My latest reportage: Murmansk region (Russian Arctic)

[dogbunny]

Hates a strong word

Hates a strong word

When it comes to vignetting, I see that it maybe was a bit too much in some photos, but still like the effect and got a lot of positive respose on just that, previously as in this case. The fact that 5 people after seeing this series chose to follow my blog, means something to me.

It would be interesting to hear if those of you who hated the vignetting feel things have become so much better now that the vignettig is moderate.

I didn't hate the vignetting, I use it myself sometimes too, but it always seemed for me an effect, so when every photo has that effect it loses its effect. 🙂 --or something like that. I'm sure that is clear as mud. I guess I mean it diminishes its effectiveness when over-used. Likewise, I'm sure some people don't like your color treatment, but that didn't distract me like the vignetting. The color worked well with the subject matter, for me.

db

 

[BobYIL]

(Hah! The Part II is excellent.. 😀 )

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

Now both parts are re-edited. Thanks for your comments so far.

 

[N.delaRua]

I didn't mind the post processing or vignetting. Your post processing was uniform throughout the portfolio, and therefore, I did not find it distracting.

However, I will second the opinion that you need to edit, and choose at most your 15 most powerful images.

There were a couple that stuck out as very interesting, but they were so lost in the mix. I think just for fun, you should repost a gallery here on rff of 15 (or even less) of your favorite/most powerful images. I think the responses will be much more powerful. Not every image is great and some are repetitive, but in isolation and in context to a reduced number of images it would have been much more interesting.

Just my 2 cents.

I don't know how long your visit was, but if you were there for only a day or two the capturing 10 interesting pictures would be fantastic!

 

[daninjc]

Since you asked for feedback, here are my 2 cents. It looks potentially like a very interesting project. However, two thing discouraged me from viewing and appreciating the whole series:
(1) Too many pictures. Editing down to ~10-15 strong ones would make the essay much more focused and powerful
(2) Too much post-processing: as many mentioned the vignetting, but also the shadows and colors which seemed off and artificial (bordering hdr?). I felt it cheapened the work.
Nothing personal, as I enjoyed many of the pictures, and would really love to see a shorter and less-processed series.

 

[shadowfox]

Andrea,

I don't know what's with these RFF members being grumpy 😀

I like it! Part II is better than Part I because there are more people smiling. You shoot Murmansk the way you like it, you process it the way you like it. You are being authentic. Forget those who think you're not.

Here's my suggestion, just edit out a couple from Part I.

Other than that, I like the colors, I like the vignetting, and no, I don't think Murmansk is bleak by looking at your photo, people are people everywhere, there are bleak people in Paris or New York too.

 

[raid]

The stories that are written are most interesting to me. I am still reviewing the photos.

 

[kanzlr]

I do like your series and I have to admit that it takes at least some commitment to just go there and do it.

The post processing to me is ok, and the selection of shots does convey an atmosphere. I have no clue if it is an authentic one, but at least it seems to communicate with the viewer. The size of the series is fine in a documentary sense. Of course you could show the 10 you like most, and link to more for those interested, but to me it was fine, amount wise.

Thanks for showing. What focal length you used most?

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

Thanks for showing. What focal length you used most?

Yeah, maybe i should have said something about that. I used 24mm almost all the time. When I didn't, I used a cron 50.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I suppose the series reflects your situation in Murmansk at that time: on the outside and I equally suppose you'd have to live there for a good while to find and capture the city's humanity

I like the new treatment much better but my original concern as expressed in the quote above, that you are scratching at the surface, remains. Cheers, Peter

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

I like the new treatment much better but my original concern as expressed in the quote above, that you are scratching at the surface, remains. Cheers, Peter

Well I can confirm your suspect. I had to live in Norway for a few years before I felt that my photos from here were digging deeper than the surface, that is tourist shot. Having been in Murmansk for 3 days only, and only once for 2 days before in Russia, I don't see how I could really capture the core of a town / country.. Can you?

No matter how much you read before, wouldn't your picture always reflect what you think the place is like, or what you want to focus on, especially having limited time to shoot? 🙂

 

[David_Manning]

I think it's great that you got to travel someplace pretty exotic with the equipment you like and had a great experience. I think the question I have for you is...do YOU like your reportage photos?

At the end of the day, that's really what matters. I also want to say that it is pretty brave to post your hard work and ask everyone to critique it.

My own opinion? I'd love to have the opportunity to travel to Murmansk with my gear of choice and wander around and explore. I don't care what anyone would think of the photos...it would be a document of my memories.

Bravo.

 

[BobYIL]

Are we not in a constant pursue for the better? At least to learn? Why do we visit such forums? Do they not contribute to our development?

"I'd love to hear feedback from you, as I value the experience this blog is full of." Now I do not need to inquire what the OP was feeling for his reportage after those slight modifications...

