|
xenilk posted:I think you should read the OP where it says Because the point of this thread is to help people improve? I'm sorry that a few minutes of critical thinking is so hard for you.
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:02
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 23:09 |
|
|
Ok, just to be super clear, because I mean, people should know what the rules are (and I'll edit the OP in a second). Low-effort critique will probably get you called out but not probated, as stated in the OP. Absolutely no critique at all will get you probated.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:04
|
|
|
Demon_Corsair posted:Because the point of this thread is to help people improve? I'm sorry that a few minutes of critical thinking is so hard for you. I'm not saying it's "hard". I'm saying I'm not good at it other than the technical aspect. I also find that saying to someone "I feel like this picture is meaningless" is putting myself over that person's way of thinking. Who am I to tell someone that their work means nothing? And be fair, you know that I've given guidance regarding posture/poses/cropping for portraits specifically. It's not like I come and spam my pictures all over the place and never ask or answer questions.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:06
|
|
|
xenilk posted:I'm not saying it's "hard". I'm saying I'm not good at it other than the technical aspect. So start with the technical aspects if that is what you are comfortable with. Ask them what they were trying to convey with a picture if its meaningless to you. If nothing else that gets them thinking about what they were trying to say. Critiquing is a very useful skill to have since thinking about photographs and what you like and don't like is a very good way to improve your shots. So practice more. No one is going to make fun of you for a bad critique. Edit: Speaking of bad critiques, heres one. dukeku posted:Here's a "discard" from a recent roll that I could use some feedback on: I think the car lot is probably one of the least interesting elements in the scene. I find that the sign catches my eye, then I follow the lines of the side walk/fence/power poles to the gas station in the distance. Demon_Corsair fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Apr 3, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:12
|
|
|
fnif posted:
I'm compelled to mention that I like this pic, since some others offered harsh critiques. I like the palette and the almost cinematic vibe I'm getting off it. I don't even care that the weed isn't entirely in focus!  Pop's Dairy Bar by Winston85, on Flickr Mightaswell fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Apr 3, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:14
|
|
|
Mightaswell posted:
I like the subject, but I feel you could have done a little better including the sidewalk in the frame. If you had backed up a tiny bit and allowed the curb to sneak into the frame, you would have a nice "corner" feel going on. I'd also probably shoot it 15 minutes earlier into the sunset for a bit more ambient light on the building and a bit more contrast in the sky.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:20
|
|
|
dukeku posted:I like the subject, but I feel you could have done a little better including the sidewalk in the frame. If you had backed up a tiny bit and allowed the curb to sneak into the frame, you would have a nice "corner" feel going on. I'd also probably shoot it 15 minutes earlier into the sunset for a bit more ambient light on the building and a bit more contrast in the sky. Thanks, I didn't even notice that sidewalk thing. Agreed on the time of day as well.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 19:28
|
|
|
I want to like this more, but the glow from the city lights doesn't sit well with the sky. It seems like the sky should be darker. But good on you for shooting Chicago's skyline from somewhere other than out on the lake.  It's not the most flattering angle but it's nice to bust cliches.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 20:02
|
|
|
xzzy posted:I want to like this more, but the glow from the city lights doesn't sit well with the sky. It seems like the sky should be darker. It was taken at that special moment right before it starts getting dark. I always like shooting skylines then because you still have a lighter sky with the orange glow from street lights in addition to the building lights. I can see why you think it's a bit unnatural looking though, it doesn't look like that too often. It was from my old apartment's balcony so I got to see it pretty often, and it's why the angle is what it is. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 20:06
|
|
|
fnif posted:
