohnston at mac dot com. Replace the "at" and the "dot" with the proper symbols and get rid of the spaces. This modest attempt at disguising my address will not fool the steenkin' web-crawling bots, but I hafta try.

So, five components:

"BDMuseum" in the SUBJECT LINE;
PICTURE (must be your own!), 800 pixels wide in sRGB;
NAME;
WHERE YOU LIVE;
Any COMMENTS you care to make about the shot.

Hope you are up to the challenge! Have fun and don't get arrested by a museum guard. They're really bored.  :-)

Mike
(Thanks to JamesM)

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Want to help?

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Featured Comments from:

Lynn: "Nice to see the return of the Baker's Dozen! One quick question—does an art gallery qualify as a museum? Methinks it does, as its function is to collect, preserve, curate and display objects of cultural significance; and to educate."

Mike replies: Sure. Feel free to be creative with the idea. One reader submitted a picture taken on a museum ship—an old ship in drydock open to tourists.

Robert Roaldi: "Be fun if there were a bakery museum somewhere."

The End of Yellow

Richard Gonet wrote,

"I really enjoyed viewing this collection. Thank you for initiating this project and curating it. Since we all have different tastes in art, I suspect there are some hidden gems in the ones that were not selected. Is there a way to present the 'runners up' so we can see more of the entries? Even a collection of stripes and rubber duckies would be fun to see."

Do people want to see the "yellow" pictures from the "It Must Be Color" entries? Those are what inspired the yellow idea, and I ended up using none of them in the Yellow post. After that we must move off of yellow, though, because I'm getting a reputation. (For being yellow.)

Mike

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Comments About the 'Yellow' Pictures

Photo by David Stock

I want to thank everybody who participated in the latest "Baker's Dozen" call for work—we received a large-ish number of submissions (about a hundred and sixty) and there were a lot more good ones than were included in the final set.

As usual I could have gone any number of ways with the edit. For example, the three most common subjects among the submissions were road stripes and markings (a number of great ones, but David Stock's simple and whimsical design above won by a whisker for me), flowers, and...little yellow rubber duckie bath toys. At first I thought I would pick a "winner" in all three of those subject-matter categories, but ended up jettisoning that idea in the end as being too programmatic.

The reason was that I was paying attention to sequence. To my mind, the yellows either needed to harmonize or contrast from image to image as you scroll down. The Pressman-Vincent-Poole-Smith sequence (3–6) was decided on pretty early on because they make such a nice progression to the eye, and they're all such super examples of mainstream strategies* that I thought people would identify with. From there we segue to Rich Reusser's picture of daughter Molly—she was a beautiful child and you can almost feel the fatherly adoration emanating from Rich behind the camera, but to me the punctum of that picture is the alarming whatever-you'd-call-it blue of those garish clashing gloves—it took me a long time to acclimate to that! (Additive secondary cyan or aqua is as close as I can come to naming it; the color manages to clash with both Molly's raincoat and Molly.) In Kurt's bathroom picture below Molly, there's a subtle echo of the blue gloves in the not-quite-matching blue of the towel on the rack. I don't think you see that consciously, but try to unsee it now that I've mentioned it.  :-)

As always in editing a set, the problem is flow vs. variety. The cop-out temptation is to pick a set of pictures that are all stylistically similar, but that's almost an affront to the great variety of approaches and subjects you get in any randomly-gathered "group show" (which is really what this amounts to).

And related to that heading, just so you know how much I care about your experience (and my responsibilities), let me just mention as an aside that I received exactly 13 of the aforementioned rubber ducky pictures. [Inset photo by James Hengst.] Do you even know how tempted I was to present all 13 rubber ducky pictures as the entirety of the final 'Yellow' set—as a joke? A joke that would have appealed greatly to the devilish part of my subversive B&W-maven heart. I thought about that idea for three days before I was able to get rid of it. Still kinda makes me chuckle.

Anyway, sequence, and the eye's pleasure in going from one picture to the next with minimal interruption, is why I put the emailed comments from the photographers (if there were any) at the end. I like looking at pictures next to each other, seeing how they play off their neighbors, and to me that's worth the modest inconvenience of separating the texts from the pictures.

Thanks again to everyone who sent work. Honorable mentions include, but are not limited to, Larry Angler, Mike Peters, Bob Gary, Craig Stocks, Marcelo Guarini (loved that one), Scott Campbell, Steve Goldenberg, Cathal Gantly (liked that too), Ricardo Cordeiro, Rod Locket, John Tellaisha, Al DaValle, Douglas Houk, Collin Orthner, Mark E. Johnson, Chris Kern, Ron Mayhew (don't think bringing Ernest Withers into it didn't catch my attention, Ron), Anurag Agnihotri, Animesh Ray, B.D. Parks, Terry Burnes, Randall Teasley, Richard Fox, and Harry Weide. All of their pictures were in the running to the end. There were many more nice ones than that, too.

All much fun for me, so thank you for that.

Finally, in David Stock's picture at the top of this page, do you see the faint faded remnant of an earlier yellow line on the manhole cover? Photographs often show us details we would not have thought to invent.

Mike

* Faux abstract, centered subject, woodsy landscape, critter pic

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Lois Elling: "I was a kid when I saw my first manhole cover with the painted stripe in the wrong position and got such a kick out of it. I still do!"

Matthew O'Brien: "First of all I am not a pixel peeper. I like the Bakers Dozen concept…other than I lose interest between its inception and realisation.

"Aside from that I am curious. I was about to admire the subtle extra line (1<–>1) when I suddenly noticed. The main yellow paint on the manhole cover has a remarkable physical property. It is capable of painting the empty spaces within the grating as well as the cast iron structure. The only elements which should be yellow in the white box below should be cast iron. The gaps should be dark and may contain a few splashes, but should not be the full colour. Maybe there is an interesting explanation. I never would have noticed this if I had not first spotted the 1<–>1 diagonal."

Mike replies: I thought about that too at first (wondering with my reflexive suspicion if there might have been a little Photoshop going on there) but I've observed a road-striping machine in action, and the line, which according to Wikipedia is a sort of thermoplastic resin that has to be pre-heated, goes down onto the road in a thick sort of ribbon, sort of like wet tape. Having seen it, it makes sense to me that it might have enough body when it's new to span small gaps in a grate. If the manhole cover actually is a grate, which I suppose the photo doesn't actually prove. We're getting very geeky here!

Another phil: "Re the manhole, it is unlikely to be a grate, more likely to be indentations to provide a bit of grip for tyres, rather than flat metal which is very slippery when wet. The yellow paint is (as you say) a resin which arrives in blocks and is melted, poured into a 'box' on wheels with a slot on the underside through which the resin flows.(I was a highways civil engineering tech). Longer lines are normally nowadays done with a vehicle which does all the above in one operation. That's also why the original paint still shows in the indentations."

