ADA 60cm Spring 2007 - Page 15 - Aquascaping

Steven_Chong · 04-09-2007, 01:23 PM

Squawkbert-- I will trim to maintain this layout, but I will never take photos of it with the plants very thin. It's not what I'm going for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.ton

the progress of the tank is great and the new look is much more better then the older scape , but i find that there is so many contradictory with what you say in here compared to the other post you've made. Yes, you are paving new road but you've mention "you'll find that we don't belive "beauty is in the eye of the beholder here." We're very adamant about there being varying degrees of excellence in art, to which we aspire."

i find that it completely contradict this statement "Besides which, artists are generally a different breed of people mentally-- very few people have the bravery to break the mold, and self-belief to take the criticism that is unavoidable if one truly is a growing artists who's not a slave to the current styles."

then here's a statement that made me think a lot, espciasiclally after reading this thread. "You make your own style, but people in general, excellence in general, is not decided by you alone."

C. Ton-- I'm afraid I don't see any contradictions.

What is Excellent is built on the opinions of many.

But artists, the people who achieve it, are few. Great artists can also, (sometimes not until they're long dead though) change the opinions of the many.

As a final note, [APC aquascaping forums] does not = [the many], at least imo. To me, [All people] = [The many]. From a statistical perspective, I don't have anything of the funds and means to get really conclusive feedback. The feedback I get from you all is in the form of a non-random, biased sample. Therefore, what's really going on is me making my own decisions. The feedback from others is not to tell me what's right or wrong, what's good or bad, but rather--

it's received on the chance that someone will say something that I personally find useful. Like Pjerrot's comment on the right side of the tank.

Dave-- I agree with you, and I think that statement could apply to many different groups, or rather those who go after excellence in many disciplines. neh?

Steven_Chong · 04-09-2007, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squawkbert

Any newer pics? I'm guessing that some trimming (especially center, left sections) would make a significant improvement over the 4/6 pic (reveal a little more of the DW & rock).

Looking very good overall!

I wasn't planning to show this one because it's the same photoshoot (so not all different) from 4/6, but I wanted a less turbulent water surface. I got close-ups too which I'll try to edit and post sometime.

C.ton · 04-09-2007, 02:47 PM

sigh...i guess i'm the only one to see the contradiction, anyways this thread about about the scape and not philosophy, so we'll get back on topic.

the new, less turbulent picture is more attractive and very calming imo, when i look into this tank i now see a trail on the mountain side with a little creek that trails deep into the forest, meaning that this tank has a sense of dept. in comparison though, i see no resemblance to the scape witch you model this after, witch isn't a bad thing because when i look at the other picture, i see a pieace of land or mound that has different plants growing on it and that's about it but when i look at your tank, there seems to be more detail and the initial feel is much different.

only thing that maybe you could try is trim the moss in a way that it looks more jag-et and less round, that comment was mostly intended for the moss stick that's on the right side of the "trail"

Steven_Chong · 04-09-2007, 04:09 PM

Thanks for the feedback C.Ton

I'll be thinking about what I want to do with this scape. It's past the prime shooting time though (everything's really overgrown now) so it'll be a while before I shoot photos again. I got to trim it back asap.

Squawkbert · 04-10-2007, 06:19 AM

awaiting trim & more photos...

I agree, "thin plants" would not be good here, but a trim would be -
DW has a bit of "knitting needles poked through balls of yarn" look in most recent photos. Some careful trimming in the lower portions might bring it back from "tree" to "trees".
The plant in the rear (right) is almost totally hidden by the right front plant (as is a little too much of the large rock). Just a trim, not a major "thinning out" may add more height via hardening the contrast between the rock & plants on the right.

I'm not even sure why I offer constructive criticism when i think my own large tank looks like a wall in front of a field in its current picture (I've improved it a little but have no new photo yet), but there you have it.