Be sure to check out this column’s Gallery on Flickr. There are stunning pictures there; many who deserve very much to be highlighted in this column. Highlighting five is arbitrary, i know, but it is important that I set a limit or I could lose days writing each column. For me, this time, color seemed to be a recurring element in those I chose to highlight.
You desired my attention by paperfairy (나나)
The idea for this column, or more accurately for its precursor What I Like at Shopping Cart Disco, came from the daily plurks of a former SL resident who left several years ago. Each day she would do a WTF plurk and share her critiques of SL photos. Sometimes feelings were hurt and she defended her plurks and advice to help people take better photos. It seemed to me that you could achieve the same ends by highlighting what people did right instead of focusing on what people did wrong. Why do I mention this?
One of her big complaints was people who shot pictures with backgrounds in a similar color to their clothing. She hated to see clothing disappear into the background. Well,, here is a photo from 나나 that proves that rather than disappearing, the similarity between background and dress intensifies our focus. After all, if we look closely, the skirt is clearly delineated. It is there, but we have to stop, focus and look for it. I love this picture. The subject is well off center, which makes for a more dynamic feeling. The close crop that requires us to interact with the picture, completing it in our minds also intensifies our attention. The bright scarlet red says STOP and demands we look. Everything about this picture says look at me and she knows it – hence the ironic title of the picture. Continue reading
Leonorah Beverly gives us action and a wonderful use of perspective with that snowball heading right for us or for the camera. Notice how the snowball is placed at the sweet spot of the Golden Ratio. I love this picture for its story-telling and its fabulous attention to details of composition. I have to say, that snowball looks like it could hurt. Duck! 
Candela Kira’s Kayako is inspired by Kayako Saeki from the movie Ju-On and The Grudge. I have not seen either one, but I assume they are terrifying as is this wonderfully scary picture. There is a lot of artistry at work making this such a scary picture. As you can see, she used the Rule of Thirds to put the focus on that outstretched hand. By centering her subject in the long hallway, the natural lines of the architecture create sight lines leading to her subject. She also used any eye control HUD to cross her eyes, giving them a spooky intensity. I don’t know if that hand is available in SL or a morph, but if it is a morph, it is the most successful one I have seen. It is out of focus, making its reach for you even more frightening because it adds depth and motion. This is a great photo that does exactly what she wants it to do. I was startled when it came on my stream – a small jolt of fear. What more can you ask for? 
Vaki Zenovka appropriately named her homage to 
Deborah Lombardo’s Visitor is such a dramatic and powerful picture it took my breath away. The black and white with that solid saturated red is dramatic in and of itself, but then look at the subject. That is spooky! The angle makes the subject even more spooky, towering over us as she is. And if you want to talk triangles, this picture is almost all triangles. She also framed the subject so skirt is two-thirds and the cloak is one-third at the bottom, employing the rule of thirds with subtlety.
The picture also forms geometric shapes such as the rectangles of the upper banks, the river and the lower bank. but the most striking the triangle formed by the clusters of red flowers in the corners as illustrated here.