Richard Gonet: "I really enjoyed viewing this collection. Thank you for initiating this project and curating it. Since we all have different tastes in art, I suspect there are some hidden gems in the ones that were not selected. Is there a way to present the 'runners up' so we can see more of the entries? Even a collection of stripes and rubber duckies would be fun to see."

Mike replies: Here are the submissions by Marcelo and Cathal that I mentioned above.

By Marcelo Guarini

By Cathal Gantly

Philomaphos: "Thank you, Mike, for the Baker's Dozen and for your commentary on how you arranged your final choices. I now can't unsee the blue gloves in Richard Reusser's photograph, and I agree with the comments praising Melissa O'Shaughnessy's photograph. I really like the bonus picture by Marcelo Guarini for its quiet, contemplative colour and the mystery it suggests. I agree with Dave Jenkins' comment regarding the photograph by Darren Livingston—it is a striking, unsettling picture. It's been a pleasure to see them all."

Baker's Dozen: Yellow

-

"There is a sun, a light that for want of a better word
I can only call yellow, pale sulphur yellow, pale golden
citron. How lovely yellow is!"

—Vincent Van Gogh

-

By Darren Livingston ¹

By Jim Arthur ²

By Jeff Pressman ³

By Nicolas Vincent ⁴

By Keith Poole ⁵

By Marshall Smith ⁶

By Richard Reusser ⁷

By Kurt Kramer ⁸

By Mark Kinsman ⁹

By Melissa O'Shaughnessy ¹⁰

By Mark Sirota ¹¹

By Gilson Topfstedt ¹²

-

And one more for good measure....

By Rodger Kingston ¹³

-

(Thanks to Jim Arthur for the Vincent Van Gogh quote. —MJ)

Notes

1. Darren Livingston: "This photo was made 40 years ago when I was in Art/Photo school. Tech info: Mamiya 330f with 80mm ƒ/2.8, Ektachrome 200."

2. Jim Arthur: "From last year's office Halloween costume contest. I found this crop in a crowd scene where all the contestants were standing around watching and waiting to be judged. I like the juxtaposition of the happier looking Day of the Dead face with the ceramic tragedy face, and the fact that both chose to line their eyes in yellow. FYI, the mask is mounted on a large cardboard disk that is held up to the face using straps glued to the back. I used a Canon 6D and a Canon 135mm ƒ/2 at ƒ/6.3.

3. Jeff Pressman: "A number of years ago I was in Melbourne, Australia with my family for a wedding. We were just walking around and near the rail station we passed a painted weathered wall when the Aaron Siskind in me screamed out to take a photo. The colors and patterns to my eye worked perfectly as a kind of impressionist work, and this is still one of my favorite 'still life' photos. I had my trusty Fuji X100 with me at the time, which is still a great carrying-around camera for traveling."

4. Nick Vincent: "A straightforward, no-fuss photograph I took last October. Every year, there is a quinta (vineyard) celebrating the end of the harvest season not far from where we live in Portugal. It usually coincides with the most astonishing weather and beautiful autumnal colours in the countryside. This is the first year our hosts had prepared these decorations for the celebration. I could have have gone for more contrast and saturation in the leaves and flowers but I thought I’d let the yellow paint take over the whole of the composition."

5. Keith Poole, Glendale, Arizona: "This was taken at the base of the mountains behind Flagstaff, Arizona (Weatherford Trail), maybe a half mile from the parking area. This was my first real outing with my first real DSLR (Canon 20D) back in 2004. It was a really nice shooting day, I just remember being caught up for hours shooting away at amazing scenery, completely thrilled seeing the photos right away on the screen (film shooter since the '90s), thinking 'these frames are costing me nothing' (ha ha, how little did I know how much I'd spend after that on gear), but in the moment such freedom. I don't even completely recall taking the photo. It's one of those shots that jumped out at me afterwards when viewing on my computer, like 'I TOOK THIS?!?'"

6. Marshall Smith from Stamping Ground, Kentucky: "Northern Flickers are beautiful birds at any time, but a backlit wing is something special...in yellow. Taken over our local park pond with a Canon 5D Mark IV, 1/2000th sec., ƒ/8, ISO 640."

7. Richard Reusser: "Buried among all the yellow taxis and daffodils I found a picture of my daughter, Molly, hamming it up in the leaves. My stalwart Canon 5D Mark I would've only been a few months old back in 2006—and Molly half of her twenty two laps around the sun."

8. Kurt Kramer: "I have a friend in his mid-70s. He lives in the same six-flat building in which his parents lived when he was born. His apartment is a time capsule. When you enter, you feel as if you are going back in time by 50–60 years. This is the bathroom in the apartment. Data: Olympus E-M5 Mark II, M.Zuiko Olympus 12–40mm lens, 1/125th sec., ƒ/3.5, ISO 2500."

9. Mark Kinsman: "I took this on while at the local mall with my family. As we entered a new addition to the mall I noticed the escalator had yellow outlines steps and then noticed the women on the down ramp wearing a purple coat. Only had time to shoot two frames, this one in focus. Shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and 24–105 ƒ/4 lens."

10. Melissa O'Shaughnessy: "This yellow revolving door at the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District in New York City is a spot I frequented many times several years ago in an attempt to make something even more interesting out of an already eye-catching architectural detail. I have pictures of people coming and going in this spot in many configurations, but it was in this split second, when the morning light was ideal and a man of exactly the right height pushed his way through the door, that I knew I had my shot. I've returned to the locale several times since, but so far have not improved upon this simple—but to me delightful—moment."

11. Mark Sirota: "I photograph fireworks, generally large commercial displays like you see on the Fourth of July. Given that it's coming up, it seems apropos. I usually use a wide angle and try hard to include the crowd in the foreground, because the crowd is why we have fireworks displays, but sometimes for a change of pace I try something a little different. This is a photo of an aerial firework, shot at 180 mm-e with a focus pull during the 1.4 second hand-timed exposure (focused near at the beginning, shifting towards infinity at the end). Adjusting the focus by hand causes camera shake, which is what causes the wavy lines at the ends. I come away from a typical 20 minute fireworks show with about 100 exposures, of which maybe 20 will be salable and two will be great. I often sell as triptychs by color—for example, one that’s primarily red, one primarily green, one primarily blue. Or three purples. You get the idea. This is one of my favorite yellow ones. Normally yellow doesn’t stand alone well as a primary color in a firework photograph; it’s not bold enough. A big yellow burst over a great foreground often looks a little weak…. But thanks to the focus pull and the fortunate timing, the yellow is quite powerful in this one."

12. Gilson Topfstedt contributed from Germany. "Shot taken in January 2018 in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) on an evening with nice sunlight, highlights, and shadows, and nice colors. All we need for a nice picture. Camera: Fuji X-T1."

