raid
Dad Photographer
RayPA said:
Ray,
In order to make the little girl stand out more clearly I would crop the car out.
Raid
Critique #2 (5-person--1-image/participant)
- Thread starter RayPA
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Ray,
In order to make the little girl stand out more clearly I would crop the car out.
Raid
AOI Photo
Established
Todd:
Really like the repeating grid pattern drawing attention along the lines down to the silloueted figures.
The only constructive criticism I can offer is that I might have tried another perspective ,to not put that one light fixture right in front of the column. But that is more a matter of personal taste.
Raid: Like the facial expression and love the use of colour. I would look at cropping out the partial hands, as I find them slightly distracting
Jan: Really like the dramatic sky . I do find the image a little busy. A narrowing down of the field would help me determine what the subject is.
RayPa: Absolutely love the girl in the doorway. My eye spotted her immediatly so obviously a very effective subject. I find the car seems to weight the picture a bit too much to that side, but then again it isn't like you could move the car, and if you cropped in it would throw of the composition too much.
God this is fun
Really like the repeating grid pattern drawing attention along the lines down to the silloueted figures.
The only constructive criticism I can offer is that I might have tried another perspective ,to not put that one light fixture right in front of the column. But that is more a matter of personal taste.
Raid: Like the facial expression and love the use of colour. I would look at cropping out the partial hands, as I find them slightly distracting
Jan: Really like the dramatic sky . I do find the image a little busy. A narrowing down of the field would help me determine what the subject is.
RayPa: Absolutely love the girl in the doorway. My eye spotted her immediatly so obviously a very effective subject. I find the car seems to weight the picture a bit too much to that side, but then again it isn't like you could move the car, and if you cropped in it would throw of the composition too much.
God this is fun
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RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
AOI Photo said:
This is nice, because it's not *just* a shot of a statue (which was my first impression). You're back far enough to include the activity around the statue, so while the statue is centered, the action takes place around the edges and top half of the frame. That's cool. The title works well, too.
The image has strong symmetry but it's also a little bit off. Initially I wanted to move everything over to the left a little—to line the statue up with the corner of the wall behind it. However, it feels balanced, and I think that's because of the placement of the people. Nice catch.
On the first viewing I thought it seemed a little busy, but the image grew on me very quickly—once I took the time to look closely. The arrangement of the people is very interesting. It does feel like movement/motion. I like that everyone is engaged in a similar activity, but are at different stages of the action. It would be nice to find a way to empahsize the people more, so that the central placement of the statue doesn't initially dominate eye so much, because imo the people make this image work, but they seem secondary in the composition.
It's hard to make these distinctions viewing online, but I think the image is a little overexposed (maybe you metered on the statue?). I think you've enough exposure all around to bring everything down and play around with emphasizing/deemphasizing the foreground and background.
The crop and composition seem very carefully considered. Good job. My inclination is to want to crop some off the top an bottom, but I think you've found a good one here.
This is a thoughtful shot. Great composition and timing. Well done!
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
Todd.Hanz said:
Gorgeous shot, Todd. The blue is so cool and serene. I really like what's happening with the group of folks on the left side of the picture. The silhouettes are great and the detail is fine. Is that lens distortion? If so, I don't think the distortion adds to the image, it detracts a little, for me, but it's not bad. The image feels blocked-up in parts of the foreground and I really want to see more detail, because it looks great. The patterns and groupings are really nice, and the image has a tight, clean, cool feeling. It's a beauty! Great job, Todd!
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RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
raid amin said:
Raid, This is fabulous! What a character study. The lighting and the "costume" feel theatrical to me. If it wasn't for the *real* details I'd accuse you of trying to pawn off a still of a stage production as a street shot. 🙂 🙂 Since I have to, my only criticism is that I want to see more of his surroundings. I want to see him in his environment. But on the other hand, I want to congratulate you for getting the close-up shot. 😕 In this shot, maybe trim the blurred hands out of the composition and crop from the bottom.
Great shot.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
AOI
I like the general direction of this shot with almost all looking towards the lens it makes me think of a high school class photo, but it's not. Timing was well chosen in this shot. The top frame is blown out the lower frame is slightly under exposed. Obviously a tough light situation. But the subject is what this shot is about and it is fine. Net result is the subject is well framed by a dark and light.