Appropriate feedbacks, most of the time, function like a mirror held for us..

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Wojtek,
If you instead look at each photo as a stand-alone story, and contemplate what is going on with that person or that place or the people that live in that building or work in that factory, then each image remains powerful... no matter how many are offered!

If we only needed one picture of a starving child in Africa, where would Selgado be today? Or Evans? Or Levitt? Or...(pick the name of any great street/journalist photographer of the past.

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

I think the question I have for you is...do YOU like your reportage photos?

At the end of the day, that's really what matters. I also want to say that it is pretty brave to post your hard work and ask everyone to critique it.

Thank you David. My answer to your question is YES, in fact I am pretty satisfied with the photo series I got from this trip. I do think I have scratched the surface, but the surface of several aspects of the city. I didn't think I could stay there 3 days and come home having captured the core of a half a million inhabitant city, or the core of a country. Expecting that would be absurd. The very good comments I'm getting from people I got to know there, are worth more than anything else, with all due respect to forumers here.

Are we not in a constant pursue for the better? At least to learn? Why do we visit such forums? Do they not contribute to our development?

"I'd love to hear feedback from you, as I value the experience this blog is full of." Now I do not need to inquire what the OP was feeling for his reportage after those slight modifications...

Appropriate feedbacks, most of the time, function like a mirror held for us..

I do value any feedback from you all. However, I was mainly interested in receiving comments on the content of my work, more than the purely aesthetic choice of vignetting and color treatment. Slaughtering a piece of work based on that only, without saying a word on the content, the strenght or lack thereof of the pictures, the compostion, doesn't show great critical capabilities, to put it mildly..

Wojtek,
If you instead look at each photo as a stand-alone story, and contemplate what is going on with that person or that place or the people that live in that building or work in that factory, then each image remains powerful... no matter how many are offered!

If we only needed one picture of a starving child in Africa, where would Selgado be today? Or Evans? Or Levitt? Or...(pick the name of any great street/journalist photographer of the past.

Exactly. Of course I'd never submit 100 photos to a paper or a travel magazine, but this is my personal blog, a way of sharing my experiences and thoughts, and space is gratis. What's wrong with making a point (e.g. the well functioning bus service) using 6 photos, provided they are all decent? The text touches several aspects of the city, and I chose to use several shots for each of these "themes". Good that several people appreciate that. My thought is that you'd better be Salgado if you want to make all your points with ONE shot.. ;-)

 

[mynikonf2]

Part II is a totally different experience, diversity = interest. Left me wanting Part III.
Oh, when I used the word Bleak to describe Part I, it was not meant in a negative way. If I had, had no reaction to your
images, then I might have said something like, 'I did not like your photo-shop technique or this one needs more cropping.' But because
your work did give me a sense that this place had been dropped into the middle of nowhere, a place I called Bleak for lack of a
better word, I see Part I as a success followed by an even better Part II.

 

[seakayaker1]

Andrea, thanks for posting the journal and beautiful photographs. I appreciate seeing areas of the world that, most likely, I will never have the opportunity to see in person. Enjoyed your story and photographs that followed in both part I & II!


From reading through the comments, it appears that I missed an earlier version of the blog. I jumped right to your blog from the original post and glad I did since reading some of the comments may have discouraged me and I would have missed out on an interesting journey.


Keep up the good work and look forward to your next journal entry.

Thanks, Dan

 

[newsgrunt]

Definitely need to edit tighter. Much tighter. Too many repetitive photos. Also wasn't feeling the toning in the second set (HDR?).

Many of the photos feel too much like snapshots without much thought about composition. Shoot less, compose more. You had some nice images but they got lost amongst the rest that were less worthy.

Have someone help with a tighter edit and narrow it down by at least half imo. For an idea of what works, see what Donald Weber has done in that part of the world.

Being there physically is one part of the equation, the other is feeling connected to the place, understanding the mood if you will.

 

[Andrea Taurisano]

I was in Murmansk twice, once as a tourist and once on a cargo ship... I must say the pictures do not really transmit the feeling I had when I was there.
Lose the vignette and/or the processing, the city is a bit more cheerful than that 🙂.

Other than that, a nice trip through memory lane. Thanks for that ! I'd love to go there around "Summer" once.

Each and every one of us who visit a new place brings back home their very own impressions, which will largely vary depending on time of the year, duration of the stay, what we did, whom we were there with and so on. I am actually getting very positive comments from people from Murmansk who are seeing the photos, so someone at least sees their city in my series.

 

[RFluhver]

Sorry, I didn't like it either. Some of the images look strange, like almost HDRry or something. Also, when I think about this part of the world I'm always thinking rough and tough. But except for the surroundings, it seems that Murmansk is not mich different to anywhere else.