very very good

Indeed yes! Perfect for an extremely special person!

Its wonderful.. and also a very nice dedi :)

If it isnt art, finding and photographing such a wonderful and also very strange scenery, I dont know what is. Mark, It is a fantastic and very beautiful dedication to a brilliant artist with a beautiful soul.

A truly beautiful & original urban fantasy. I've been to Chicago a few times (many years ago) & enjoyed the city very much, but I've never seen it from this point of view. The contrast between foreground & background has a surreal quality to it, though the same soft pink & orange light pervades both & unifies them seamlessly. And those puffy clouds & pastel sky look like something out of a fairy tale. Fantastic work & certainly a piece of photographic art...

This really does have a fantasy quality to it, like castles in the distance, or perhaps Emerald City, only with a rosy glow, as if the city were illuminating light and hope. Such a great shot and perspective, it was worth getting a little sandy. And a very lovely dedi to Martin.

Mark, first of all allow me to say I very much enjoyed this beautiful birthday dedication for your friend. More than anything I was moved by the thoughtful​ness that went into this dedication​. Thank you so much for sharing your kind thoughts toward your friend, as well as the story behind this photo. You obviously possess a great love for your city of Chicago, and that's what makes this choice of images for the dedication all the more special. May God watch and care for you so that you may recover and be able to produce your lovely art once more.

Mark, first things first. I am still not getting notis when you post. I don't quite know how to even remedy this. But, I'll have to work on it. I am so behind in comments, I don't even pretend that it's possible for me to catch up anymore.:( What a beauty this is..both the image and the thoughts. Of course, why should I expect anything else from you, when I already know better on both counts? Okay, rhetorical question...obviously. Look at these living things sprouting from the sand. From sand. The grasses, plant, but those little white blossoms, so resilient and persistent looking. I think I like this best of all, despite how lovely the rest of the view. And the rest IS lovely, of course. It looks like the city is rising from dunes...almost surrrealistic. Hmm..so tell me..is it a bad thing that I'd like to take a giant bite of these pink cotton candy colored clouds overhead? If you manage to get some of that puffy cloud stuff on a stick for me, you'll let me know, right? Beautiful image, Mark....a beautiful gift from a beautiful soul to a beautiful soul. I'm honored and humbled to know you both. :)

Oi, Mark! This image is sooo Beautiful :)!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Martin, i wish you, all the best, in this year, ahead of you:) Mark, this photo, it is one of my prefered of yours, due the atmosphere that you created here. Yes, it feels like a fairytale…you played with your city doing a 'pass of magic' and she became an ‘oasis’, coming out from the ‘desert’ and giving us a dreamy and luminous view! moreso, the giant dark building, appears like a 'guardian' in the midst of all this soft and silent beauty! And I think that this image fits Martin perfectly, this, to me..and i also think that he will enjoy this image very much, due the ‘invention’ and the fantasy that you put there , because art is invention and fantasy…even, if coming from hard realities! And Martin does this, in his drawings. His art is wonderful and i feel it like a journey too! we can feel the dreams, the humanism, the depth and the conceptual there, also can be joyful, but always touching.... I agree fully with your words Mark! and they are filled with love as always you do! It is the most beautiful gift and a heartfelt dedication from a great artist to another. Happy Birthday dear Martin:)

WONDERFUL WORK

Wow! What a wonderful mixture of man and nature--all liberally bathed in that rosy soft light that makes everything magical. Amazing shot, Mark, and very well done. I don't know Martin, but if you care about him he must be an exceptional human being!

Wonderful light and composition :)

A beautiful image, and yet an even more beautiful dedication straight from the heart. Happy Birthday Martin.

Mark this is a wonderful dedi and the image exudes its own kind of magic that makes it truly compelling. It has a strange other worldly feeling a unique image one of a kind. Thanx my friend for the upload and thanx for your sitemail.

mark this is awesome welcome back

marvellous work

happy birthday. this is wonderful shot. do look surreal too.

This is simply stunning---the colors, the perspective, everything about it is beautiful. I don't know Martin, but what a truly wonderful gift to receive! I hope his birthday was a good one!!

Other than the blue sky, this splendid scenic capture of your toddling town is dominated by colors at the red end of the spectrum, Mark. Lots of nice contrast and detail in this pic dedicated to your friend. Sorry I can't add more but I'm far behind in my comments.

Thank you so very much, dear Mark, thank you for the smile and that incredible beautiful view, and last but not least, thanks so much for the thoughts! I'm so late, lately, in so many situations, time is such a confusing thing these days, or, maybe this is another age thing. I love the light in your image, Mark, those clouds grab my eyes right away, but the light down there between grass and sand even looks unreal. Such a beautiful view, I thought, and so fascinating to see how such controversial elements can fit so very well together. I mean those simple geometrical buildings, babies of modernism, with their clinical appearance, side by side with this very natural environment, the color of the sky, those clouds in particular. Fascinating would be an understatement, so much is for sure. Thank you very much for this little break in time and space, dear Mark, thoughts from you are always so very welcome, and I appreciate each of them. I hope you are in a good place, healthy and happy!

I'm so far behind in commenting it's not funny... This is a truly wonderful photograph, Mark, worth every grain of sand in your shirt, up your nostrils, in your shoes (but not in your lens...) I just love the juxtaposition of the organic foreground and that wonderful skyline. And the lighting is breathtaking. Sorry I missed Martin's birthday, but please send him wishes... and use it as an excuse to share another birthday tipple :o)