Critique #68 *Nature Theme (not landscape)* 5 Participaants

[ampguy]

critique

critique

is that a bird on top of the pole? or another type of animal?

the angle makes me queasy and I think I might have missed the bird if I didn't know there was a nature theme. The photo seems sideways to me. I'd use Picasa to straighten it.

Here is my nature shot.....

 

[shiro_kuro]

@ PlantedTao..... The bird in making its way through the oil creating patterns by its movements is very interesting .... I do not get a negative feeling of pollution but one of harmony with this bird and its environment ...

 

[shiro_kuro]

@jmilkins.... Nice tones ...looks like a fireworks display ..... Maybe a step back .... I think it would create a more of an effect if you the grass tips were to end just at the frames edges ..it is such an interesting shot it would be nice to see more of the plant flowing into the frames edges ..

 

[shiro_kuro]

@ampguy...... Beautiful photograph ...amazing you got this handheld @f4 .... really nothing to critique ....perhaps more of the eagles body ...it is so interesting it would be great to see more ....as it is it feels a bit confined

 

[shiro_kuro]

@shutterflower ..... This shot has real street feel .. a mallard an pigeons ...the balance of composition is well seen .....I like the that there seems to be just the right number of birds in the right places ...one bird walking away another coming towards the viewer .... The way the light segments the photo into individual sections ... really I have nothing to say as a critique ..... I wonder what this shot would be like if you captured it at a lower perspective ... being more at the level of the birds and seeing more of where that last bird is heading ......

 

[shiro_kuro]

my shot is one that perhaps does not work as I intended ..... The Japanese kana on the pole bellow the bird are pronounced " KA KA" which is the sound a crow makes ... yet in Japan that is not the sound the crow makes ...so it is lost in translation both times around and only clever to me ...LOL 🙂.... also the symbols look like birds in flight ...... It would of been much more interesting if I had caught the bird as it flew off or perhaps a profile as suggested ......... Thanks all for taking the time to comment ...... and sorry ampguy for getting you all queasy ...nothing picassa cannot fix though ; )

 

[jmilkins]

Thanks for an interesting thread folks. In answer to some of the queries:


There was a fair amount of contrat in the leaves of the plant - original image was on colour transparency film. I converted it to monochrome, and the contrast bumped up more there.

It was a really difficult image to scan - my Dimage 5400 kept seeing the leaves as scratches over the scene - it scanned some parts of the leaf and ignored others. Any form of shaprening made the image significantly worse!

The vignetting is likely a result of using a small aperture on the CV 15 - at least f11 if not 16. The CV 15 does vignette at these apertures, but I like the effect and wanted to exploit it. The leaf tips at the front of the image were almost touching the lens.

cheers

 

[ampguy]

Thanks all. My photo was taken with a Lumix FZ3 with Leica ASPH glass, at an equivalent fl of ~420mm. I took several shots knowing that many would probably be blurry. The IS works great on these cameras. The location was in San Francisco...The Zoological Aviary section I believe...

Useful camera at these areas, as well as at baseball games getting photos of Nomo from the bleachers.

 

[PlantedTao]

Thanks everyone for the comments...
I was very interested in what the reaction would be to this photo. I expected the sadness once you realized what it is, but I like Shiro's comment about seeing harmony in the photo. This is something I did not expect, so I'm very happy to have posted.

I believe that the contrast could be upped some more and try to get some more deeper tones... I will have to try and print this again, but I'm glad that most like it how it is.

This was taken down a fisherman's warf in seattle, the diesel from the boats often leaks and as someone mentioned it does not take much for the water to get polluted. There is a market located here, so many of the fowl are comfortable with people and are looking for handouts.

again thanks for all the comments...I look forward to doing this again.
Cheers.
Jason