Shine on! Great shot, Clive

Super pictuer.

Wonderful BW photo and true words.

This high-key black and white really sets the tone for the wise words you have written. And yes, I fully agree with your sentiments so aptly expressed. It is wonderful to be truly alive! I am there:)

Fantastic image and splendid words!

Outstanding work Carin.

WOW! What a gorgeous and almost dreamy shot. It matches your words perfectly because you have put your finger rather delicately on the meaning of life. It's passion, the ability to embrace that which you know is appropriate to yourself, even if it means wearing lipstick that others disapprove of. Or something like that. The only thing I know about wearing ugly lipstick though is how it looks on other people, though once (in my Goth period) I wore black lipstick that I'd enhanced with my own concoction of vaseline and mascara with a touch of olive eye shadow, as a binder and drying agent...that way I had black lipstick that never came off when I impressively drank gin and tonic or vodka blushes, while smoking clove cigarettes in an underground bar playing Souxie and the Banshees at a zillion decibels. As for the shot, I love the moody monochrome and the faint hints of fuzz in the background. Excellent DOF, and wonderful splashes of light. This is really great work!

This is a beautiful image, Dierbaar, and your words fit it perfectly. It's so true ... life is meant to be lived, and the things we're passionate about should be our guiding lights. Ek mis jou! Druke ... :X:X

And life is worth living to it's fullest. Beautiful B&W photo and very nice use of existing lighting. Dana

Really excellent work!

great comments, I can't wax on about lipsticks and clove cigarettes (chip's comments are as good as his uploads!), or speak to you in Afrikaans, but I love the shot, and I realize what a wonderful artist you are not only with the camera but with (I assume) the digital darkroom. Maybe it's all done in the camera, I don't know (I have a point & shoot & it doesn't have the options that the higher end cameras have): But I assume you're also a fine artist in postwork; and I say 'darkroom' for a reason: Because the great film artists weren't going for effects as much as drawing-out & enhancing what was deeply embedded in the photo; drawing a deep 'music' out of it through the tedious process of making the print, overlaying, balancing, etc etc. And your postwork (which I assume you do) has that slow, careful deep eye in it. You're wonderful at it, a true artist. People call this a b&w, but of course it's a blueish-green; and a beautiful & subtle tint. There's an art in just finding a hue, because a single hue can express a whole state of mind. And then, you have wonderful contrast between the detail on the glass, and the faded, overlayed leaves. You've made a background out of what photography naturally does with background: focus & lack of it, light dissolving edges, natural layers achieved by light winnowing through one object after the next...It's beautifully done, and very suited to your words. What's even nicer is that a lantern is a source of light, but the light, here, comes from around it too---esp with that big flare on the side---and that means that when we live life, it gives back in kind. A nice blue 'sheath' in the lower half too. Really fine choices. More fine work from you, Carin. I've been gone for weeks & there's no way I can catch up on everything, but I can at least get to a few. Wonderful to be back in your gallery once more. You're a very thoughtful photographer, and this is simply typical of what you do.