13. Rodger Kingston: "Empty Gallery, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts, 2018. The color here is strictly from the warm lights on the neutral white walls. I suspect that work of Edward Hopper may have taught me to see this scene."

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Featured Comments from:

Kenneth Tanaka: "Excellent. Simply excellent."

Nature Lover: "They just made me smile. Blue, green, red, they just will not make me as happy."

Ken Owen: "Kurt Kramer's photo of his friend's bathroom is my favourite. The details are fun."

Charlie Didrickson: "Very nice set of photos. I'm partial to #10—Melissa O'Shaughnessy."

Dave Jenkins: "The leadoff picture by Darren Livingston is the most striking photograph I've seen in a long, long time."

Yellow Crack

Photo by Phil Gianatasio

I'm kinda sorry I had that idea about "Yellow" for the Baker's Dozen...ever since then, I've been seeing yellow out in the world, and of course whenever I see it I somehow have to take a picture of it. It feels just slightly like addict behavior.

Like getting a pop song stuck in your head.

By the way, the Yellow deadline is today! I've gotten lots of really cool stuff and it will be a great feature with lots of interesting variety.

The next Baker's Dozen subject will be: "Grandkids."

Mainly, your own. (This is a way of focusing our attention on the work of our readers who have, shall we say, attained a certain level of maturity.) Don't send 'em yet, I'm just giving you advance notice.

 

Don't        Send        Them        Yet

 

So as not to close the door on people who do not yet have grandkids (yo!), you can submit an inter-generational portrait of grandparent/s with grandchild/-children, but only if they're relatives or family friends and you know them and you know they are in fact related—no fair showing pictures of random oldsters with kids who are strangers to you and who you're just assuming are related. You're on your honor here.

But mainly, just pictures of your own grandkids.

The first requirement is that the picture be a good picture...i.e., one that will delight/impress/interest other photographers or meet with their approval. Some of the "Yellow" submissions are yellow, all right, but otherwise they're snapshots, which doesn't quite fit the bill. Even though they're yellow.

And consider being creative about the concept...for instance, a then and now, or a picture of a kid paired with a picture of a grandparent when the grandparent was the same age. Or...something like that, but that you think up. Anyway, points for creativity with the concept. But it's not required.

Again, please do not send any grandkid pics yet. I ain't ready. I'll tell you when.

Yellow. Gaaah!

Mike

UPDATE or P.S. or whatever: Woke up from a catnap on the couch today, looked up at the ceiling fan...

See what I mean? Yellow is everywhere now....

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Featured Comments from:

Dave Stewart: "I'm often trying to keep yellow out of the frame, which isn't always easy...."

Mike replies: Ha! Yes, I can see how that would be difficult for you.

Baker's Dozen: 'It Must Be Color' (Part III)

Photo by Stan Banos

Photo by David Morse

Photo by Mark Kinsman

Photo by Mike Knowles

-

Stan Banos sent his photo without comment.

David Morse of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania writes, "I took this photo at the annual fourth of July parade in Philly with a Nikon D7000 and a 16–85mm lens. Although the image works in B&W because of the strong composition, the red and blue stars and face paint definitely make the photo sing and define the event as patriotic. Converted to B&W, the stars have exactly the same grey value and you lose the dynamic rhythm the colors provide."

Mark Kinsman says: "I live in the suburbs of Chicago—Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Taken in Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois, on a summer day. This one caught my attention because of the combination of colors along with her gesture—sitting with feet in a wishing well stream that runs along this area, reading a real book. Without color? No way."

Mike Knowles (whose work also appeared in this post) writes: "This is a photo of a Crimson-Rumped Toucanet (although his rump is sadly out of shot). It was taken near Mindo in Ecuador in 2016 with an Olympus EM-5 and Panasonic 100–300mm lens. I recently stuck a copy of this on the wall next to my desk at work, along with about nine or 10 other photos of various things and places, and it always captures my eye more than the others, which I didn't expect when I stuck it up.

"This was a tough choice...."

Thanks to everyone! The thirteenth photo, which makes the dozen into a baker's dozen, usually appears at the end of the set of twelve. Just as a reminder, Chester Williams' "The Goodbye Kiss" (last picture on this page) was the thirteenth photo in this series. (And by the way, Chester and I are talking about possibly offering that picture as a fine print.)

Looking forward to your comments as always!

Mike

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Featured Comments from:

MikeK: "How very nice to be featured here—especially on a day when I was feeling pretty downbeat about my own photography (having looked through over 800 photos I took on a recent trip and found them all to be pretty unremarkable). This wasn't actually my first choice for a submission, but I wasn't sure how essential colour was to my original choice—though the more I think about it, the more I think it is.

"I suppose, ultimately, it must be colour if the author of the work decides it must. It's a creative choice, along with aspect ratio and any aspect of exposure. A given picture may work equally well, or better, with a different crop, for example, but it's the creator's prerogative to choose. I have tried to evaluate my own photos on whether colour, or lack of it, adds to an image. And 'adding' could really mean anything—perhaps just the evocation of a memory related to the photo, which means nothing to anyone else. It's also interesting how different the print I have on my wall looks to the on-screen version. The print seems to have a more yellow tint to it—it's probably not a massive difference in actual values, but it changes the look of it quite noticeably (for the record I prefer the on-screen one)."

Frank Lehnen: "I'd have preferred the first one in B&W...still a great photo though."

Mike replies: Fair enough, but then you'd miss that counter-arguing "blue," which puts the finishing touch on the picture as I see it.

Baker's Dozen "Yellow" Deadline...

...Is end of day Thursday. Thanks for all the submissions! It's going to be a good one.

Mike

 

New Baker's Dozen Call For Work: Yellow

We're in the middle of the current "Baker's Dozen," featuring 13 (well, actually I cheat a little) readers' pictures on a certain theme.  This theme, which was interrupted midstream by some personal issues I had, is "It Must Be Color," a difficult and, it turns out, contentious concept. I've published seven so far (including Chester Williams' "The Goodbye Kiss," which is, effectively, the 13th selection), and will publish the remaining four later this week.

This is probably overcompensating/overreacting, but the next Baker's Dozen will be very simple:

Yellow.

That's it. Yellow.

If you want to submit, send an 800-pixel-wide JPEG saved in sRGB to me at mcjohnston at mac dot com with the subject line "BDyellow." Just like that, exactly:

BDyellow

When it comes time to edit, I'll search my email stack for "BDyellow," and if your email doesn't have that subject line, I won't see it. So please make sure you use that exact subject line.

Photo by Robert Heller

This new theme was suggested by Robert Heller, who said about his "It Must Be Color" submission above: "For the last several years, I've given myself the assignment to shoot the color yellow—not just lemons or daffodils, but in a more sophisticated, thoughtful way." If you were one of the more than fifteen people who submitted a "yellow" picture for "It Must Be Color," your entry will be considered for this new Baker's Dozen—you don't need to resubmit unless you want to, although you may. I'll be looking for variety and originality in building the set (in addition to sophistication and thoughtfulness).

