Critique #6 (5/1)

[raid]

OK, here's mine. I didn't go for anything from yesterday's soup session (cos it's all similar in theme to my other one).

This one is taken with a Bessa-L and CV 21/4 on Velvia 50. It's a close crop from a wider view (the wider view just didn't work).

Alan: I am seeing beautiful geometrical shapes in your photo. Squares and circles are plenty. Too bad there are no triangles! I wrestled with keeping the top left corner of the photo. Is it needed or not. The shapes are not bad at all.
WouldI have tried to take the photo from a different angle to take it vertically and in the direction of the geometrical circular patterns in the foreground?
Nice photo.

Raid

 

[raid]

attached


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ampguy [a name would help here 🙂 ]

The colors and the grain are positive influences in your photo. A personal preference only: Crop out horizontally the area from below and up to the white shirt starting. I see the image then more abstract. It is just a personal preference. Maybe my Math background lets me search for patterns.

I like your photo.

Raid

 

[jl-lb.ms]

Posting image

Posting image

Sorry for the delay, folks. Been away most of the day.

john

 

[raid]

John,
Your posted photo of a cemetry is interesting in B&W. I find the background in the part of the image distracting from the interesting stone in the foreground. Maybe if you had taken the photo from a different angle, you could have better isolated the stone and gotten rid of the highlights in the background. Nice photo, by the way.

Raid

 

[sf]

Here is my photo. It shows my two girls enjoying the beach.

Raid, I don't see anything wrong with your picture. It is a very nice pic of your daughters - you have so many. I might only say that the older of the two might benefit from a little greater contrast from her immediate background. A number of dark figures clump in that area.

Of course, you can't help this sort of thing, and if you had, the moment would have passed, or you'd have had to abandon your perspective on the girls.

 

[ampguy]

Thanks Raid

Thanks Raid

great idea. My name is Ted.

ampguy [a name would help here 🙂 ]

The colors and the grain are positive influences in your photo. A personal preference only: Crop out horizontally the area from below and up to the white shirt starting. I see the image then more abstract. It is just a personal preference. Maybe my Math background lets me search for patterns.

I like your photo.

Raid

 

[ampguy]

Hi John

Hi John

This photo has a nice balance of light and darks, and the angles of the standing headstone, and the knocked over ones give the image a 3D perspective.

I would crop the right side at least to the tree in the upper right, if not all the way past the tree, so the main headstone has increased focal attention.

Sorry for the delay, folks. Been away most of the day.

john

 

[sf]

Sorry for the delay, folks. Been away most of the day.

john

John :

This is a good graveyard image. I would probably try and cut off the right portion that includes that background stone since it is cut off anyway. This would restore more power to the foreground object, I think. I don't know what the whether was like, but curving to put more power into the lighter end of the histogram might also e a good thing.

See my attached image for what I am trying to say. I think you will complete the geometry better this way. BUT, this is only one angle on things. Your current geometry has is own merit as well.

Now maybe it is too crowded?

IMO.

-George

 

[sf]

OK, here's mine. I didn't go for anything from yesterday's soup session (cos it's all similar in theme to my other one).

This one is taken with a Bessa-L and CV 21/4 on Velvia 50. It's a close crop from a wider view (the wider view just didn't work).

This is just fine. I like it. Has the summer feel to it, I can smell the hot wet metal.

It might feel a little lopsided to the left, but then you have a sort of geometry going on that has a name I can't remember. Something about divine proportions or something like that.

 

[sf]

attached


.

A very odd shot. Impossible to critique (at least at my level of talent at critiquing). You've got your basic thirds going on, DOF is nice, OOF is nice, exposure is premium. For what it is, it is a very well composed and exposed photo.

 

[sf]

TED:

I'll second that about the colors. I like them in this shot.

 

[ampguy]

Thanks George

Thanks George

I agree it's not a common type of photo, not one I plan to frame and stick in the living room...

I think I had my Hexar AF for about 2 days and was keeping it on in silent mode everywhere, and I'm at a restaurant and just pressed the button. No one heard anything, not even the friend I was dining with.

Then examining the photocd later, it seemed kind of interesting, an unframed random shot from the camera on the table.

TED:

I'll second that about the colors. I like them in this shot.

 

[oscroft]

Raid: "It shows my two girls enjoying the beach."

I love their expressions, and the poses of the two of them sitting on their chairs - and the older girl's shades look cool. The texture of the sand, the position of the horizon, and the diagonals of the surf line and the wet sand line all add up to a very nice composition. And one subtle thing - the two birds just framed in the top left corner are great. Exposure-wise it's great - I like the contrast and the darkness of the people in the background. But that's where the only weakness is, in my opinion - while I really do like the presence of people in the background, it's a pity a couple of them are merging with your older daughter's head.

 

[raid]

I took many photos of my daughters that day on the beach, but in this one,I wanted to take a photo in which a typical beach scene [with people] would be documented. The people standing behind my girls were there forever, so I included them since I wanted to take a photo of my girls having fun and waiting a long time would change the mood if little girls. I keep this photo as my PC screen photo at work. It makes me smile.

Raid

P.S.[am I posting too early?]

 

[jl-lb.ms]

Raid

Raid

Raid, I was sort of thinking like the others at first, that a shallower depth of field would have helped. I even tried some creative blur, with this result. But actually I think I like the busy version; it does show the busy-ness of a beach.

john

 

[jl-lb.ms]

Ted

Ted

Ted,

First, I find nothing wrong with your shot. But just to mess around, what about cropping the table? Like this.

 

[jl-lb.ms]

George

George

George, here's my "interpretation" of your photo. Not necessarily an improvement, but different.

 

[jl-lb.ms]

Alan

Alan

Can't "constructively criticize" this, Alan. I like it a lot. Here's a version that compresses the dynamic range a tiny bit and seems to be ever so slightly more contrasty.

 

[raid]

Ted,

First, I find nothing wrong with your shot. But just to mess around, what about cropping the table? Like this.

John: My suggestion to crop from below up to the white shirt would effectively also crop [part of] the table. It is distracting.

Raid

 

[jl-lb.ms]

From your comments

From your comments

How about this, fellows? Sort of based on your comments. Too altered?