Humour is present in this one for me, the meditation show in the statue is nowhere present in this busy on the go sight seeing group to the back of the frame. I get a smile out of this juxtaposition.
Only thing I would do to this is stick it in PS and strip all the colour out so it becomes a more B&W without any cast of purple or pink to the image. Otherwise .. I'd leave it alone.
Todd.
What to say about an RFF icon.. well as usual the shot is nearly perfect. Sometimes I wonder if Todd is a graphic designer. The design discipline I see in his composition is always present. This is no exception and this discipline is the framework for the composition. The 15 mm lens is an exceptionally wide one however the distortion seems to be non existent.
The curvature seen in the window is an architectural design feature and not lens barrel distortion. The use of the horizon and coincidental lining up of the window mullions is no accident, this emphasizes the design of the shot. The underexposure of the figures and the minimalist furniture provide silhouettes that add human interest however do not attract undue attention to specific individuals in the frame. The light fixtures echoing through the shot and the 'off centre' alignment increase the depth to the shot. Light reflections through the window itself and the overall tonality and hues of blues , blacks and light. This is all held together by the grid of the window frames reflected through the polished floor which also has a grid pattern with a diagonal refrain and the overlapping of these grid at the nodes of each grid add a final design touch. Excellent shot, excellent comp.
Raid
People are always a difficult topic to take on. This one is easier than most due to the expressiveness of the subject. The colours here really pop and enhance the 'view-ability' of the shot. The lens does a fine rendition, the film is doing it's job. The musician's instrument is not visible, a small quibble since this is about the musician and not the instrument. The OoF areas behind the figure add colour and fill the frame.
Finally this guy is happy! Boy is he into it and you hauled out your camera and nailed it. Emotion is always touch and go when photographing and you have caught a moment. You could put this up on you office wall.
Ray
First off I'm a big fan of reflections in photographs, I love using puddles, windows, mirrors, what ever. This photo has add that dynamic to increase the complexity of the shot and it works well here. The subject is a little girl and she is small in the door frame however her face is aligned with a light spot of reflected light and it shows well. The BW is good the lens and exposure are exactly what is needed for this shot. The image is one that you can repeatedly return to and see new things because of the complexity. I like this in a photograph as much as I like a shot of minimalist style. The rectangular refrain in the roof tiles, windows and door frame as well as the street pavers all finish off the shot. Fine shot, complex and understated I like this.
Have a great weekend everyone. See you Tuesday. I'm outta here. We'll talk then.
cheers, Jan
I like the general direction of this shot with almost all looking towards the lens it makes me think of a high school class photo, but it's not. Timing was well chosen in this shot. The top frame is blown out the lower frame is slightly under exposed. Obviously a tough light situation. But the subject is what this shot is about and it is fine. Net result is the subject is well framed by a dark and light.
Humour is present in this one for me, the meditation show in the statue is nowhere present in this busy on the go sight seeing group to the back of the frame. I get a smile out of this juxtaposition.
Only thing I would do to this is stick it in PS and strip all the colour out so it becomes a more B&W without any cast of purple or pink to the image. Otherwise .. I'd leave it alone.
Todd.
What to say about an RFF icon.. well as usual the shot is nearly perfect. Sometimes I wonder if Todd is a graphic designer. The design discipline I see in his composition is always present. This is no exception and this discipline is the framework for the composition. The 15 mm lens is an exceptionally wide one however the distortion seems to be non existent.
The curvature seen in the window is an architectural design feature and not lens barrel distortion. The use of the horizon and coincidental lining up of the window mullions is no accident, this emphasizes the design of the shot. The underexposure of the figures and the minimalist furniture provide silhouettes that add human interest however do not attract undue attention to specific individuals in the frame. The light fixtures echoing through the shot and the 'off centre' alignment increase the depth to the shot. Light reflections through the window itself and the overall tonality and hues of blues , blacks and light. This is all held together by the grid of the window frames reflected through the polished floor which also has a grid pattern with a diagonal refrain and the overlapping of these grid at the nodes of each grid add a final design touch. Excellent shot, excellent comp.