i really like this. good color combo (TEAL AND ORANGE!) and i love the play of patterns. i would crop it way tighter tho, lose the entire right side and isolate the orange reed. perhaps i would have also shot it from a tiny bit higher to try and put the background as more of the lighter water and not so much with the darker mud, but then you might lose a little reflection which i thought was one of the nice features. don't listen to people who say it's just a reed. the ability to make something mundane beautiful is a very important one. one man's pile of trash is another man's urban decay paradise. Cyberbob posted:Mine: i like the first one, but i agree the face lighting is a little hot. second: the posing is all over the map here. her hand is all clenched up, obviously because she is holding herself up, but in the shot directly before this one in your stream you have her hand spot on perfect. i actually prefer the posing in that one much more even tho she looks a bit larger because of the chin chop. if you had the posing of the other one, but the head and hair placement of this one i think it would be a perfect shot. my other gripe is about her legs, they look too pasty, but not in a hot goth vampire way. third: i would agree with the other poster who said lose the vignette on top. i would also love to see a bit more fill or rim lighting in her hair to see more detail. her hanging arm is also a bit awkward, i like to have people slightly curve the non-posed arm so that it proved a little more shape and detail to both her arm and body. also perhaps have her look a slight bit more out inside of so far to the side so you can get some catchlight going, altho dead eyes does work for this composition a lot better than it would work for some. if this were me and i had all the lights in the world, i would specifically aim a small snooted light at her lipstick. dark lipstick can be crazy hard to photo, not enough light and it looks like a hole in the face, the wrong light and it looks like someone ate a sugar donut right before you shot. dukeku posted:
love this, kill the person whose toyota that is, use the toyota to dump the body, then reshoot. here are some from me i could use critique on:  pool shot. my issue with this is if i straight it so the lane rope is straight, the feet are off. if i straighten it so the feet are right, the lane rope makes the whole thing look tilted. if i crop any off the top, i lose the flying water that brings so much motion to the shot. i think i just need to resink this pool so that it lines up straight for my photographic satisfaction. and the reason that i left the second hand in is because this was a shot of a race and i wanted to show the closeness of the race. i know it's distracting but i made the choice to go with the story of the images and not the composition of one shot.  windup doll. i think i need another light on the lower half of her body. top half: creamy skin, lower half: turning into a zombie. also i should have GOBOed the sun off her hair. also the key needs more fill.  i was going for a sort of "fog stealing through the sunlight" look here with a "nature, city, nature" motif going from foreground to background. that power line haunts me. i should probs fix that lens flare too. i'm not thrilled with this, but it is part of my ongoing documentation of that tower from every spot and weather pattern in sf. hepkitten fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Apr 3, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 20:11
|
|
|
xenilk posted:I think you should read the OP where it says So I guess you didn't look at anything in this thread besides the OP?  Let me help you out a little by quoting this post below. It'll make you a better photographer and hopefully a better poster as well.Bottom Liner posted:I'm going to post this here to help both people that are shy about posting critiques and those that are shy about posting photos. Mightaswell posted:I'm compelled to mention that I like this pic, since some others offered harsh critiques. I think a slight angle from shooting a bit more to the left would help define the building as a space rather than a surface, which I think would make it more interesting - the picture isn't just about the sign, right? Aside from the generically pretty-looking sky, most of the visual interest for me is in the boat stuck in the mud at low tide. Could you have gotten closer to it so it wouldn't be lost in the visual clutter right above it? Cyberbob posted:Mine: Nice job balancing flash and ambient in this one. VomitOnLino posted:The tonality and texture of this one speaks to me even though it is quite simplistic. I guess the composition could be better. Both of these are cropped in ways that bother me. Pull back a bit - I feel context and surroundings are important to both of these. I want to see more of the body language of the guy smoking. Also, is he looking at something or just staring off into space? AtomicManiac posted:I absolutely love this. There's something about lighting like that, it just makes me want to only take pictures of gas stations at night. I've never been able to properly put it in words, maybe it's just because I love light that comes from above (which is how I light like 95% of my portraits). The blacks aren't black. Is that intentional? Also agreeing that you should crop to emphasize the action, since it's really tight on the left. HeyEng posted:Here's one from flying today. Usually I take the camera to go snapshot the landscape or whatever but I figured might as well try to capture just how complex and dingy a flight deck really is. I think you framed this really well for your intent but I'd like to see it with more depth of field if you really want to emphasize the complexity of an instrument panel. AIIAZNSK8ER posted:Thing I found interesting tonight: I agree with the people telling you to leave all the black space to the left; I like the isolated feel it gives. I'd include more black space to the right, though, to balance the picture a bit better. dukeku posted:I really, really like this although I think it would be a bit more effective if you had made the perspective lines created in the