Please critique

F

Fabio Ruffet

Fabio
Local time
7:31 PM
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
49
Hi guys,

I have been following this forum for quite some time now but always reading rather than contributing. Possibly because I have much more to learn than I have knowledge to share : )

That said I am getting more and more into photography and would really like your honest opinion on my work which you will be able to see here:

http://fabioruffet.tumblr.com/

Please don't be afraid to be too honest, that's the only way I will improve

Many thanks in advance!

F
 
I think the shots in My Top Pics are pretty good, sorry too much work to analyse each one, you may get a better response posting single shots in the critique section here ... I particularly like the John Betjeman statue (in St Pancras is it?)
 
Hi Fabio,

I had a look at your top pics and the two that stood out to me were 'feeling sad' and 'human stampede' ... these are very good IMO.
 
Many thanks guys.

Keith, those are two of my favourite ones. Many thanks for taking the time to take a look!

Any tips that spring to mind?
 
Fabio Ruffet said:
Many thanks guys.

Keith, those are two of my favourite ones. Many thanks for taking the time to take a look!

Any tips that spring to mind?
Click to expand...


Keep shooting what you want and consider using the gallery here as a yardstick. I upload images to the gallery at RFF and watch the view count carefully to see what happens. Also the comments you receive can be helpful though I find them less important than the view count in the final analysis. It's what attracts people's eyes that really matters IMO and if the thumbnail was interesting enough to cause them click on it in large numbers you know you have something worthwhile. Then try to analyse what that 'something' was!

All this of course keeping in mind that it's your vision and how you present it in an interesting way is up to you.
 
From a presentation standpoint I would say lose the drop shadows and hide your tags. I find both of those things distracting. I also think you should edit a little harder. You have some great images, but then you also show a mediocre version of the same concept. Also your black and white processing gives you a look that is in my very humble opinion a little harsh for most of your subject matter.
 
4am taxi ride is a wonderful shot. Reminds me of Saul Leiter, even though black and white. I like the soft colours of some of the shots on the front page, especially the pool. I agree that on my iPad some of the black and whites look too contrasty, especially as others have much nicer tonality. I've looked at some of your pictures before on RFF: I remain impressed.
 
tranquil is a nice shot.

it's got a lot of subtle things in it that add up to make it a really nice shot IMO.

real talk: I don't think your other shots live up to that one. if I except make up, fresh fruit or 4 am taxi (all of which I also like) then I see either too much or too little going on subject wise without going to the full extreme for my personal taste.

be careful what you wish though. it's not that I doubt the thickness of your skin but rather it's hard to know how to take some people's advice. occasionally a compliment should be taken as an insult and an insult as a compliment.
 
Hi Fabio,

some nice shots, some have a strong composition, to some you might have a particular connection but for others these are more travel documents of places you have visited. Usually these are skipped pretty quickly.

Earlier today I had a very quick look and found one picture particularly striking. A girl sitting or kneeling down in an underpass (title ?) with a longer exposure and camera movement, b&w. I could not find this one again looking at your website now.

My favorites : human stampede, long way up, 4am taxi ride
These I personally like because they are interesting to explore and not so easy to grasp at a glance.

As Keith recommended already, post some shots in the member gallery to get a larger exposure in the forum, than just in one thread. Keep shooting, have fun.
 
Fabio, outstanding work presented here. Your work in London on the streets are excellent and show you have a good photographic vision! Keep shooting and posting that's the only way to more excellence.
 
I can see what catches your eye in these shots. I liked 'em but there are too many for me to be more specific. Thanks for posting them.
 
Ditto to what all above has said. Some of your pictures are really great, with time, your whole portfolio can/will consist of only great images!

I particularly like.

Tranquil
Feeling sad
4am taxi ride
Hang in there

Some comments off the top of my head..

"Friends" is almost really good, but there is something about the composition that makes me think that scene could have been even better represented. Don't know if I would like to have seen more of the building outside, or less.. Maybe a person walking by in the foreground would have made it more dynamic? Don't know, just thinking out loud.