If you want to play, maybe get into the mood by listening to Coldplay's "Yellow," the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," The Innocence Mission's "Bright As Yellow," the Raconteurs' "Yellow Sun," Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," Tangerine Dream's "Hunter Shot by a Yellow Rabbit," Dolly Parton doing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow," or, if you like jazz, Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington doing "Yellow Days." If you're in a dippy mood, you might even venture into my favorite song from when I was in fourth grade, Donovan's "Mellow Yellow" (but beware all the potent flower power in that one). Especially because he's a major photography collector, we should give a nod to Elton John for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," too. Which means we also need to include Captain Beefheart's "Yellow Brick Road" of course...

...Okay, I should stop.  :-]

Mike
(Thanks to Robert)

P.S. A new "Baker's Dozen" call means some real fun for me, because I really enjoy seeing your work. To paraphrase something Thomas Jefferson said of reading, I have a canine appetite for looking at pictures. Thanks very much if you sent me something for "It Must Be Color," and thanks again for your patience waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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Featured Comments from:

David Aiken: "Another getting into the mood musical suggestion for jazz lovers: Eberhard Weber's 'Yellow Fields' from the album of the same name. I really like Robert Heller's photo."

Eolake: "Oh! 'Bright As Yellow' is one of my favorite songs of all time! The video is beautiful too. And amazingly they managed to make it without showing a speck of yellow, which I could not have managed."

Peggy C.: "Or, how about yellow movies? My favorite, the 1949 John Wayne movie, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. Hmm, I think tonight will be movie night. Off to make some popcorn."

Baker's Dozen: 'It Must Be Color' (Part II: Subtle Colors)

Photo by Tim Couttreel

Photo by Lee Shively

Photo by Stephen Cowdery

Photo by Marcelo Guarini

-

Tim Couttreel writes: "I had some trouble finding a photograph that 'must be in color.' In most of my photographs the color adds another dimension, but it is not essential. I guess this is because most of my photographs are more about light and composition. But this one is an exception (although for me the gravel is what makes this photograph) and the funny thing is that if you do a straight B&W conversion the 'No Parking' sign almost completely vanishes (try it!).

"This photograph is part of a series I made about signs prohibiting all sorts of (weird) things. It's a really nice photograph when printed very large. I had one made that's 175cm wide for the group exhibition we did.

"Now for the details: My name is Tim Couttreel and I live in Belgium. This photograph was taken with the Olympus E-M10 and the Olympus 25mm ƒ/1.8."

Lee Shively (AKA 'Dogman') writes: "I debated on whether or not to send this but finally decided to do so. It’s not spectacular and the color is subdued. I don't even know the identity of the lady pictured but the photo means a lot to me. I hope you'll indulge me with a short story.

"For almost 18 months I've had several health issues that have limited my ability to travel or even get around much except in my general neighborhood. Of course that also means the scope of my photography was also limited. At first, it was depressing. But I eventually began to appreciate the visual treasures in the commonplace subjects around me. Without getting too deeply into the matter, this particular photo was done in the surgical waiting room at a local hospital in November 2017. I was there waiting to be called into the preparation room for another surgery, a surgery my doctor felt would finally resolve my biggest health issue. The lady pictured was apparently there with a relative or friend who was scheduled for surgery. The light caught my eye along with the lady's silhouette, red hair, and plaid shoes. Later when I printed the photo, I thought is had a 'Hopperesque' look to it. Oddly enough, I had been concentrating on B&W for some time prior to this, but this one had to be in color.

"I shot it with a Ricoh GRII, in raw, and processed it with Lightroom 6. I’m located in Shreveport Louisiana.

"By the way, the surgery seems to have been a success. I've become more mobile and I’m able to get out and run errands and socialize a bit. I expect to continue to improve and be able to seek new photograph subjects. 2018 is looking like a good year for me."

Stephen Cowdery writes: "My submission is Two Women.

"Shot with Pentax 110 50mm ƒ/2.8 lens, ISO 800, 1/400 sec @ ƒ/4.5 on a Pentax Q7.

"Pretty much a straight image, with some minor cropping and other corrections. The flat north light on the scene made the contrast between the women's skin and hair and the drab background work for me. I tried a B&W conversion, but I couldn't capture the 'serene' quality of the scene.

"I live in Anoka, Minnesota. Here's my website."

Marcelo Guarini writes: I spotted this small beach around 10 years ago from a plane at 30,000 feet up, while traveling to the north of Chile. I was on a business trip. As I arrived to Santiago on the way back, I found the place on Google Earth, and started to make a way to go there, no roads, no trails, nothing. On September 2007 I tried to reach the place with my brother and respective sons in two 4WD vehicles. We spent seven hours from La Serena, located around 200 km away. Today we take 2.5 hours from the same place. The place is just pristine since no one goes there. We found that the place is super windy, with gale force winds. Camping is very difficult, but it is absolutely beautiful.

"The morning I took the picture on September 2013, the wind was unusually calm and the scene very beautiful, so I tried a long exposure with an Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Voigtlander 17.5mm ƒ/0.95 and a 15-stop SinghRay ND filter mounted on a Gitzo tripod. The image was originally intended to be a B&W photo. Every long exposure I tried before, during strong winds, were blurred, so I was very lucky this time. When I saw the image in color, I immediately thought that will be difficult to make a better B&W version, the colors were beautiful that morning. Since then, every once in a while I imagine a B&W version and sit down on the computer to work it, but I have never succeeded, so I think this is could be a candidate for 'It Must Be Color.'

"The exposure was around three minutes at ƒ/11 I think. The Voigtlander ƒ/0.95 maximum aperture is very convenient in this case since it allows me to compose and manual focus with the 15 stop ND filter screwed in front (a very grainy viewfinder image, but enough to precisely get focus)."

I just thought that in the middle of this Baker's Dozen it would be interesting to offer a "counterpoint" to the received idea that color pictures have to be of bright, vibrant, or strong primary colors. What are your thoughts?

[To be continued...]

Mike

P.S. This is cheating, but as an addendum to this group, another subtle picture:

Chester Williams, The Goodbye Kiss

Chester writes:

Hi there...

My name is Chester Williams and I live on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

The image is called "The Goodbye Kiss"....

It was taken in an old dilapidated building that had an old wonderful love story happen under its roof...now missing.

I was there with three other photographers who failed to see the image and completely dismissed me about its possible impact. I guess the love story was in my mind and my eye too....

I just love its pastel colors...which add a warm romantic feeling.

Appreciate the opportunity....

I appreciate the picture, and the sentiment, but I can't make a determination as to whether color is necessary in this picture or not. I'm going to have to leave this one entirely up to the TOP commentariat to decide about. What's your feeling?

