The Blonde & The Hat - Critique Please!

[venchka]

Give it to me straight. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

Early 70s. Covington, LA. Rodeo. The Real Tri-X. Nikon F Photomic. 400mm/5.6 Novoflex Follow Focus. Hand held.

Thanks!

 

[Avotius]

Im going to be really frank. My gf (who is also a photographer) and I are looking at this picture, and we are completely devoid of feeling towards this image. There is nothing to really hold the eye, the reason our eye travels around the image to tell the truth is because we are trying to find what you think is so interesting in this picture. Please dont take offense to this, but its nothing special, in fact in our opinions it's really nothing at all.

 

[Tuolumne]

You win the focusing competition!

You win the focusing competition!

Well, if rodeos had focusing contests you would win. A very difficult lens to focus in a very difficult low light situation. Feel better? 😀

/T

 

[venchka]

Thanks! I appreciate your opinions.

 

[like2fiddle]

I love Tri-x, and as far as that goes, the texture of the hat really stands out. But regarding the subject, well, I've got a pretty good imagination, but, not on this one. Sorry.

 

[WoolenMammoth]

your gamma needs to be adjusted.

this could serve to work against another image but isnt doing much standing on its own.

 

[Tuolumne]

I see an ear in there. Perhaps if you had focused on that there would have been an object to grab onto. But given the lens, you were probably lucky to get what you did.

/T

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Give it to me straight. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

Alrighty, then.

The Good: it'll incense technique-oriented photographers.

The Bad: you're not a famous highly-paid commercial photographer, so this won't get displayed at any British art museum. 😱

The Ugly: I think this is one of those instances where you need to do some "dramatic" post-processing, to see if it can convey a sense of "drama" to those who need it (most viewers respond more to the "drama" and drive-thru style of "wham! bam!" image impact than gourmet representation of lines, curves and ::gasp:: bokeh).

 

[venchka]

Y'all are good. I'm learning a lot. Not much I can do with this photo, but good input for next time. I'm also thinking I need to have my head examined for selling my Nikon gear and the 40mm lens not long after this trip to the rodeo many moons ago.

Thanks!

 

[david.elliott]

I'm just an amateur, but I figured I would try my hand at editing / critiquing anyway. Hope you dont mind.

In general, I like the image. Impressive given the equipment you used and the fast pace of rodeos.

My general problem with the image is I keep getting drawn to the circular out of focus (bokeh) area in the center right of the image, rather than to the hat and the hair.

I performed some quick edits in lightroom (few minutes max) to arrive at something that is a bit more aesthetically pleasing, to my eyes anyway. I basically increased the contrast and the blacks, lowered the clarity, adjusted the darks and shadows of the tone curve, added a vignette, and played around a bit with the sharpening. All to create something a bit more "dramatic" as was mentioned above. Somebody better with photoshop or lightroom could probably still darken the bokeh areas - I think they are still too bright, but I dont have time to adjust them.

Anyway, here is my edit of it. I think the higher contrast, overall slightly darker tone, and slightly sharper hat and hair edge with overall softer hair help to draw the eye to the hat brim.

Again, hope you dont mind - and hope it helps. 😛

Thanks for sharing the photo!

 

[venchka]

Don't mind a bit. Thanks!

 

[Mackinaw]

Notwithstanding any technical considerations, I guess I don't see the point of this photograph? What made you click the shutter? What caught your eye and what were you trying to capture?

Jim B.

 

[venchka]

First of all, that was a hundred years ago. I just discovered the negatives at Christmas. I started scanning my old negatives and ran across this long forgotten roll of Tri-X from my first & last attempt at an outdoor, nighttime sporting event. In this case, a small town rodeo.

Guessing. I saw something in the confluence of blonde hair, black hat, shadow and lights in the background? The lady probably moved before I could get any more tries at whatever it was I was trying to accomplish.

 

[George S.]

I don't understand. You ask for advice for a 35 year old shot and say the critique will help you get better. This begs a question... What have you been doing photographically ( if anything ) in the last 35 years? And do you think you improved at all in that time? ( Apologies if you've been incarcerated all this time )

 

[Gumby]

I don't understand. You ask for advice for a 35 year old shot and say the critique will help you get better. This begs a question... What have you been doing photographically ( if anything ) in the last 35 years? And do you think you improved at all in that time? ( Apologies if you've been incarcerated all this time )

You don't think critique of old images is worthwhile for personal improvement? Then we all should stop reading photography books and going to museums. :bang:

 

[venchka]

I have been away for quite awhile.

As I said earlier, I only attempted this type of photography (nightime outdoor rodeo) on this one evening. I would like to try again during the upcoming rodeo season.

On the other hand, Blonde & Hat could have been taken anytin, anywhere for any reason. Parts of the photo work. Parts of the photo don't work. If/when I try something like this again, I hopefully will remember some of the help offered here.

 

[Gumby]

Oh, Wayne... my "critique": too much blonde and not enough hat. I'd consider cropping out most of the bottom of the image and move the point of interest to the hat.

 

[venchka]

Heaven Forbid!

Heaven Forbid!

You don't think critique of old images is worthwhile for personal improvement? Then we all should stop reading photography books and going to museums. :bang:

We can't have that. Otherwise, I would not have seen a gallery full of Ansel Adams photographs last month.

Thanks! I'm loathe to crop but I'll give it a shot.

 

[FrankS]

For me, I'd like to see a bit more of the side of her face so that I could tell what I was looking at more easily. Her hair is a bit of a jumble and confusing as well. Image does not work for me because it doesn't show anything that I can connect to. There is a hat brim but that's not enough (for me).

 

[Keith]

I think if she'd had her head turned a few more degrees to the right and there had been even the faintest outline of her face it would have made the image work a lot better.