As some of you know... I'm not a purist. Images straight from the camera are seldom good enough as is. What *I* see and what the camera sees aren't quite the same thing at all! I did my usual lying-on-the-floor-under-the-statue to get these. The guard was amused by my attempts to get a decent vantage point, and we later had a nice chat about climbing in the Yosemite. (Really, there is a logical train of thought between them!) The stupid pot plants around the base have to go, and the columns need straightening, among other things. But before I choose which one of these to clean up and play with... which is the better starting point? This is the outside view, with nice lighting over the surface of the bronze....

...and this is the view from inside, with a nice clean silhouette. Usually I'd go for the silhouette (I favor line over color), but this statue is very tactile. Opinions, please! Carolly

A very nice statue ! I prefered the first one, for the light and the details, and also for the reflection of the light on the statue. Maybe it will be more "net" using the levels and the contrast. I like the soft atmosphere arround the statue. The second one have a very lovely silhouette, that's right, but not so impressive. But it's a personnal opinion ;o)))) Have a nice sunday.

i do prefer the the surface sheen of the first.. maybe you can incorporate both in a composite

Honestly I think the top is a tourist type shot, but the lower one in silouette is really artistic. I catches the eye and makes me look longer.

like the top on for the same reasons as cindy plus its more symetrical, even tho top pelmet may need straightening abit...and maybe cropping the right side to balance the left.. Bottom one really has that mythology artistic feel.. mmmmmm maybe combined the two...(((even tho l dont have a clue how there.. ))) lovely statue

I bet that at Christmas, they put pots of poinsettias around her and holiday lights wrapped up the columns! The statue is lovely, and even the architecture isn't too bad, but the placement is undesireable. (I really was on the floor trying to see around the leaves.) A statue aiming for the sky needs some sky around it. A similar statue of Diana down in San Diego is outside in a spaciaous plaza, and I could lie under it and get a shot along her bow arm without too much problem. If I can find that slide, I'll try to scan it. This one is from the Huntington Gardens/Museum and the collector had fairly good taste, but the placement in many cases is piss-poor. Most of the statuary is of hunters or hunted, but they are stuck under trees or against conflicting backgrounds. This might be typical of his era: wealth amassed and displayed all jumbled together willy-nilly. I'd rather have one really nice statue (such as this one) and have it carefully positioned... like the way a Japanese gardener will bring a distant mountain or the echo of water to improve and augment a simple rock. :sigh: Carolly

Carolly is a fantastic statue..so love mythology and diana makes a perfect composition to study, love the architecture .. whiteness of the stone, think this place is well worth further investigation..studying it in different shade of light atmosphere and conditions. angles.. wish l lived nearer something like this....:)..:)) thanks for the back ground info.. also Nikki