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David Dyer-Bennet: "'The Goodbye Kiss' is very interesting. The fleshtones in (well, on) the cement (or whatever the surface is) helped me see it as a face instantly. I saw that instantly, before getting down to the title (which certainly would also predispose me to seeing the face). (They also contribute to my liking the picture for roughly the reasons the photographer gives.) Having seen it this way, doing a quick B&W conversion doesn't really tell me enough; my mind is already made up what it is, and I can't see it for the first time again. So...I report that the color seemed central in my instantly seeing the face in it, but I can't honestly express an opinion about whether the color is necessary. I'm inclined to think it's not, but that's speculation."

Rob Griffin: "I am with the other friends of TOP who are calling for a print sale of 'The Goodbye Kiss.' To me, it is an iconic photograph that I will remember in my mind's eye for the rest of my life. I would still love to own a print though. My heartfelt thanks to Chester Williams and also to you, Mike, for sharing it with us."

Bahi: "Can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this whole colour thread. Thanks for doing it—I know it was a tough one to adjudicate (if that's the right word) but the results are stellar, as are so many of the comments. Fantastic! My reaction to the 'The Goodbye Kiss' was exactly the same as David Dyer-Bennet's—I saw the face and the mouths while scrolling, before even parsing the title."

My Take on 'Emma'

Jan Kwarnmark, Emma

I've added quite a bit of new material to the "It Must Be Color Part I" post, so you might want to catch up with that if you haven't already. Part II will be along on Monday.

I thought I should mention where I come down in the debate over Jan Kwarnmark's "Emma." Let me acknowledge that my opinion isn't necessarily more valid than anyone else's just because I have the "bully pulpit"*.

David Dyer-Bennet writes:

Even though they're 'the same photo,' and I find them both quite good, the two versions of Jan's portrait of Emma [color and B&W] aren't...the same photo.

Bingo.

Steve says:

In B&W, while the girl is still beautiful, the picture as a whole doesn't make sense any longer—the comb is a major thematic element but for no apparent reason. In color, you see the reason.

I agree with this. (Jan K. doesn't, just for the record.)

But...

D. Hufford says:

In judging whether another person's photo is better suited for black and white or color, I tend to allow that if the photographer understands these two types of photography and he or she decided it was better suited for color, it is.

It is that person's photo and that person's interpretation. It is not my business to second guess.

...And of course D. Hufford is right as rain as well. Except that anyone is allowed to second-guess, of course, because we're humans and humans tend to do that a lot. Especially artists do that a lot, because we're used to having control over our own work and applying our aesthetic judgements to that, so it's tempting to apply it to the work of others as well, especially when we think others have made a misstep. But his comment emphasizes that there's no right and wrong in matters of interpretation—there's only what the creator of the work wanted, and then there's your own estimation of whether his or her choice works (succeeds) or not.

Anyway, I guess this is obvious since I chose "Emma" for a feature called "it must be color," but I think, well, it must be color. Actually, Jan's photo of Emma, which he sent me for a different reason, was what inspired this particular "Baker's Dozen" in the first place. I thought, wow, if ever there was a picture that had to be in color, that is it.

...Even though B&W is my first love, and even though I'm  on record as having wished that John Moore's famous picture of Mary McHugh had been taken in B&W.  

And (back to "Emma"), nobody even remarked upon the lovely little tidbit of orange (and yellow and green) in the lower right-hand corner! I particularly like that.

Mike

UPDATE: ...And Ben said:

I’d argue that it being a good picture in B&W is part of what makes it work in color. Because you have her expression, along with the light, the shadow, the composition, the tonality...this is the foundation of the image.

I agree with that, too. In fact I think that often (not "always") a good clue as to whether a color picture is good is to see if it's also a good picture in B&W. If it's not, then it probably depends (or "might depend," if you prefer) too much on color for its appeal. [See Ben's Featured Comment below.]

*"A public office or position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue. Early 20th century: apparently originally used by President Theodore Roosevelt explaining his personal view of the presidency." (Dictionary.com via Google)

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Featured Comments from:

Mark Kinsman: "While I did not contribute a comment in the original post of Emma, it is that little bit of orange in the lower right corner, complementing the blue comb, that make it a Must Be Color photo, in my opinion."

James Bullard: "The fact that the blue comb and the 'tidbit of orange" in the corner pull the viewer's eye away from the face is exactly why I feel it works better in B&W. The subject is Emma, not the comb and whatever the other bits of color are. But then, I'm old school."

Randall Teasley: "When I look at Emma in color I see Emma first and then the comb. In black and white I see the comb first and it feels distracting. I'm really enjoying these Bakers Dozen posts. I feel like I'm attending a master class in photography."

Ben: "I agree 100% with Mike on this. Sure, in B&W it’s a nice portait, but in color it’s enough more to make all the difference. I’d argue that it being a good picture in B&W is part of what makes it work in color. Because you have her expression, along with the light, the shadow, the composition, the tonality... this is the foundation of the image. Without all of this, the comb would be much less effective. But with it, that fantastic interruption of blue has something to stand on, and we have a reason to keep looking."

Baker's Dozen: 'It Must Be Color' (Part I)

Photo by Jan Kwarnmark

Photo by Sean Geer

Photo by Mike Newton

Photo by David Comdico

-

Jan Kwarnmark writes: "In January 2017 I spent two weeks in the countryside of Sierra Leone with a volunteer doctor, an old friend of mine. We were the only white men in several miles. I took pictures in the hospital, of him educating in the villages and of 'anything that caught my eye,' especially the beautiful people. Helped by his authority I could photograph people almost without limits. They are friendly, calm and dignified, in spite of the poverty, in a way that other people who have been in Africa recognize. I don't speak their language, Krio, based on English. So the portrait sessions took a few seconds and a smile.

"When I saw my own pictures I could almost not believe they were mine.

"Here is 'Emma' 800 pixels wide and not cropped. Metadata: Canon 5D MkIII, 70–200mm ƒ/4 @ 78mm, ISO 4000, ƒ/7.1 @ 1/320 sec.

"We produced a calendar for 2018 and we have sold 1,000 of them, and every cent besides printing costs are used to help the people in Sierra Leone. My friend has a website, so far only in Swedish (and Facebook too). Bombali Health Development—We Are the People."

Sean Geer writes: "My name's Sean Geer; I live in London, England. I've been lurking at TOP for many years, but this fascinating idea has finally lured me out of the shadows.

"This really is an interesting challenge, and this is the only picture I could find from the last 18 months that I thought absolutely had to be in colour to really tell its story. I almost literally stumbled upon these Parisian pigeons feasting on a volcanically hot pavement last summer; I saw them only at the last second as I tried to avoid their lunch. It's imperfect for many reasons, but it's one of only a dozen or so images I printed last year.

"Technical details, for what they're worth: Fuji X-E2, 35mm ƒ/2 WR. Shot in JPEG at bizarrely random settings, as I had no time to do anything but grab the camera and shoot.