ceiling intersect with the edges of the frame. Were you perfectly centered when you took the shot? I think the reason this doesn't work as well as some of your other stuff is because there's so many competing subjects going on - the lines in the right 1/4 and top 1/3, the sign, the phone booth, the car on the near side of the fence conferring with its imprisoned buddies, etc. No one subject is strong enough to make me say "that is the subject of this photo." Demon_Corsair posted:I think this may have worked better if the duck was just a silhouette, so being out of focus wouldn't matter. This is a fantastic scene and you should go back when you have a camera where you can use some front rise. Also, the dust  fnif posted:I like this one, but there's something that's just not working for me. I don't know, but somehow I feel that the jacket is taking too much of my notice. Was the intent just "the light hitting this thing is nice, let me capture it"? Tell us more about what you were hoping for and we can help you make it better. Dread Head posted:I dig everything about this - the color, the detail in the moss, the way the eye flows through the picture along with the water... eggsovereasy posted:
I think this is better off for the flat tire - it provokes more questions, along with your choice of black & white. If I didn't know you'd taken this, it could be from when the car was new. EatinCake posted:Here are a few from myself. What do these tell us about the subjects' personalities? As far as I know, for example, the first one suggests he's the kind of wanker who ~ironically~ sharpies "thug life" on their fingers. Remember that the rest of us don't know these people. TheLastManStanding posted:This first one is definitely channeling some William T. Hornaday up in here. Ambihelical Hexnut posted:No SAD makes me sad, but I'll play along. Recent critique a few posts above this one. I love both of these but the first one especially reminds me favorably of William Garnett's abstract aerial landscapes. Keep going with this. Find beauty in these smaller sections of landscape, if you can. ohrwurm posted:
I too would like this more without the road/guardrail at the bottom. It's a cathedral-like space and the road takes away from what would otherwise be a visually pure image. hepkitten posted:
The hand in the foreground isn't enough to tell the story - as is, it's just a distracting, disembodied hand. For it to tell the story more completely we'd need to see more of the second-place finisher attached to it, even if it were still a tight crop. The green in the skin on "windup doll" is what makes me think "zombie." Maybe a masked color adjustment would help? Musket posted:I really quite like this one. The colors pop rather well with each other, and i really enjoy how much depth is added by the farm in the distance. Over all a really great photo. The vignetting is a little extreme. Also, I can't un-see the little bit of clear reflection right under the middle of the bridge - I wish it weren't there.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 21:10
|
|
|
Augmented Dickey posted:This is really cool. It took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at, and I mean that in a good way. Might want to try taking care of the hair and dust on the film though- it's very easy to remove in post with b&w film. I appreciate the comment, but it's not film! The spots are bubbles on the tank wall and the hair formed a big long bubble around it. We just moved the tank, that's why it's so foggy and dirty.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 21:29
|
|
|
hepkitten posted:2 - The second image though needs help. It took me a few seconds to even notice the wind up key; it definitely needs something to bring it out. I'm also not enjoying the coloring; I understand that it was probably done for some dreamy effect, but the split tone on the hair looks sloppy and her complexion is pasty. Compositionally I think it's fine, it's just the post work that needs to be redone. 3 - You could take out that power line and the lens flare with 5 seconds of content aware fill, though some of it should be done manually to preserve the more iconic/noticeable buildings. The photo itself is okay; though as many people will tell you it's hard (nearly impossible) to take a good/unique photo of a monument from a well known location. There's probably at least one person every day that walks past the Starr King Open Space and takes this exact same picture. If you're going to take a photo of the giant pickle fork, try to be at least a little different and stand under it
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 23:38
|
|
|
TheLastManStanding posted:If you're going to take a photo of the giant pickle fork, try to be at least a little different and stand under it Snapshot a Day is that way, bud- Oh wait. No it's not. What did you do here? It looks sort of like a double exposure thing, but I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at. I do like the contrast of the tower-thing against the nice forest backdrop, but in the top left of the image it all just gets a bit confusing. EDIT: To clarify, I like this photo
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 00:50
|
|
|
ButtMonkey posted:Snapshot a Day is that way, bud- Fun fact: Despite being nearly 1000 ft tall, Sutro Tower is still less than half the height of the tallest structure in the US, and is barely more than a third the height of the tallest building in the world.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 01:37
