Critique #17 No Theme-5 Participants

ampguy - lone fisherman

ampguy - lone fisherman

I like the scene as such, it shows how small man is compared to the ocean. The moment is just right with the clouds covering the sun without which the picture would have been imposible.

I would have shot it more to the left, putting the sun more to the right and including more of the wave and the clouds on the left.
 
Chuck A. an older one

Chuck A. an older one

The picture realy tells a story, I want to know what the bridesmaids are quareling about.
The two bridesmaids on the left on one on the right make my eyes wander around the bride and the light with the flowers guide me up to the brides face.

I don't know what could have been better, maybe including the candles in the frame.
 
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gabrielma - a minimalist one

gabrielma - a minimalist one

The composition is very close to the rules of thirds the décolleté is clearly in the center of this males vision :)
It is abstract and natural in one.

What could have been better? I don't know but I want to see the whole picture.
 
Lutz' window

Lutz' window

Three pictures in one, the almost ethereal dress form, the house in the backgound and the reflected gate over the women brooming the street.

The windowframe on the left is a bit distracting, I'd crop it at the edge.
 
ampguy, lone fisherman

I like the mood very much, the colors, the proportions - and I think that the composition basically works very well, too. All in all, the picture draws me in and makes me want to have been there, in the fisherman's place. A good capture.

I guess the post processing could be improved to make this one a real statement, there still is a bit of a lack of rigor to its presentation. The vignetting on the left hand isn't bothering me too much, but it lacks a counterpart to the right - and most of all top right - of the frame. The frame is to open above the sun which leads to my eyeballs oscillating vertically. Since your intention seems to have been to convey a moment of peacefulness and contemplation, this intention could benefit by a tighter crop above the horizon line, eliminating too much of that clear sky above the sun. Some additional "burning" of the top right to balance the corners could help, too, as would straightening the horizon to further add to the effect of putting the image at peace. BTW, I could envision a perfect 2:3 crop.
 
chuck a, the bridesmaids

This is a really humorous catch - a whole comical drama condensed in one frame. Whaddaya think we are supposed to do with the flowers, stupid?! The funniest detail being the bride's fatalistic look at the object in question. A well witnessed and perfectly caught moment in life. And a technically perfect b&w pic.

There's little that could be bettered, IMHO. Maybe some straightening of lines, rotating the frame a bit to the right and by this eliminating excess headroom above the bridesmaids to the left as well as the slightly distracting presence of just one flame in frame at the top edge - better have them both cut out. Oh, and IF there is more room around the right girl's shoulder and to the bottom of the flowers on the table, squeeze it all out of the neg... ;-)
 
gabrielma, minimalistic

Hmm, a sensual picture - all colors and texture, secrets and promises... ;-) I like the idea of creating a symbol by cutting out the woman's identity which remains a secretly shared intimacy between her and the photographer. She must have been well aware of his interest in her looks, and this notion is still present in the frame and strongly adds to its flavor. I like the reduction of the color scheme, the juxtaposition of flesh and hair tones against the stark and vivid fabrics of the woman's dress.

I would encourage you to go one step further, next time, and try to further abandon control over your framing...! I sense that your intention could have benefitted from a slight tilt, even blur or overexposure, to _completely_ detach the subject from its identity, its physical presence, and elevate the sensual mood it conveys even further...
 
Socke - The Crypt

This one here is a sleeper. Its impact develops at second glance. Then it sucks you right in. The central perspective is perfect for that. And the exposure shows a very good balance in a tricky situation.

I basically think this one deserves a severe pano-crop. Cut out the dead weight at the bottom and the far too much distracting highlights on top. Plus, carefully dodge the rims of the columns to make them become more 3D. That should add to the perspective (and mystical) pull of your shot.
 
ampguy

ampguy

Beautiful tones, beautiful light, great range of highlights and shadows, silky tones, the blue prevails over a scene we know will soon turn golden. And the lone person, adding a sense of scale to convey the vastness of it all. The horizon is placed so to give this all a "thirds" thumbs-up.

I don't think I can add anything here. Superb.
 