"Thanks for your exceptional efforts over the years. You're one of only a small handful of photo bloggers I still read. Really looking forward to seeing this Baker's Dozen!

Mike Newton writes: "Here's a submission for your colour post. My name is Mike Newton, and I'm a university lecturer based in Edinburgh, UK.

"My photograph was made in Mongolia, using a Panasonic GH2 and a 14–45mm lens. Here's my website."

UPDATE: Mike Newton adds: "What a privilege to be included here. Thanks very much, Mike. I feel a little sheepish now to have included such a dull commentary about my photograph...as with a lot of other folk, I really liked the idea for your post (and the previous B&W series), so thanks for the inspiration.

"For what it's worth, I've probably spent more time trying to print this image than any other. And perhaps learnt the most as well. I've tried it in B&W several times, but in print there is just something I prefer about the colour versions. I think it's the relative simplicity of the colour palette, which helps provide separation in what could be quite a busy image.

"This was made somewhere in the north of Mongolia back in 2012. We had stopped for dinner at a roadside ger cafe (something meaty, as I recall...), before continuing on our 18-hour drive northwards. A few miles down the road we crested a small rise, and the trees thinned to reveal this incredible layered landscape of green and blue. It really had the feeling of being a live, slowly evolving watercolour, which is something I've tried hard to capture in the various printed versions. A 'final' version hangs in my house, printed on Canson Platine, and is about 16" square. Given the number of work prints, I guess this places me well within the 'amateur' category...! (C.f. 'The Digital Glow.')"

David Comdico writes: "Here is my entry. I wasn't sure what to send so was likely not going to (from indecision) until I read your 'yellow and blue' rant of January 23rd. Now, I love your rants because they are usually driven by some deeply-felt insight. But, being a contrarian, I couldn't help but send in something with yellow and blue. So, cheekily, here it is.

"I live in Collingswood, New Jersey, which is right outside of Philly, where I was born and raised and where this photo was taken. I think it is fairly self-explanatory, but what struck me about it—when editing—was the generational progression and how vibrant colors are worn on the extreme edges of age.

"I have lots of cameras that I actively shoot with but this was taken with a D810 and an old 180mm ƒ/2.8 (D, I think?). I don't use that lens too often but it worked well for this shot. Here is my website."

So what do you think? Do you agree these pictures "have to be" in color? Your comments welcome.

[To be continued....]

Mike
(Thanks to everyone who submitted to this Baker's
Dozen, and to all of you for your patience with me.)

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Ed Hawco: "Wow! I could look at Jan Kwarnmark's portrait of Emma all day long. Without the blue comb it would be a gorgeous and classical portrait that would work in either color or B&W, but that crazy comb ads a shock of humor and whimsy, and the fact that it is blue, and completely outside of the color palette of the rest of the image reinforces the oddness and perfection of it. In B&W the comb might just be a distraction."

Mike adds: For the record, brown and blue was a recurring color motif in quite a number of pictures sent in by readers. Here are a few:

Photo by John Yuda

Photo by Neil Sutherland

Photo by Jim Palmer

...And that wasn't even all! There are a number of other good ones as well. Based on the popularity of these colors in this Baker's Dozen, I'd say, whenever you get a chance to take a brown-and-blue-themed picture, go ahead.

Terry Burnes: "Do these have to be in color? Only Sean's I think. I imported all of them to Photos, clicked Edit and simply chose one of Photos' B&W filters. Nothing more. I liked Jan's photo better in B&W. It became about the girl rather than the comb. The comb was still an interesting quirk about her, but I find her beauty more compelling than the oddity of the blue comb. Sean's subject just looks like a mess in B&W. Much more vibrant and interesting in color. So yes for Sean. I also liked Mike's photo better in B&W. Color actually seems like a distraction from the forms and light that the photograph seems to be about. As to David's, the B&W conversion seemed to bring more emphasis to the people. Yes, the juxtaposition of the painted and real clouds is interesting, but the people more so I think. All very good photographs, just not sure about needing to be in color. It's a tough assignment. After all, for decades all photographs were B&W and good photographers found a way to capture almost anything well."

Steve: "Ooh, these are going to be controversial! I have no credentials as an art critic, but do feel strongly that all four of these work much better in color than B&W. Here are my thoughts:

• First picture: In B&W, while the girl is still beautiful, the picture as a whole doesn't make sense any longer—the comb is a major thematic element but for no apparent reason. In color, you see the reason.
• Second picture: Seems like there's agreement on this one—hard to even tell what it is in B&W.
• Third picture: Works much better in color. In B&W, there isn't anything interesting about the green portions of the landscape. In color, it makes me feel like I want to walk right in.
• Fourth picture: this is the one that you can make the strongest case for in B&W, especially if it was converted in such a way that the shadows in the lower portion of the image weren't distracting and dark. Still, it seems to me that what's being said in this image is about way that the blue and white sky and clouds in the actual sky and in the mural match up so neatly. That doesn't really come through in B&W.

"I've been waiting for this feature with great anticipation—it has been well worth the wait!"

(Conversion by) Daniel Smith:

(Conversion by) Stephen Scharf:

[Conversions posted with Jan's permission —Ed.]

David Dyer-Bennet: "Even though they're 'the same photo,' and I find them both quite good, the two versions of Jan's portrait of Emma (photographer's, and Ricardo's unauthorized B&W conversion [in the Comments —Ed.]) aren't all that much the same photo. If that makes any sense. I think I'm preparing to argue that it belongs in this collection even though a fairly simple B&W conversion (same cropping, no really drastic tonal changes) is still IMHO excellent—because, while excellent, and having the same perspective and object outlines and all that, they're not really the same photo. What makes them good isn't the same things (well, except the actual good looks of the model). This may be taking sophistry a bit far, though."

David Comdico: "Not sure of the protocol, but Ricardo I don't think either of your B&W conversions looks better than the color versions. The question isn't if they look OK in B&W but if color brings something to it that is lost in B&W. Jan's portrait is not just about the blue comb but the various shades of brown that offset it. The color palette is very effective. For example, in the B&W, her eyes start to take over and her posture is less awkward. I also think the scrape on her arm better parallels the tree markings. The color version is humane whereas the conversion starts to border into fashion. For my photo, the B&W conversion drains it of whimsy."

Editing 'It Must Be Color'

Two ideas for future Baker's Dozens: subtle color, and matching colors. More about this later...I think if I announced another BD before presenting the acutely late "It Must Be Color," a number of you guys would put out a hit on me.

In editing the "It Must Be Color" submissions I suspect the big problem is that the concept isn't entirely secure in my mind. Mostly I'm pretty confident when it comes to editing; I have my methods and my typical "queries" with which I approach any given picture. But I recognize a number of different ways that readers approached the challenge—that is, the criteria by which you chose your own selections—and I recognize that many of them are somewhat different, but that your choices are valid nonetheless. This makes it more than usually difficult to eliminate contenders.