|
|
|
samjack56 posted:
1. Waterfall I don't know how to take a photo of a waterfall either. 2. Bird This is well composed and the lighting is good. The bird is in a classic bird pose. The cloud in the background frames the subject well. This type of photo is good for testing your telephoto lens and autofocus system, and if you only press the shutter button once, it's good practice for your eye for pressing that photo at the correct moment to capture the perfect shot of something in action. 3. Horse I think this shot works very well. I like the silhouette and how the light accents the horse, and how the trees add an interesting structure around the horse visually. The only thing I would change is maybe I would crop it so that everything left of the tree behind the horses behind was gone. Really like this one. I decided to take a photograph today:  2012-95 by Tom Rintjema, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 01:57
|
|
|
I have a new baby as of Thursday so I've been working on taking better baby photos. Consolidated hands 'n feet by Greg Short, on Flickr I love this one. The colors are warm and wonderful for the springtime, the image itself is clear and sharp, the lines are nice with a sort of background-in-the-foreground from the cloth, and everything else really draws the focus of my eye into the center of the image with the jumble of fingers and toes. If I had the skills, I'd photoshop out the adult finger on the left side, since I don't think a tighter crop would work here. If I were imaginarily publishing this, I'd remove a couple of the skin pieces on the hand. Beyond that, I can't really think of anything I'd change here, or compose differently, but I'd really love some further feedback.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 02:33
|
|
|
Bad Munki posted:I have a new baby as of Thursday so I've been working on taking better baby photos. I can see you're trying to do something, it's just not coming together. What are you trying to focus on? Your baby's form? The details of his/her hand? As you've said it's a jumble of fingers and toes. This photo is chaotic and you need to bring more order to it. Maybe you could pose your child a little bit better so s/he isn't bunched up or switch tactics and fill the frame with his/her hands and/or feet. As for the colors, I'm just not a fan at all. I just don't think the two yellows and the skin tones go together very well. In fact, I'd say do a black and white conversion but I don't think it's worth salvaging this photo. I know my critique is a little harsh but I don't mean to come off as a dick; just being honest. I think you're on the right track and just need to spend more time experimenting with your baby photographs. I'm sure that won't be a problem.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 02:51
|
|
|
...
TsarAleksi fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Apr 20, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 02:56
|
|
|
Haggins posted:I can see you're trying to do something, it's just not coming together. What are you trying to focus on? Your baby's form? The details of his/her hand? As you've said it's a jumble of fingers and toes. This photo is chaotic and you need to bring more order to it. Maybe you could pose your child a little bit better so s/he isn't bunched up or switch tactics and fill the frame with his/her hands and/or feet. I did try the black and white thing but it really did nothing for the image and just made it feel really bland. The intended focus was really just the chaotic-but-delicate jumble of digits, with the incredibly calm atmosphere that was present when the photo was taken. Posing is difficult, but is something I'm slowly figuring out how to trick her into doing. For the moment, it's more a matter of snapping a picture when I see something interesting. Harsh or not, it's fair, I'm not offended or anything. Everyone gets a different vibe, and I'll be the first to point out that I'm obviously biased in regards to anything concerning this baby, so that's likely to change my own self-critique in a pretty heavy way.  Since you pointed it out, though, I can see how the jumble is perhaps too chaotic. Part of my own critique is probably also affected by the multitude of pictures I went through to get that one, and by comparison, it's positively tranquil. On the other hand, I feel like just getting a big image of a single hand or foot, though, is too common, like the sort of thing you see in every freakin' baby frame at walmart. I'm not sure how better to compose all four extremities...The only thing I think I actively disagree with is the colors, as I really like them. Contrast is definitely nice and can make for some really eye-popping images, but to me, the lack of color contrast makes the image feel much more subdued and calm.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 03:21
|
|
|
TsarAleksi posted:The coloring is pretty but the composition isn't working-- there just isn't enough to this to make it a compelling shot. You needed to work more with how you placed yourself and framed the image in order to make it a shot that is going to pull people into it. Just a neon sign isn't enough to draw in the viewer. I've seen a lot of rockets go off and that exhaust looks weird to me. Was it originally that orange or did you mess with it in post? Or is it just some weird fuel that it uses?
