Without making promises about frequency or regularity, WHAT I LIKE is back.
Gothic Queen by Mononoke
I like this head shot by Tarja Haven called Gothic Queen. It’s a great use of shadow and darkness to create a mood and highlight her face. The angle she holds her head makes the shot more intriguing and the way the sunglasses fade into the shadow adds mystery and intrigue.
3445 by Tamary
I love how this picture from tᾳḿἀṙỵ+++ tells a story of sight-seeing in the city. The composition is intriguing because he is blurred. The focal point is her and depth of field makes that clear. If we didn’t already know she was the focal point, we could tell because the cat and the man are looking at her. She’s also placed by the rule of thirds. It’s all about her, but we only catch a bit of her, the cropping, though deliberate, suggests a snap capturing a fleeting moment, not the painstaking posing that goes into composing a screenshot so perfectly executed as this.
Frenzy by Säaήɟɦ яαsнmï
I like this picture by Säaήɟɦ яαsнmï. э because it made me laugh. It telling us a story of paparazzi and a celebrity trying to hide her face, get out of there quickly, and a child loving the attention. That pose is delightful and just cracks me up. The paparazzi are mostly cropped, only enough showing to tell the story. The focus is on the woman and child. I think it could have been a bit more dramatic if cropped just a bit on the left, but it is still a powerful photo.
City Lights I by Melusina Parkin
Among my favorite Second Life® artists, Melusina Parkin shoots collections focusing on one particular thing, benches, doors, shadows, or in this case, City Lights. Her work is always illuminating and graphically powerful. Check out her photostream to see how sometimes you really can see the world in a grain of sand.
Loki by Magda Schmidtzau
I love the boldness of this picture by Magda Schmidtzau. The rich colors, the dark shadows, the bright white. I look at it and think that if Tamara de Lempicka painted the future instead of the Jazz Age, it would be something like this.
Honorable Mention for a couple photos that do not allow sharing:
- She Could Spit in the Eyes of Fools by Mavi Beck. I am a sucker for Bowie.
- Untitled by Mich Michabo. It evokes loneliness, but loneliness without despair.
What are some pictures you like? Why do some pictures grab your attention?
I am SO pleased this feature is back! You have the knack of finding such gems.
And this collection is superb! ,,,,,,,,,I’m looking forward to finding new people to stalk on Flickr 🙂
ℬou
Thank you! The problem will be winnowing the multitudes of excellent pictures down to a manageable few.
I know what you mean on this. The bar has risen higher and higher every year! Thanks so much, especially for sharing Magda’s work. You hit it right on when you said she’s reminiscent of Lempicka. I’ve started following her, and I think she’ll be my next Contact Sheet feature, after I get past a necessary article of my own.
I look forward to your feature. I had a hard time choosing just one of Magda’s photos.
Happy and honored to be here, among so clever and intriguing photographer of SL and at the new start of your amazing column!