All images copyright by the individual photographers

Gallery Partners' Picks
	Lavaland 2 by Ryan Beattie This is a well-composed image with the background ironically foreshadowing what may be the accumulated effect of the encroaching molten lava on the sea. Ryan Beattie is an avid outdoorsman and uses this exhibit to share his distinctive landscapes. Lavaland 2 is particularly remarkable because it shares the qualities of being both harsh and soft at the same time. The diagonal fingers of the lava jut out into the sea, creating differing layers of texture, each a reverse image of the mountain range in the background. The sea with its continual surge is typically the abrasive agent of rock and beach, yet here is a frothing cauldron angry at the intrusion of the hot molten lava. In fact, the rock may or may not be hot at this point, but it doesn’t matter. Employing his technical expertise, Ryan utilizes a long exposure to create an undulating ocean with imagined steam where the spray would appear with a shorter exposure setting. In this expertly controlled image, Ryan takes us back to the formation of land caused by molten lava rising from within the earth. It is also a forward looking image to a constantly evolving landscape.
	Bare Hill Trees #18 by Steve Copeland Steve offers us a new look at traditional landscapes. This set of images of trees from Bare Hill is a cohesive collection that accomplishes exactly what Steve was attempting to do; remove detail of a familiar subject so that only lines, shape, color, and balance become the most important elements. Steve goes further stating that he wanted to “…capture the feelings and emotions I experienced while thoroughly enjoying the beauty of the trees.” Since photography is a visual art, the other part of the equation is whether the images produce a similar emotional response from those that view the image. Bare Hill Trees #18 does that for me. I was not in the woods with Steve when he made this image, but I honestly get an emotional response looking at this particular image. It’s as if the abstract interpretation created by Steve’s photographic method allows me to be part of the forest rather than be someone looking at the forest. Quite ingenious and a very successful approach. Congratulations on a wonderful set of images.
	Luminous Decay 2 by Kamil Kozan Photographers sometimes talk about going beyond just “looking” to a higher level of actually “seeing” when pursuing interesting subject matter to photograph. Kamil Kozan accomplishes this upward transition to “seeing” in his photographing of flowing water over colorful leaves. In so doing, Kamil has creatively produced a wonderful portfolio of impressionistic abstract photographs. While most photographers bracket their exposures, Kamil’s subject matter of flowing water over leaves requires him to also bracket shutter speeds and to even bracket depth of field. The contrasting of sharp, semi soft, and very soft focused portions of images is vital in producing these kinds of high quality abstracts. While several of Kamil’s photographs are worthy of an Image City Gallery Pick, we have selected his Luminous Decay – 2 to receive this award. In this image there is an aesthetic balance of three colors; white, gold, and orange. The use of the vertical format contributes impact for the three colors and the areas of sharpness and softness within the image blend particularly well. The beauty of naturally flowing water over colorful leaves is artfully communicated in all of Kamil’s images.
	Phaseolus coccineus (Scarlet Runner Bean) by Susan C. Larkin One of the components of an excellent photograph is often something termed "gesture". Most of the time this is applied to photographs of people; however inanimate things can also show gesture. Obviously inanimate objects need to show gesture in a different way. Susan's photographs of desiccated parts of plants, using a wonderful series of macro photography techniques, display this concept of gesture in an excellent way. Scarlet Runner Bean lets the eye move along with the curls in the beans leaf forming a closed loop. To say more about Susan's technique, she uses her macro photography skills in a way that produces images that show the object in total focus from the front to the back, not an easy task! Setting these photographs against a black background allows the observer to focus solely on the subject of the photograph, the fascinating shapes and the wide variety of tones that are displayed. Scarlet Runner Bean as well as the rest of the photos in this portfolio go way beyond simply taking a "grab" photograph of something that looks interesting. The photographs are beautifully lit, displaying the beautiful textures of the objects along with the strong compositional skills of the photographer. These images transcend simply being documentation of parts of plants, which make these photographs something that one would love to have hanging on the wall in their home, possibly as a grouping of several.
	"apricots, cherries and plums for Utrecht" by Adam Lenio Adam’s photos are a montage of a trip to Turkey that he took with his family in part to visit his wife’s relatives. apricots, cherries and plums for Utrecht is a distinctly different photo from the others; a photo of a still life that might well have been painted by one of the Dutch masters. Taken in late morning or early afternoon the natural light casts sharp shadows and boldly emphasizes the highly reflective fruit. Adam skillfully manages the bright light reflecting off the white bowl and tablecloth and the skin of the fruit to create a pleasing and realistic photo in such a fashion that one can almost taste the fruit. Adam deliberately portrays the fruit with side lighting that assists our eye to view the depth of the photo even though it is in two dimensions. The sharp black background further defines the roundness of the fruit and again helps in giving depth to the image. Adam also places the fruit so the light is to the left, so as our eyes “read” the photo from left to right, which is our usual way that we view the world. Unable to communicate in Turkish, Adam used his many photographs while in Turkey to communicate with the people and show his understanding of their culture. Thankfully, he is also communicating with us about what he learned while in Turkey with his family. It is striking that Adam chose this picture to include in his exhibition. The other photos are clearly from a different region of the world from ours here in Rochester; the people dress differently, the urban scenes look distinctive and the landscape is diverse. Yet the bowl of fruit could be from anywhere. Adam gives us a clue in his bio when he describes the Turkish people as having an innate ability to exploit opportunities. One is reminded that Turkey sits at the nexus of trade routes between Europe and Asia and still serves as the transit point for trade in that part of the world. In fact the fruit that Adam depicts may have been similar to the fruit that was transported over this crossroad during the Renaissance and was utilized by the Dutch masters in or near Utrecht.
	Aurora Canyon by Scott Matyjaszek Scott Matyjaszek has created an absolutely stunning image by skillfully combining two imaging processes. One of these is a photographic image of geese flying over what appears to be a calm body of water. The reflection of these flying birds might be part of the original photographic capture or it may have been created by duplicating and then adding an inversion of the original image. The direction of movement of the birds from the left edge of the image towards the center of the picture leads the viewer into the overall image. The arrow like formation of flying and reflected geese further directs this movement. The second and more dominating portion of this image is the magical formation that becomes the environment into which the birds are flying. Scott created this mystical Disney-like scene digitally. The exquisite lighting in the scene using bright gold and different shades of warm colors adds to the beauty and alluring quality of the overall scene. The circular patterns of structures within the image produce interesting focal points for the viewer. Scott’s title of Aurora Canyon is very appropriate as it describes the feeling of a luminous atmosphere his image so beautifully communicates.