As you might expect, the big challenge, accordingly, is...eliminating contenders. Usually, the easiest parts of editing are the outliers: the obvious "nos" and the obvious "yesses." It's those "hmm, maybes" that are maddening. But in this BD, there just aren't as many obvious yesses and nos.

I would say in general the easiest ones to eliminate are pictures that I think are clearly good but that I'm not convinced have to be in color...rightly or wrongly, I think they'd work in B&W as well. And, the pictures that I admit have to be in color, but nevertheless don't seem to be entirely successful as photographs.

Two other kinds of submission I've been able to be a little harder on are standard naturey subjects, and pictures that are mostly just "of" subjects that happen to be colorful. But even these aren't easy to dismiss, because there are some of each kind that are very good.

I'll put up examples of each of these types, but not until I pick the final Baker's Dozen. Never know what's going to make the final cut until the final cut is made.

All in all this has been more than a bit humbling for Yr. already Hmbl. Ed. I can't say I've done much more than circle around the task for weeks, without getting down to work, but that's because I know I'm not on footing that's as solid as I usually stand on.

More anon; I'm gaining on it. Thanks again for all the submissions, and no, I haven't forgotten about the Younger Photographers group.

Mike

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Joe: "I've been in your position, Mike, and it sure helps to be part of a small group making such decisions. It's also easier when there's a hard deadline with no extensions. Might not make for better decisions, but it makes for decisions."

Curt Gerston: "I’m looking forward to seeing your choices for this...I’ve recently assigned 'color' as a subject-assignment to my students, and it’s a bit difficult to explain the concept to middle-schoolers. I’m hoping to show your contest winners as examples."

Thank You

I'm not complaining—I have the world's best job, or second-best as I now conceive it—but sometimes the relentless pace of blogging, and more especially trying to remain mentally nimble enough to keep all the plates spinning at once, can get a Dawg downpressed*. Floating in the sea of all that, to suddenly get to see 300+ "It Must Be Color" submissions from so many wonderful people is just a treat. I really enjoyed it. I can only use 13, but it was a true pleasure seeing every one of them, and hearing from so many readers.

Photo by Rory O'Toole, who does weddings out of Cork, Ireland

This didn't make the final 13 (I suspect it would work nicely in B&W too), but isn't it a treat to get to see it? Multiply by 300 and you see what I mean. Many thanks, sincerely. These Baker's Dozen things just lift my spirits and make my day, day after day.

Mike

*Word courtesy of Peter Tosh.

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Richard Man: "Excellent photo! The use of space is exquisite!"

Yellow Over Dark Blue

As I said yesterday, the deadline for the Baker's Dozen "It Must Be Color" feature is Tuesday night at 11:59 p.m. I've already received enough submissions to build the feature.

I'm having a bit of a conceptual mindlock about the concept, though. Many people are simply sending in pictures that are of strong colors. I'm not sure that's the same thing as a picture that needs to be in color in order to work.

Pictures that are purely of colors or a color are descendants of things like Eggleston's seminal "Red Ceiling," simplistic advertising and photo-magazine clichés, and the American hard edge / color field painter Ellsworth Kelly. Of course they "must be in color," though, because the color is the point and without the color they lose all trace of meaning or attractiveness. So I will include some photographs of that type in the set. But you're unlikely to do it better than people who have committed their creative lives to it, such as Pete Turner or Harald Mante.

But consider the difference between Ellsworth Kelly and Mark Rothko:

Ellsworth Kelly, Yellow over Dark Blue, 1964–5

Mark Rothko, Untitled (yellow and blue), 1954

Very similar motifs, but to me, the Rothko painting is art and the Kelly print is just colors. (I've never cared for Kelly. I hope his fans will pardon me.)

I'm aware that color affects people differently, and although I'm sensitive to it, I have suspicions of it and misgivings about it. There's something knee-jerk about it, a potential toward some base animal instinctual trigger that I don't trust.

Consider what the English composer Benjamin Britten said of Beethoven, in an interview:

A certain rot, if that isn't too strong a word, set in with Beethoven. Before Beethoven, music served things greater than itself. For example, the glory of God, the greatest glory of all. Or the glory of the state. Or the composer's social environment. After Beethoven the composer became the center of his own universe. Hence the Romantic school.

I think you could say the same thing about Eggleston's "The Red Ceiling." A great deal of reverent verbiage has been piled up at the foot of that photograph, but really, the idea became debased, morphing into the cliché that if you want to be sure of appealing to viewers, "make it big and make it red."

And then consider (in light of the Rothko and the Kelly) this photograph by John Crowley of Clonmel, Ireland:

Photo by John Crowley

Human beings are intensely sensitive to hierarchies of status, and I'm well aware that all Rothkos and most Kellys are "better" or "worth more" than any photograph and you're not supposed to (perhaps not even allowed to) think otherwise. (Ve haff experts.) But I think it's instructive to try to set aside received hierarchies of status and received assumptions about value once in a while, just as a mental exercise; and in that sense I'd say John Crowley's photograph is better and worth more than either the Kelly or the Rothko, as outrageous and contrary as such a claim might be. (At least when all three are democratized to small JPEGs—Rothkos have real presence in person that almost no photograph can match. You can't make a one-of-a-kind photograph, even if you do.) It's just that there's a certain rot in modern art's addiction to color for its own sake. Yeah, yeah, blue and yellow are opposites, wow, and putting them next to each other strikes a certain emotional chord down in the lizard-brain, the amygdala down by the brain stem. We geddit. The Crowley has blue and yellow too, but does more with it, plays with it more, certainly than that simplistic thought-free Kelly print. It gives you a real sense of place and light, and isn't even less lovely.

I've no doubt that most people are going to love the next Baker's Dozen. The submission count is up to 205, approximately. That's going to make it a whole lot easier to edit than the black-and-white set was!

Although I don't think I've received one single "bad" photograph yet.

Mike

P.S. Here's a great photo of Ellsworth Kelly by Sebastian Kim. (Heh.)

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scott kirkpatrick: "That's a powerful Ellsworth Kelly picture. It didn't need color."

Ellsworth Kelly, Yellow over Dark Blue, 1964–5 (original in color)

Tex Andrews: "I kinda felt the same way about Kelly (although I loved his drawings), until I saw a works on paper show of his at the National Gallery sometime back in the late '80s or early '90s. It was revelatory—and he was doing it in the '40s, which surprised the heck out of me. I've thought a lot more of him since. That said, I can see why you seem...'suspicious'? But there really is a zen to his work. The challenge to the viewer is sort of seeing beyond that first smack of color."

Eolake: "Funny, I had the opposite reaction to the two paintings. I love the Ellsworth Kelly one, it really moves me. But of course art is subjective, and the more abstract it is, the more subjective it is, surely."