Raid
People are always a difficult topic to take on. This one is easier than most due to the expressiveness of the subject. The colours here really pop and enhance the 'view-ability' of the shot. The lens does a fine rendition, the film is doing it's job. The musician's instrument is not visible, a small quibble since this is about the musician and not the instrument. The OoF areas behind the figure add colour and fill the frame.
Finally this guy is happy! Boy is he into it and you hauled out your camera and nailed it. Emotion is always touch and go when photographing and you have caught a moment. You could put this up on you office wall.
Ray
First off I'm a big fan of reflections in photographs, I love using puddles, windows, mirrors, what ever. This photo has add that dynamic to increase the complexity of the shot and it works well here. The subject is a little girl and she is small in the door frame however her face is aligned with a light spot of reflected light and it shows well. The BW is good the lens and exposure are exactly what is needed for this shot. The image is one that you can repeatedly return to and see new things because of the complexity. I like this in a photograph as much as I like a shot of minimalist style. The rectangular refrain in the roof tiles, windows and door frame as well as the street pavers all finish off the shot. Fine shot, complex and understated I like this.
Have a great weekend everyone. See you Tuesday. I'm outta here. We'll talk then.
cheers, Jan
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
jan normandale said:
Jan, I'm attracted to these kind of scenes. For me it's the quiet strangeness of these fringe industrial locations that is the lure. You can find scenes like this with different textures and shapes overlaying one another. It's a wonderfully strange essence. For me, it's tough to capture that essence on film. I think you come close here. The dramatic sky lends to that feeling. I like the arch-shaped building and the railroad tracks. The left side doesn't add much to the image for me, so my feeling is to crop some over there to put the focus on the more interesting shaps in the image. I'm not sure what time of the day you shot this, but I tend to like shooting around these locations early or late in the day. Good job. 🙂
.
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T
Todd.Hanz
Guest
AOI,
When I look at this one I like that you chose to center the subject in this shot in relation to what's happening in the background. Is this a temple? When I study the people in the shot it seems as though you have "Westeners" with their starbucks coming down one side and worshippers down the other, it's a cool juxtaposition like Jan says. I don't know how I would change it, on my monitor the highlights are a little blown but not where it counts, nice work!
Raid,
This is a classic you've posted before, excellent expression and I like the way you filled the frame, the colors of his clothing and skin tone give the cinematic feel of an old Disney movie "Uncle Remus". If I could change anything it would be to include or exclude his hands, the little bit of his hands that show leave me wanting more, beautiful portrait!
Jan,
at first glance I feel locked out, the chainlink fence, another fence with what looks like security cameras makes me wonder what thay keep in there. I like the drama in the sky and it appears you may have used a red or deep orange filter to good effect. This image has an almost IR look to it with alot of detail and texture in it. IMHO, the one thing this image lacks is a clearly defined subject. My personal preference would be to shoot someting like this with a wider apeture (if possible) narrowing the plane of focus on my subject, but thats just me 🙂
Ray,
good eye to see this one, I pass these by every day only noticing them after it's too late. The girl has an almost ghostly appearance that pops out when your eyes scan the reflection in the glass, her face almost glows. I might be tempted to dodge the left side of her face to bring this out and further emphasize it. IMHO the car helps ground this image, it flows well with the reflections of the stop sign, crosswalk or firezone stripes and the shopping carts inside. Everytime I look in the glass I see something else, nice job!
Great job by everyone, I've learned alot by reading your comments and seen things that I didn't before. I'ts good to get others opinions, thanks for participating.
Todd
When I look at this one I like that you chose to center the subject in this shot in relation to what's happening in the background. Is this a temple? When I study the people in the shot it seems as though you have "Westeners" with their starbucks coming down one side and worshippers down the other, it's a cool juxtaposition like Jan says. I don't know how I would change it, on my monitor the highlights are a little blown but not where it counts, nice work!
Raid,
This is a classic you've posted before, excellent expression and I like the way you filled the frame, the colors of his clothing and skin tone give the cinematic feel of an old Disney movie "Uncle Remus". If I could change anything it would be to include or exclude his hands, the little bit of his hands that show leave me wanting more, beautiful portrait!