Chuck A

Chuck A

Chuck A said:
The last one was a new one so here is an older one. Leica M2, 50mm, Tri-X
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Funny! I can't help but feel sorry for the bride. There is a symmetry that, while not perfect, seems to be balanced, somehow...just like the serenity of the bride and the argument behind her. Is it the flower arrangement in front of her? Is that what the theme is? Is it that important? Somehow, somebody thinks it is.

The photo is fine. The frame around it: get rid of it.

Brilliant.

Edit: yes, the hairdos are just a little bit...dated. Nothing photographically wrong with that, though. Not in this case, for me, at least.
 
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Lutz

Lutz

Lutz said:
Okay, I'll try mine. Hope it will show as a thumbnail...
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My, my, what's going on here? A female form object on display, a woman (I think) cleaning, reflected on the window, juxtaposed with the jailing shadow of a gate. Commentary? Der dichter sprache (ok, I don't know German, but I think that's how you say it). The light, a certain glow, the shadows dark, the highlights muted. It is a poem.

Very very very well done. If anybody complains about anything on this picture, tell them to go fly a kite.
 
Socke said:
I call it Inside The Crypt
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Is anybody in here?...in here in here in here in here

If your point was to make this cold, big and hollow, you've succeeded. Do the living go here to escape life? Do they pray what they're escaping from cease to exist? Are they safe here? Are we alive here?

It's cold. I would just cool the tone a little bit more, to balance the tungsten light...that would drive it across like Clemens pitching against the Yankees. OK, ok, yes, I know, my analogies suck. Laik I'l sock yor vlot! Bleh (ok, got the "Crypt" thing too seriously now).
 
gabrielma said:
Is anybody in here?...in here in here in here in here

Uhumm, well... Thanks everybody for your feedback. BTW, "a poem" is the most wonderful critique I've ever had...! :) Working on the left border is something I had already started with - cropping is no option for me but burning a little further might do the trick. I'll work on it. ;-)

If you care to know, here's a little story around my shot. Maybe you have one around yours to share, too.

The window shot was taken the day before a most efficient workshop started this summer in Arles, France - conducted by Paris-based Klavdij Sluban (I posted a thread in regard on photo.net). I had just arrived in this wonderful small town in the south of France and run into a most attractive young woman who was about to sweep a tiny piazza in front of the bar she was apparently working for. Just a couple of meters away I stumbled across the next beautiful sight, a very pure and undressed display dummy in a completely empty little store on the corner of the piazza. Soon I had discovered the chance of getting both elements in one frame by taking advantage of the woman's reflection in the window. But I had to spend about a quarter of an hour to get one shot just right. Too many tourists kept walking by, stopping either in front of the window (or being at least reflected), trying to understand what the heck I was about to photograph... Or, fascinated by the woman, stopped to engage her in a conversation or just to ask her for the way to their respective hotels. Seconds after I was able to snatch this shot here the woman stopped working and called it a day. :)

Framing with the Leica M was tricky, as this shot all depended on the precise alignment of fore-, middle- and background - not easy to control with a rangefinder camera. Aperture and speed were set to maximize DOF.

Thanks for taking interest. Oh, for those who haven't visited yet, here's a link to a whole set of pictures taken later on during the workshop: http://www.konermann.net/imprevues/index.htm
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the input, too.

As you may have guessed I choose a hard one, originaly I had another picture from my week in Madrid in mind when I stumbled over this one from the crypt.

I had Elitechrome 400 in a Contax G2 and Elitechrome 100 in a G1. I figured that flash wouldn't work so I put the 35 Planar on the G2, opened it up to f2 and got light readings from the lights and the shaddows. It was more than eight stops apart and in the shaddows I got a shutterspeed of less than 1 second.
So I set my shutter to to 1/8th and hoped the best. Thinking about all the tricks for handheld shots at slow speeds I positioned myself for framing I found interesting and used the force for the shot.

The force is not strong in me :)

ISO 800 print film would have been better for the shot but I could salvage some in postprocessing and I might convert it to B/W since underexposed Elitechrome has bad green cast.

The highlights aren't blown out and there is some details in the shaddows left, with some scanning tricks it might work.
 
Yes, thanks all for your input. The wedding photo has always been on of my favorites. Taken during a wedding shoot for a studio I was working with.
 
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