Critique Requested

[wtl]

Hi all you photographers and photographer-wanna-bes...

I have just now uploaded some images to my Peru and Bolivia album. I am having a bit problem distinquish these images from my personal feeling of the subject matter so I am going to risk and have you look at them. I am slowly working up my own psychology so that I can one day be able to show these to other groups.

If you could give me an objective view on any of them, I shall really appreciate. I welcome one line comments of either "nice" or "suck" but welcome more if you could tell me a bit more of either direction of your cmment.

Here is the link to the album (sorry don't know how to make a hot link):

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/useralbums.php?ppaction=albums

Hope this is not too out of line here.

Thanks, of course!

 

[wtl]

Damn, the link doesn't seem to work Try this please...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5878

 

[Rich Silfver]

As a general comment I think your photos are great.
You tend to use light and composition really well and it comes out in a number of photos (this one for instance: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=31983&cat=5878 ).

The one thing that could be improved is maybe the post processing - a bit more sharpening (better scan?) and contrast adjustments could make some of these photos amazing.

Good work!

 

[akptc]

As a photographer-wanna-be I can say with some authority 🙂 that you've got some awesome pics in there! Wow! - I like many, many of your shots; clearly you've got enviable guts sticking a camera in people's faces and getting away with really cool shots. As my son would say - way cool!

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Your use of color is excellent. Willingness and ability to get up close to your subjects with a wide-angle is also terrific. Composition very strong.

The only minor suggestion is ... in a few of the photos, a bit of dodging/burning in PS would have helped bring the tonal/brightness range more into comformity with each other. For instance, on this shot:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=31996&cat=5878

A bit of post-processing work to bring the child's face into emphasis versus the rest of the photo. But overall, excellent work.

 

[kmack]

I'd work on the levels and saturation a bit. On my monitor the colors seem to be overly saturated. They also seem dark. Your composition and subject are good. The standout for me is This One . That is a really nice shot.

I am not a photo editor, I just play one on the internet.

 

[existrandom]

i like them, but as i reflect my shots done in Bangladesh (unavailable at the moment), a completely foreign place i mean... some of yours look like they are taken abit hastily. i have this feeling seeing your pics that you have not stay at the scene long enough to "bed in" into the environment, or to naturalise abit about your presence before you took your shot. they are very nice shots just as they are though.

 

[matti]

Wonderful pictures. Very nice portraits. What film did you use?

/matti

 

[sirius]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your photos. I enjoyed looking through them. The subject matter is exotic and interesting in itself. I agree with a lot of the other comments posted here. You have a good eye for composition. I like how you are using the angles to shift the horizon. Gary Winogrand talked about how he would align elements in his pictures with the edges of the frame, and I see that happening here. There are a few pictures where there is a single subject appears dead centre in the photo. It makes the picture look static. Maybe that is all that you could capture when chasing the moment, but I think it would be better to try off-setting the subject using the rule-of-thirds. This allows the subject to interact more in the composition.

My thoughts . . .

 

[JoeFriday]

good photos! and I agree with just about all the comments.. the contrast is a bit too strong for my taste.. it works well in B&W photos, but not so well with color.. either use a film with a softer palette, or do some PS processing

I also agree that the images are of well-selected people/places/things.. and you're getting in close, which is very good.. but composition could be improved.. find an interesting angle or place the subject off-center.. take your time (I know, easier said than done)

you've got a lot of talent, and a lot of courage.. I think you've got some serious potential

 

[leica M2 fan]

GREAT Photos

GREAT Photos

I must confess I expected to see one or two very good pictures but in reality they are all very excellent ! Very good exposures and you capture the people in a very kind way.
I am amazed at the clarity. Please add what camera and lens you used and the film.
Thanks for the photos, extremely good. I especially enjoyed the ones from Sucre.
Tony

 

[wtl]

Thank you so very much for all your kind and thoughtful comments. They leave me a lot to think about and improve.

I used a Leica M6 Classic with a 'lux 35/1.4 pre-ASPH for these shots. Fuji Astia 100 slide film. Scanned with a Nikon LS-2000 film scanner. I also shot some B&W (Ilford HP5+) in a Minota CLE with M-Minolta 40/2 lens but have not gotten a chance to sort through them.

Thank you again.