Jan,
at first glance I feel locked out, the chainlink fence, another fence with what looks like security cameras makes me wonder what thay keep in there. I like the drama in the sky and it appears you may have used a red or deep orange filter to good effect. This image has an almost IR look to it with alot of detail and texture in it. IMHO, the one thing this image lacks is a clearly defined subject. My personal preference would be to shoot someting like this with a wider apeture (if possible) narrowing the plane of focus on my subject, but thats just me 🙂
Ray,
good eye to see this one, I pass these by every day only noticing them after it's too late. The girl has an almost ghostly appearance that pops out when your eyes scan the reflection in the glass, her face almost glows. I might be tempted to dodge the left side of her face to bring this out and further emphasize it. IMHO the car helps ground this image, it flows well with the reflections of the stop sign, crosswalk or firezone stripes and the shopping carts inside. Everytime I look in the glass I see something else, nice job!
Great job by everyone, I've learned alot by reading your comments and seen things that I didn't before. I'ts good to get others opinions, thanks for participating.
Todd
jan normandale
Film is the other way
I think I've read everyones comments they are fair and expected. Many thanks for playing to Raid, AOI, Todd & Ray . I'll put this shot into context tomorrow.
Today is Caribana and there are about 100,000 people in town for this event that started last night and runs to Sunday night. Gotta take in!
Today is Caribana and there are about 100,000 people in town for this event that started last night and runs to Sunday night. Gotta take in!
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raid
Dad Photographer
AOI Photo said:
AOI ... [having your name would help 🙂 ]
I took a good look at your photo again. The chosen theme for this photo is good; tranquility and motion. The people are walking down the stairs while in the foreground the statue is still.
I asked myself the question how would I have taken a photo at this place.
While not knowing what I would have done had I been there, I would say that I tend to include more of the statue. Maybe stepping back a couple of yards would have made the foreground more complete and also allow the people not to be squeezed into the tight frame. No to be picky here, but we have been asked to critique and be critiqued.
Raid
raid
Dad Photographer
Todd.Hanz said:
Todd: I am taking a second long look at your blue photo. How could this excellent photo have been made even better to my eyes? I do not know how this room looks in its totality. Was there room to introduce symmetry in the patterns of the lines ? Could you have "moved"the big post out of the right third to reduce its distraction ?
Raid
raid
Dad Photographer
jan normandale said:
Jan: I tried to use some cardboard on the screen ofmy laptop to crop out areas of your posted image to see if cropping would allow us to fosuc on a less busy area. I think I have found [for my eyes] a suitable crop.
Take out the left third [trees] and take out a little of the top, to center the background view of a bridge (I am assuming). This way, it is more pleasing to my eyes. I don't know how you feel about such a view though.
Raid
raid
Dad Photographer
RayPA said:
Ray: I mentioned the option to crop out the left far side of the image and to remove the car,but now I am seeing another side to this photo. The girl could be a "lost helpless girl in a big world". Here, I would have included more of the surrounding environment and allow us the search and find the girl. She would be a shocker.
Raid
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raid
Dad Photographer
I have now posted two critiques per posted photo. I hope to get some additional feedback.
RayPA
Ignore It (It'll go away)
Thanks for an interesting critique, everyone. The image that I posted was a problem for me. I tried several crops before deciding on this one. This was a scene that happened as I was walking by, taking the shot was almost an impulse or reaction. It was great to hear your thoughts on the image. Thanks!
I have 14 rolls to process!! So, I hope we keep this going!
🙂
.
I have 14 rolls to process!! So, I hope we keep this going!
🙂
.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
Hi Ray, Todd, AOI and Raid, I said I’d comment on my shot at the end of my comments on yours yesterday. This shot was my entry in a salon group elsewhere on the net. The topic was “terrain vague”, that grey zone between clear areas of definition and transition. Most of the entries were about areas like this and were set forth in shots of areas around airports, downtown cores, suburban areas as well as other representations.
