Gallery Picks

	Fushimi Inari Shrine Josh Bulriss A portion of this famous shrine in Japan is wonderfully captured in this well-exposed photograph with great depth of field. Having the entire scene in focus allows the viewer's eye to be led through the entrance Torri (gates) in anticipation of seeing the shrine itself around the gentle bend of the walkway. Josh picked the right moment when shafts of sunlight come through the narrow openings and create even more visual depth with highlights and shadows. The sunlight causes the orange vertical posts of the Torri to glow as though on fire, and Josh's exposure captured that glow perfectly.
	A Winter Meander Tom Dwyer   In his print titled A Winter Meander, Tom Dwyer combines great composition and soft light to produce an elegantly subtle image. The open water meander in the creek is perfectly placed to provide a complete "S" curve that leads the viewer from the back of the image initially to the right, then back to the left and then finally flows to the bottom right of the image. The fact that the darker open water never quite leaves the image produces an interesting border for the meander. What appears to be a gentle snowfall gives a feeling of depth as it causes increasing softness as the viewer looks deeper into the image.  The foreground trees on the left pop forward due to their sharpness thus enhancing the feeling of depth.  The trees also provide balance and interesting contrast. Photographers often darken the corners of their images to help direct attention towards the inside of the print. Tom creatively uses a white vignetting to accomplish the same effect.
	Unnatural Phenomenon Andrew Jurman As Andrew says in his artist statement, these photographs are different than the wonderful color images that Andrew has displayed in the past at the gallery. Andrew uses classical techniques such as KODALITH film to produce these images in a non-digital process. This photograph has a strong link to the work of the surrealist artist Escher. Unlike many images, which allow the viewer to immediately understand the subject matter, this photograph requires the viewer to spend time both admiring the overall composition and focusing on the amazing complexity of the sub–images contained therein. The complete image is both symmetrical and asymmetrical. The longer one looks at this photograph the more detail is noticed and the viewer is challenged to understand what the artist is displaying. Having this excellent photograph on your wall would provide a challenging and enjoyable visual experience.
	Mating Herd Joel Krenis   This striking black and white photograph combines the realism of a herd of elephants in Zimbabwe along with a very strong surrealistic feel  for the viewer. The juxtaposition of both the large elephants and the babies further impacts the composition. Joel controls both contrast and exposure to show off the beauty of black and white photographs. He also demonstrate his skill in working with a great image and making it better through strong post-process techniques.  Waiting for the critical moment to take the picture places the elephants in the proper position against the massive tree, which anchors the sky and produces an image that contains three planes of interest; the foreground, the mid-ground and the background.  The barrenness of both the ground that the elephants are walking on as well as the lack of leaves in the tree in the mid-ground work effectively with the dramatic shapes of the elephant herd to make this an outstanding photograph.
	Pristine Among Rubble Lou Ryen Coastal fishing leaves a lot of unattractive artifacts in harbors and bays but a photographer with a keen eye can find beauty there. Lou noticed a nicely maintained pleasure craft docked near the well-worn lobster traps, discarded buoys, and crumbling rocks and rusty steel of a decaying parking structure. This wonderful image is perfectly exposed and focused on the boat and its reflection. One famous photographer's favorite expression is “The name of the game is to fill the frame,” and this photograph demonstrates that concept with barely an inch to spare in any direction, yet all the boat is visible as well as the clutter and debris in the background.
	Moonrise Over Death Valley    Dave Valvo Using light artistically, Dave Valvo has produced four superb B&W images for Image City's Holiday Show. The detail in the highlights of each of these images is delicately maintained while the deep shadowed areas are allowed to go jet black.  This produces great contrast and dramatic images.  The specific image that is receiving a Gallery Pick for excellence is Moonrise Over Death Valley.  This print is reminiscent of some of Ansel Adam's images, particularly his Moonrise over Hernandez.  There is good detail in Dave's moon and also in most areas of the mountains and sand dunes. The deep shadowed areas are allowed to go jet black while the highlights are delicately lit with no loss of detail. The resulting contrast is dramatic.  Mystery is introduced by the human foot prints initially going up together on the sand dune and then suddenly separating before individually completing their climb to the top of the dune.  Moon glow on the surface of the sand and mountains attractively fills the image, gives texture, and provides a feeling of depth.