I have fallen behind and it’s been weeks since I posted What I Like. Just to catch up a bit, I am going to post short explanations and more pictures.

I like Degas’d by Grazia Horowitz. Why? The desaturated subtlety gives it an air of fragility that suits the tentative pose, the cocked shoulder, inward-turning feet, the air of uncertainty and delicacy.

I like Hands Away by ROQUAI Poses. It is intriguing and prompts questions. It makes me want to know more. It’s bold and dares to withhold.

I like Patankar and Family Dreams by John Pearl. I like the way the lines lead our eyes to the intersection that is so perfectly placed. The water is pure magic and I had to check to be sure this was really Second Life. It’s beautiful.

I like COMING SOON! Pin Up, You Got the Look, KULA, and RAIGN at SCALA™ Yin Yang Event by PetraLAlexander-Valerian™ I like the deliberately limited colors, the red, white, and black, the  way the picture is frame and the way the picture challenges us by being on its side. This emphasizes the angles in the pose and the frame in a way we might not see vertically.

I like 00500 by Angelica Song. It’s perfectly composed with exquisite details that tell a story. She changed her foot position to look like she’s standing on her toes in her flip flops, she has the hat flying off her head thanks to the fan which is also blowing her braids all over. The bus and yellows that dominate the color palette are complementary and of course, together make green the other dominant color.

I like Simply Perfect by Frederic LePlay. Using layers of pictures of the same couple, blurring, and light overlays, he creates that dizzying feeling of dancing with someone you love, so absorbed in each other that though the dance floor is crowded with people, you only see each other. IF someone bumps in to you, it is you. You’re alone in a multitude.

I like Emotional Rush by Kartika, the Pleiades. This is an emotional rush. The blur creates a sense of motion as does the narrowing lines of the hallway and the lighting. She is running and at an angle, her arms splayed, her mouth agape, all suggesting fear. She’s running from right to left which because we read from left to right is more suggestive of struggle and difficulty. She is running from something not toward someone.

I like June by Tsubasa. No professional wedding photographer could do better. The light, the depth of field blurring the flowers, the interesting angle, the sheer romance. It’s all a blushing bride could ever ask for.

I like T.N.T. for the Brain by Gabriel. Generally speaking, the outer fifths of a picture are for borders, frames with in the frame, some trees maybe, things that add foreground or background, but not for the subject. However, putting the subject all the way to the edge and leaving eighty percent of the picture this textured, distressed background works to create a sense of waiting menace. The subject is patient, a predator, and we are waiting to see what comes into his field of control.

I like Black| New Naminoke by KataT0nik Pidgeon. This reminds me of a set of illustrations I used to have of fairies for the seasons. This would be a fairy of the moonlight and midnight with her umbrella of night-blooming cereus.

I like Fade Into You by Cindering Blocks. This is an example of the “Beholder’s Share” the pictures that are incomplete until you look at it and become part of the story. She is looking at you, reaching out to you, you are as much part of the story as she is. The picture relies on external coherence, the participation of the viewer. Our ability to do this, our theory of mind that allows us to become part of an image, to imagine what someone else is thinking and feeling is part of what makes us human. As Sefir Zeki said, “Animals are conscious, but only man is conscious of being conscious.”

I like Gates of Melancholy by Wurfi. He intended to evoke Wyeth and he does, even in black and white. The photo is composed beautifully, the horizon following the rule of thirds, the roof and the attic window placed by the golden ratio. It is the lighting though, the dark shadows and that flash of bright white on the small shed wall that give this such power.

I like My Baby by Marceellla. How cute can you get? It tells a story, the composition is darling, a frame created within the frame by carrots.

I like Buddha and Meico by Meico Latte. Can you think of a better way to use a pile of balloons? There is a lot of geometry going on in this picture and our minds love geometry. Look for all the angles and circles, you could get lost in this picture.

I like Real Eyes…Realize…Real Lies by Catalina Cat. Light is so much part of this picture, it’s almost a second subject. It reinforces the frame created by the white canvass. This is another picture rich in angles and ideas. The blue and the yellow, shadow and light. Secrets and sunshine.

I like Play Time by Trixie Cliassi. I like pictures that tell a story and this does that. The picture follows the rule of thirds and she is running into the frame – giving her room to move. Also, because Gidge ran in the Peachtree Road Race, a 10K run, today, this is in her honor.

I like FFS by Marie Pearson. If you have never felt like this, congratulations. For the rest of us, this picture evokes such powerful emotional recognition that we cannot help but identify with the subject.

I like 光 by Nattie. The lighting is exquisite. The pose, the angles, everything just makes this so real, and so unstudied.