WHISKEY NAN,,,,
HI PHIL,YOUR PHOTOS ARE GREAT,,,,JUST WISH YOU WOULD HAVE SHOWN ONE OR TWO OF HEIDELBERG,,,AFTER ALL,THATS WHERE IT ALL STARTED FOR YOU,,YOUR INITIAL AMBITION WAS TO BE A REPORTER ,BUT YOU GOT HOOKED ON PHOTOGRAPHY AT HAMMOND BARRACKS,,,,,ONE AGAIN,BRILLIANT PICTURES,,YOUR ARMY BUDDY WALT NAPOLIO
— WALTER NAPOLIO, June 14, 2007

Comments from Cecilia Lim, Malaysia
I was delighted to see the latest additions to your impressive body of work. The close-up shot of the clown speaks volumes about the place being bright, vibrant and loud -- full of energy! The angle from which you photographed "Recycling Monuments" emphasizes the feeling of freedom as you lead our eye up towards the sky. In 'The Trigger That Changed History", your use of diagonal lines suggest a dynamic and dangerous piece of machine, while the light bouncing off the gun says it is cold and heartless, like the historical event it triggered. The spiral staircase is truly beautiful - a classic. "From the Charles Bridge at dusk, Prague" says so much with so little. It was very enjoyable seeing Europe through your eyes! Thank you so much! -- Cecilia Lim, Malaysia
— Phil Douglis, July 10, 2003

That shot is one of my favorites, too.
Hi, Mano. Thanks for using my "Prague: Crossroads of Europe" photograph as your desktop photo. That picture took me about an hour to make. I wanted the picture to imply a sense of power, history, and timelessness. I shot twenty or thirty pictures from various positions -- digital photography makes this possible without any "film expense guilt feelings". Nothing worked until the cloud cover offered a crinkled texture pattern filled with repeating rhythms that seemed to me to suggest the ongoing flow of time and events I was going after. I then positioned myself so the statue moved into the picture from the lower right hand corner, the sun was kept from wiping out the picture by a thick enough cloud, and the patches of blue appeared in the right places within the frame. What you have on your desktop is the shot in which everything finally came together for me.
— Phil Douglis, May 23, 2003

Thanks Philip!
I am now using your photo "Prague: at the crossroads of Europe" as my desktop wallpaper in the office. It is very dramatic and has already stopped a few of my colleagues on their tracks to look at it and admire! Thanks yet again.
— Mano, May 22, 2003

Mano, you are perceptive
Thanks so much, as always, Mano for your perceptive comments on my photographs. You have gone to the heart of my work. My wife Liz says I like to shoot statues because they don't move and they don't talk back. But I like to shoot them because of their meaning as symbols. I then refine the symbolism through abstraction and add context for meaning. You even got the nuance expressed in my shot of the tiny statue of a musician in Mozart's studio at Prague's Villa Bertamka! As for the G2's luminosity -- yes, it is a spectacular tool. But working with levels and contrast in Photoshop helps, too. There is less of an emphasis on people here because I did not have much of an opportunity to do so, outside of a few street characters in Bratislava and those Guards at Prague Castle. I had a great "people" opportunity in Amsterdam, however, with Queens Day in all of its fervor. Check it out. Thanks again, Mano.
— Phil Douglis, May 21, 2003

Excellent!!!
Philip, hope you are doing well. I am amazed yet again by your photographs. You are gifted at photographing statues.The statue with flowers in his lap at the memorial to a miner is very moving. It is not easy to depict pathos and quiet drama in humans, let alone in inanimate objects. But your pics of the sculptures are so full of character. You interpret them in wholly diffeent ways, almost giving them lives of their own.

I also enjoyed the humour in the pic of Mozart's room...the dimunitive statue in shadows shows us the misunderstood child prodigy.

Unlike any other camera, photos taken with Canon G2 show a luminosity. The light in the photos seem as though it is filtered by crystal clowds.

I notice that you have less photos of people in this album. I enjoyed the photos of people in your Alaskan, Russian and African albums.

Thank you for your sharing your photos.

Regards, Mano
— Mano, May 20, 2003

Thank you, Bill
I am very moved by your comment -- it is always rewarding to know that your pictures are of value to others.

Thanks again, Bill.
— Phil Douglis, May 19, 2003

Outstanding
Philip:

This is the best gallery I have ever seen. Every picture is outstanding. Thank you.

Bill Naile
— Bill Naile, May 19, 2003

Thanks, Tim
I admire your grasp of what I was trying to say in these pictures, Tim. Your favorites are mine as well. And what you see in them are often the very things that attracted me to the subject.
— Phil Douglis, May 17, 2003

What an array of riches. I have many highlights: Stauss in the Park for the color, Making a splash for the texture, Mother's Grave for your seeing it and letting me feel it, the priest for the green and purple, Austrian Steel as a abstract, Ghost of Mauthausen for your letting them not fade and fake away, A rest in Budapest for your seeing it and for the color blue in the window, Hungarian lace for color, texture and line, Art takes over for the whimsy of it, Spiral staircase for the way it draws me in, Gothic dreams for the distortion, puppet shop because that it how I sometimes see windows, and grave stones for the texture and color. Thanks
— Tim May, May 17, 2003

Thanks so much for sending us your pictures. They are gorgeous as I knew they would be. It was so much fun watching you take them all through the trip and knowing that eventually we would get to see the results. My favorite--the blood stained coat of Archduke Ferdinand. We really enjoyed traveling with you and Liz. I've already shared the photos with some friends who are about to go to Prague. Jane
— Jane VanBremen, May 17, 2003

Thanks, Mary Ann, for your comments. Coming from someone who shows a remarkably consistent eye herself, I take your compliments seriously. As for editing, that's what I've been teaching for the last 35 five years. I hope I practice what I preach! I try to say it once and say it as well as I can.
— Phil Douglis, May 17, 2003

Your eye does not err. And your presentation is edited beautifully which is not easy to do - all of us find it difficult to select only one shot instead of two or three. Simply a superb job.
— Mary Ann Spencer, May 17, 2003

Geometry revisited
Never had much use for geometry in school, but your pictures make it fun!
— monique jansen, May 17, 2003

Thanks, Richard
Your kind comment on my approach to photography is most welcome. My "eye" is really just an extension of my feelings about what I see. I began by making pictures to show others what I saw on my travels. Now I make them to show others how I felt about what I saw, and hope that they will be moved to feel something as well. Apparently I reached my goal in your case, and I thank you for telling me so.
— Phil Douglis, May 17, 2003

You have an incredible eye which combined with the desire to be imaginative has produced some stellar images! This article was a pleasure to view.
— Richard Green, May 17, 2003

Nice shots Phil! My favorites were "the Trigger that changed history" and the Mozart shot with the rose.

Now I'm going to look up more information on the trigger story. I'm so curious!

Regards, Amal Elaine
— Amal Elaine Schmitz, May 16, 2003

It is wonderful to see beautiful photographs of our world at a time when we see much different imagery in our news media.
— Tom Stillman, May 16, 2003

Beautiful
Wonderful pictures. We have friends from Slovakia, they want to take us to their country. They have showed us videos of there, looks great. You have got some great shots. What sort of camera do you use.
— Tim Lubcke, May 16, 2003