This particular shot is of a piece of land on the east side of Toronto’s downtown core near an area known as the Distillery District. It has been the subject of 10 years of urban studies and planning still nothing has been built. The shot shows a piece of this site bounded by a road, expressway, rail line, river, two bridges and several fences. The photo is more of a journalistic statement than a photographic or artistic statement. Therefore I deliberately chose to illustrate all these converging and conflicting elements into the shot. The end result is chaos and confusion, fenced off areas, bridges going no where, barriers to a river so it is unusable, train lines conflicting with a stated objective of creating a ‘livable’ neighbourhood.
Ray identified the shot quite well, Raid noted the lack of cohesion and focus and tried to put an artistic frame around it, AOI similarly approached the shot from these terms and Todd noted the technical details regarding film definition.
What I enjoyed here was, each of us use terms of reference that we personally incorporate into our shots. It made the review interesting and never dull. I’d do another critique. Well worth the time to see things through others eyes.
I’d enjoy hearing your comments on your own entry if you are inclined
This particular shot is of a piece of land on the east side of Toronto’s downtown core near an area known as the Distillery District. It has been the subject of 10 years of urban studies and planning still nothing has been built. The shot shows a piece of this site bounded by a road, expressway, rail line, river, two bridges and several fences. The photo is more of a journalistic statement than a photographic or artistic statement. Therefore I deliberately chose to illustrate all these converging and conflicting elements into the shot. The end result is chaos and confusion, fenced off areas, bridges going no where, barriers to a river so it is unusable, train lines conflicting with a stated objective of creating a ‘livable’ neighbourhood.
Ray identified the shot quite well, Raid noted the lack of cohesion and focus and tried to put an artistic frame around it, AOI similarly approached the shot from these terms and Todd noted the technical details regarding film definition.
What I enjoyed here was, each of us use terms of reference that we personally incorporate into our shots. It made the review interesting and never dull. I’d do another critique. Well worth the time to see things through others eyes.
I’d enjoy hearing your comments on your own entry if you are inclined
raid
Dad Photographer
As for my posted image, it is one of several photos I took of two men playing Blues music at the far end of the French Quarter in New Orleans (USA). It was the grandfather playing harmonica (in the image) and his grandson playing guitar. I have photos showing the entire scene with surroundings, but I wanted to show the facial expressions and the emotions of this old man as he was playing the Blues. It seems that the hands of the man were "chopped off" in my quick shooting within a crowd of people. As you know, often we "see" in a photo taken by us what we actually saw when taking the photo. It not necessarily will carry over all the information to other people inspecting that same photo. The late Galen Rowell used to emphasize in his teaching of photography to see an image before it is made on film.
Thanks to each of you for your insightful comments.
Raid
Thanks to each of you for your insightful comments.
Raid
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AOI Photo
Established
BTW I'm Jason.
Sorry took so long to get back to people. Had a last minute assignment this weekend (but it will pay for a new lens 🙂 )
Thanks for all the very constructive comments. I'm still playing wiht what my final print will look like. The picture was actually taken outside the crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas. It was a festival downtown where all the museums open for free. My son wanted a baloon animal, and when I looked up above the clown I saw the people coming and going. I raised the Bessa (which was already set from about 6 feet to infinity) framed, fired, and put the camera down, All within a couple seconds, because there was a 3 year old pulling on me. OI appreciate all the comments on contrast, framing, etc. I'm glad to know the concept seems to translate. And I learned at least as much from aanlyzing my reactions to your work, as I did form the critiques. This is a great romat for these critiques and I hope to take part in more.
Jason
Sorry took so long to get back to people. Had a last minute assignment this weekend (but it will pay for a new lens 🙂 )
Thanks for all the very constructive comments. I'm still playing wiht what my final print will look like. The picture was actually taken outside the crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas. It was a festival downtown where all the museums open for free. My son wanted a baloon animal, and when I looked up above the clown I saw the people coming and going. I raised the Bessa (which was already set from about 6 feet to infinity) framed, fired, and put the camera down, All within a couple seconds, because there was a 3 year old pulling on me. OI appreciate all the comments on contrast, framing, etc. I'm glad to know the concept seems to translate. And I learned at least as much from aanlyzing my reactions to your work, as I did form the critiques. This is a great romat for these critiques and I hope to take part in more.
Jason
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