The Gathering + Repost

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 22, 20111,307 views30 comments

Sorry for not being around so much lately. I have been on the road quite a bit running between one art show to another. I went out this afternoon with my kids to one of our favorite beaches and at first the thoughts of making a photo was out of the question as the coast ws completely fogged in.

But as we walked along in the surf, we started to find the most amazing sea stones. So we started to gather them and put together this arrangement. We worked on this for about an hour, made this photo and two more on the 4x5.

Canon D60, f11, 0.8 seconds at ISO 100 RAW. PS CS3 with several layers and Tony Kuyper's Luminosity Masks and Saturation Masks.

Check the Larger Version.

Whats your favorite rock?

Comments and Critiques welcomed.

Comments

30 comments

Comment posted by Pedro Bento on June 22, 2011 at 5:18 AM

This arrangement works very well, and may work in a nice big print.

Can you see the blue heart stone?

PB

Registered on September 2, 2007, 45 Posts, 761 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Balcken on June 22, 2011 at 8:11 AM

Gorgeous! Looks like an Easter egg basket. This will make a fantastic print.

Registered on November 29, 2009, 48 Posts, 249 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on June 22, 2011 at 8:27 AM

Very nice. That is an incredible collection

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 22, 2011 at 8:48 AM

Incredible colors and shapes - how nice it must have been to come across this treasure. Excellent image IMO.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce Omori on June 22, 2011 at 9:00 AM

Very nice, Youssef. Love that blue heart!

Registered on December 6, 2010, 6 Posts, 175 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ryan on June 22, 2011 at 9:34 AM

Talk about dynamic. What a great scene to come across. The variety of color and shapes is really amazing here and begs to be photographed. Great work!

Registered on June 29, 2008, 85 Posts, 636 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on June 22, 2011 at 9:49 AM

What an amazing array of colored stone Youssef! I esspecially like the addition of sea grass and the blue heart stone.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Pramod Viswanath on June 22, 2011 at 9:57 AM

Fabulous image Youssef. Just love the colors and larger version is a treat to watch for hours.

Registered on December 4, 2008, 60 Posts, 697 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on June 22, 2011 at 10:13 AM

Gorgeous!! Great comp and colors. I bet this will sell nicely at the shows.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on June 22, 2011 at 10:26 AM

The colors here are incredible. So much interesting things to catch your eye.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments

Comment posted by Anders Engström on June 22, 2011 at 11:02 AM

Great image with an impressive number of different colored stones.

//Anders

Registered on September 21, 2010, 21 Posts, 83 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on June 22, 2011 at 11:27 AM

I love this beach Youssef. I was there the other day in the fog trying something similar to this, but didn't come away with anything nearly this good. I could just get lost in this image and stare for hours...lovely arrangement.

Registered on June 23, 2009, 21 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on June 22, 2011 at 7:59 PM

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Bill, my kids and I arranged these rocks, it would have been something to have found these as is, but we arranged them. What did fascinate us greatly was the diversity in the rocks and the amazing rich color we found in them, not to mention the varied shapes and patterns in them.

Jared, What beach do you visit for these kinds of rocks. This one was taken at Ano Nuevo. But I know several beaches that have these kind of rocks.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy Aron on June 22, 2011 at 9:30 PM

Excellent shot. the kind of beach stones I've been hoping to find. Perfect color work.

lucy

Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on June 22, 2011 at 9:38 PM

WOW the large image is something else! Well done, time with your family and a great photo, must have been a very fine day. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Graham on June 22, 2011 at 9:58 PM

Beautiful colors, and a good sense of depth; it looks like you had a great time with the kids

Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Crabbe on June 22, 2011 at 9:59 PM

It looks like a candy jar of variety. Very nicely done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 182 Posts, 1840 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 22, 2011 at 10:21 PM

Fantastic! Love all the different shapes and colors. Very eye-catching.

Maybe the secret to "arranging" things is to have the kids do it. Their seems to be quite a bit of naturalness in their style.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Sarah Marino on June 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM

The colors in this are fantastic! I agree with Tony that the arrangement looks quite natural. I love all of the red and orange rocks, with the teal ones coming in a close second. I would love to have this on my wall, as I could spend quite some time studying it.

Registered on November 10, 2008, 23 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on June 23, 2011 at 5:16 AM

gorgeous treasure trove of stones - what a bunch of fun. when i saw it, i presumed that some of tony's magic must have been cast over it all - indeed!

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 23, 2011 at 4:10 PM

Youssef,

This is an arrangement??? I'd say you and your kids did a fantastic job. I never would have thought of this as arranged had you not said anything. A masterful job. The strands of seaweed/grass add the final, natural touch.

My favorite of course would be the purple heart. Coming in next would be the chocolate marble stones along the top. :-)

I know it was overcast and the colors will be more intense, but my personal taste is that the color and perhaps the contrast too is a bit strong. But minor and of course a personal choice/opinion here. But what a beautiful arrangement Youssef, one of the best of it's kind.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Plant on June 23, 2011 at 6:33 PM

what a beautiful and colorful collection - must've taken you hours to set this one up!

seriously, well seen and perfectly exectued

Registered on July 7, 2008, 271 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on June 23, 2011 at 9:34 PM

What an amazing array of stone and shells, Youssef. The range of colors is astounding. Your arrangement looks quite natural. The 4x5's will look incredible.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on June 23, 2011 at 10:47 PM

I am looking at this for the first time on my calibrated monitor and Oops...I did goof on the contrast and color saturation. I worked this one up on my travel laptop, which I can see needs recalibration. The repost is included

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on June 23, 2011 at 10:48 PM

Yes Vance, I can't wait to see the 4x5's. I hope to have some good size prints made up of this one for the shows.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on June 24, 2011 at 12:51 AM

The repost is wonderful, Youssef. This one is definitely a 'big print' shot. I love that blue heart, but the overall pattern of the stones is entrancing.

Very nicely done!

--P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 24, 2011 at 3:36 AM

Youssef,

I just came across that you posted a rework of the image. OUTSTANDING. That will make one beautiful print. thanks for reposting. Just gorgeous.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Mitch Erwin on June 24, 2011 at 10:54 AM

What a wonderful plethora of colors throughout Youssef!