Mark: "Here’s a true story. Husband and wife buy a Rothko painting many years ago and loan it to a museum. I won’t identify it precisely as I was an ancillary part of the litigation later surrounding it. Husband takes ill and dies. Widow discovers soon thereafter their liquid cash for living was nowhere near what she thought it was and needed money. Gets the Rothko back from the museum to sell. But being embarrassed about her financial position, does this on the QT. She’s advised auction will bring the best return, but she just can’t allow her high society friends to know she’s in difficult straits requiring this sale. So she contacts the art dealer they originally bought it from. He finds a buyer who signs a non-disclosure agreement and an agreement not to resell, all of which is probably not worth the paper it’s printed on, so it turned out. He paid her $9 million for it. Within a year or two he places it up for auction and it sells for $29 million. She then sues the art dealer and the buyer/seller. That was my intro to Rothko, never having heard or seen anything of his before. The photo you display above is much nicer. The fact anyone feels a square or rectangle or two can possibly be worth that kind of dough boggles my simple mind."

Mike relies: What happened with the suit? Seems to me like it was her own fault; she could have put it up for auction herself. It was her own desire to keep it quiet that cost her the extra $20 million. If you want the best price for something, you have to make the product available to the greatest number of potential buyers. Or was she just angry that by having it put up for auction, her own financial position was advertised to her social connections, despite her intentions?

As for the agreement not to resell, I think it's difficult to a.) control events from beyond the grave, b.) control events past your own ownership. I have an acquaintance, a childhood friend who is very wealthy, who bought a large farm property north of Milwaukee on which to build a house and use as a private estate. The farmer had been having a bitter battle as he wished to keep the land out of the grasp of developers. She apparently made him some assurance that she would not resell the land for some period of time—under what exact conditions I do not know; or else he just assumed she would not. I don't know the details. She then found a nicer piece of property not far away, bought that, and sold the first. The farmer was apoplectic. My feeling at the time is, if he wanted to control the land, he shouldn't have sold it. Once it belongs to someone else, he and his demands are out of the picture.

Robin Dreyer: "Although I love representational art as much as anyone (I'm a photographer, after all), it was a room full of Rothkos at the National Gallery that produced one of the strongest emotional responses I've ever had in the presence of art. No JPEG on a screen or even a well-printed image in a large-format book can reproduce the effect of being in the presence of those paintings—especially if they are arranged and lit as well as the were in that room."

Mike replies: I'll second that. I find Rothko's best work very moving in person, almost ineffably so.

William Langford: "To me Art is never a thing hanging on a wall. Art is what happens between the thing and the viewer. As seen in reproductions a Rothko painting is not very interesting. The real thing, seen under the prescribed lighting, with limited seating, and cordoned off for a personal experience...now that is when Art can happen."

Mike replies: I agree with that, but for devil's advocacy, there is John Berger's Marxist critique of the "aura" of the original object in his four-part documentary "Ways of Seeing." "If Sister Wendy Beckett is the kindly grandmother who takes you by the hand, and leads you, beatifically, through the wonders of art history," writes Carolina A. Miranda, "John Berger was the hippie-Marxist uncle who gave you the red pill and told you it was all a mirage." ("Art's red pill: An appreciation of critic John Berger," L.A. Times, Jan. 5, 2017.)

Deadline for "It Must Be Color"

...Is tomorrow (Tuesday) night at midnight. I've gotten enough submissions for a great feature and then some, so it just seems greedy to keep soliciting more. I sure have been enjoying seeing all of them, though. A lot of enjoyable, wonderful and interesting shots.

In other news, I just got a chance to play some pool! And hot diggety, did I ever have fun. I was the baby of the group by a long way—the guy who won, Loyle, is 89 years old, and the guy who came in second, Norm, is 93 and a WWII vet. Great bunch of guys, and collectively they made me feel just fine about the prospects of old age. The next-youngest, Jerry, is fifteen years my senior and could pass for my age. Freemont used his walker to get to the table and sank some fine shots. I think most if not all of them are veterans, and we played "pea pool" (also called kelly pool) on a Dynamo coin-op 7-footer at the local Moose Lodge, and how much more American can you get? (Aw, I should have taken a group portrait. Didn't think of it till just now.) All I can say for myself is that I didn't embarrass myself, which was good. I got invited back, even.

I had a great time. First time I've touched a pool cue in more than three years. I really miss it.

Keep those cards and letters coming, till tomorrow night.

Mike

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New Baker's Dozen Call For Work: It Must Be Color!

That was fun. The "Baker's Dozen" posts featuring readers' pictures have been rewarding. I posted the results from the B&W challenge on Friday. (That's the post below this.)

The next one is suggested by Jan Kwarnmark of Sweden, who sent me a JPEG of the picture he considers his "one in a million" shot. It's outstanding, and hopefully you'll see it eventually. But it occurred to me that Jan's picture must be in color. It couldn't be B&W; robbing it of its color would ruin it. Well, not "ruin" it—it might also still work in B&W, sort of—but the color adds a key element that it would be a shame not to have in the picture.

With that, we have the idea for this next Baker's Dozen feature: a picture that must be in color. That is, a great shot that you think works because of its color, and would just not be as good if it were converted to B&W.

This might be something it would be meaningful to discuss. It might require some thought.

The blue-footed booby must be in color!
Photo by David Brown of Saratoga, California

How to Submit

This is a call for your own work, and you must own the rights to it, so please don't send me anything but that.

To submit, use the subject line:

BDmustbecolor

Just like that...no spaces, spelled exactly like that, no variations. The reason is that when I begin building the post, I will search my email stack (which is humongous!) for that phrase as the subject, and if your email doesn't come up, then I won't see your picture. Pay attention to this, as each time I specify this I do get submissions that don't have the proper header. Those inevitably get lost.

I'll announce the deadline when we get near it, but it's at least two weeks from now, so you have some time. No promises when the results will appear...I learned from the last one that these features just take a serious ton of time to build, so it'll get done when it gets done. There's only one little man behind the curtain.

Email ONE (1) JPEG, 800 pixels wide, saved in sRGB. Include in the email your name, where you live (people keep forgetting that), any technical details you care to share, your website URL if you want me to publish it, and whatever you want to tell other TOP readers about your picture.

My email address is mcjohn ston a t macd ot com. Replace the "at" and the "dot" with the proper symbols and get rid of the spaces. The modest attempt at disguising my address is because I already get slammed with spam.

Hope this isn't too subtle a challenge!

Jan Kwarnmark's picture will be the first in the portfolio. So there are 12 spots left (a "baker's dozen" means 13). Give it a try, and let's have fun!

Mike

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Herman Krieger: "Color is for the birds; as well as for flowers, sunsets, and medical problems."

Kurt Kramer: "The B&W were so good. I am going to enter and cannot wait to see the color selections."