If "Traveler" was a real person in that pose instead of a statue, I'd like it even more :) I love the composition, but always have a hard time getting excited over pictures of statues, but that's just my personal taste.

I think something is missing in the foreground of "Human stampede". It's a cool shot and i love the wideness of it, but I'd love to see a face or something, even if blurry, right up close. The photo now looks more like a background photo than a photo standing on it's own I think.

I love the color, light and composition in "Japanese Diner" but I'd like to have some sort of life in there. A dog, bird or human would have been nice I think..

Nice work though!
Max
 
My brief impressions of your work (and also the way you've displayed it, as this is also useful to consider):

- some excellent shots (4am Taxi Ride comes immediately to mind), but I'd suggest some ruthless editing to keep the standard uniformly high. Your people shots gallery leads with Gritty street, which doesn't seem gritty to me. Impact and meaning mean more to me than technical excellence (it's easy to produce very boring, technically excellent work). Looking at a page of thumbnails is a good way to see which images jump out at you. Most processing software allows you to compare a bunch of images this way. Work to your strengths. Editing can be very challenging, and I'm certainly no expert.
- try to keep image size to allow the whole image to be viewed in its entirety without scrolling. I had to scroll vertically for many, and there was no white space at the sides. Some space around each image makes it easier to view on a web page. I suggest max 800px wide and about max 700px high. Not everyone has a big, wide screen.
- there is noticeable processing variability both in bw and colour. As far as possible, try to have a consistent "look" to your images, this becomes part of your style. I accept that some subjects are high contrast and others not, and colour saturation and balance can be tricky. Over-processed images get tiresome and draw attention to the processing rather than the content. I'd suggest comparing your strong work with examples from recognised photographers you admire, and use those examples when working on your post processing skills. It might also be an idea to separate colour film from colour digital, as they are very different looks. Also, in some images the focus of attention is too underexposed e.g. the people in Sunday walk - we are programmed to look at faces, so always pay close attention to how they are rendered in pp.
- Some colour images just might have more impact in bw (e.g. Nice guy) - worth experimenting before you upload?
- Give careful thought to titles. Some titles seem trite e.g. Zzzzz, Old man (is that really how you'd define him?) or too generalised e.g. Buildings (what are you saying with that image?), or confusing e.g. Bridge (my eye is drawn to the Hagia Sophia and to the fishing rods, not the actual bridge), and, funnily enough, Confused. NB there are two different images with the same title of Bridge. If you wanted to sell your photos, or just want to avoid confusion, they need a unique title or identifier. Also, in two instances the same image is displayed twice with two different titles - Old man, and mmm..., as well as London and London View - confusing!
- About me page doesn't tell me enough about you and your photography.

Pictures that I liked: Top Pics: 4am Taxi Ride and Feeling Sad. Other galleries: Make up, Striking tattoo II, Nice guy, East End boy, Life is..., Sunshine in Brockwell Park, Tokyo fish market II, Traveller, Lost in Translation, Zebra man.

Asking for critique is always fraught with difficulty - you will inevitably get conflicting opinions. And unqualified ones. And everything in between. Keith's advice about number of views is a very good indicator!

Thanks for sharing your pictures. I did enjoy looking at them.

cheers,
 
I looked through "My Top Pics" and I have to say that there doesn't seem to be a consistent visual thread, or theme, to tie them all together. I have to admit that I struggle with this as well when putting together my own site. Feel free to have a look--I'm not trying to upstage you at all, but it never hurts to have more examples of what to do, and what not to do--to get an idea of how others have tried to deal with this.

www.trevorsaylor.com

Overall, your shots are good. Keep going, and keep editing your site as you get more work in your portfolio.
 
Keith said:
Keep shooting what you want and consider using the gallery here as a yardstick. I upload images to the gallery at RFF and watch the view count carefully to see what happens. Also the comments you receive can be helpful though I find them less important than the view count in the final analysis. It's what attracts people's eyes that really matters IMO and if the thumbnail was interesting enough to cause them click on it in large numbers you know you have something worthwhile. Then try to analyse what that 'something' was!

All this of course keeping in mind that it's your vision and how you present it in an interesting way is up to you.
Click to expand...

Great point!
 
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