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 03:37
|
|
|
Haggins posted:I've seen a lot of rockets go off and that exhaust looks weird to me. Was it originally that orange or did you mess with it in post? Or is it just some weird fuel that it uses? Yes I mucked around with it a bit in post, the original looks more like this.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 03:44
|
|
|
samjack56 posted:
Yeah I think it's an improvement. That could just be me though I dunno 
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:04
|
|
|
I'm glad PAD is finally being brought back to life. BM, are you going to break it up into months (or maybe quarterly?) like before? I think it would make it easier to go back to threads and find photos you liked. TomR posted:
I like this. It's got drama and subtle action. The murkiness draws you in but makes you wonder what will pop out. AIIAZNSK8ER posted:Thing I found interesting tonight: This is a photo that would do well as a large print. It's uncomfortable, which is a good thing in this instance. AtomicManiac posted:
Not sure why you muted the blacks in this, it doesn't work for me. The focus is okay as it is at this size. While you could crop it as others have suggested, it might make it feel a bit cramped unless you changed the ratio (e.g. 4x5, which would work well). alkanphel posted:I shot this with a subtle light but I was told that it was a bit too dark for sushi , though I think a brighter look might have reduced the richness of the colors. I think this is definitely too dark. It makes the sushi look putrid (sorry but it's true). I would also consider have a bit more of an even spread of light. Food photography also tends to work better with more in focus - you want to see what you're going to eat! Santa is strapped posted:My thoughts on my photo are that I like the sense of scale within. I also like the "lines" - the path, the river and the trees - I like how it goes from left to right with the tall tree to smaller trees to small person to bigger trees and finish with a tall tree on the right. What I can do without is the guy and replace him with a model, so I guess the next time I go to Banff I'll keep that in mind. This is beautiful, nicely done. Would love to see this in a large print. hepkitten posted:You are overthinking it, just rotate it a few degrees to get the rope straight. hepkitten posted:This is very, very green. I would work on the color temperature. The hair is fine. I think the photo could use a bit less light, actually (I prefer shadows). See how the face has dimension and the arm is a fleshy mess? Do some dodge/burn and give it a bit of depth and see how you like it! hepkitten posted:Sorry, I would reshoot this. Bad Munki posted:
I took a shot at it, 2 minutes. I lowered the orangeness a bit and took your crop challenge. I think the closer crop makes it a bit more intimate. The skin took 10 seconds, I magnified and used the patch tool. A slight bit of dodge and burn on the cloth too. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:07
|
|
|
TomR posted:I decided to take a photograph today: This is really gorgeous. I've always been a fan of how you can add so much sky in something and still make everything else in the picture just as powerful. The processing on the sky is really nicely done - dramatic enough without being too much. The time of day this was shot at looks to be about the most perfect time you could have done it - the colours are really nice. The little bit of noise adds to the feeling of desolation I think. I absolutely love the one light in the left window. I waffle on my feelings with the construction stuff. I feel that if it weren't included, the image would be stronger, but I also think it would be a lot more cliche so I'm undecided. However, I really like the radio towers (??) and the power lines and poles in this shot, and I feel maybe it would be strong enough with just those added elements. Anyway, it's great. I shot this with a subtle light but I was told that it was a bit too dark for sushi , though I think a brighter look might have reduced the richness of the colors.  Sushi by alkanphel, on Flickr I agree that this one is just a touch too dark. I think food always looks way better when it's bright, and I don't think bringing it up a touch would hurt the texture or colours. The food placement is really appealing though, and if it were a bit brighter, it'd be fantastic. I started changing the way I do portraits. Here are a few:  IMG_1886 by Breanne Unger, on Flickr  IMG_1787 by Breanne Unger, on Flickr  IMG_1751 by Breanne Unger, on Flickr Obviously I'm going for 2 totally different looks with these sets, but I like them both. The first 2 because it was the first time someone hired me and I think I did a pretty good job of posing them casually (you can take a look at the whole set if you want: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrot_flowers/sets/72157629371499022/) but I wish I had gotten more variety in the poses. I think I got a nice natural smile in a lot of them, but wish I would have incorporated more fun poses. I also like the processing, but it's something I always struggle with so I don't know. The third picture is probably one of my favourite portraits I've taken. I had to crop it quite close because the way I posed her made her arm look huge (it still looks too big) but I like the closer crop - I feel it makes it more intimate. I also am quite happy that I spent 5 dollars on some home made reflectors and it's probably the most useful thing in my camera bag...sigh. I can't decide if I want more contrast or not.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:21
|
|
|
CarrotFlowers posted:
I like this, but I'd take the heal brush to her armpit to get rid of those wrinkles.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:36
|
|
|
CarrotFlowers posted:
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:45
|
|
|
Here are my three (I posted critique three posts up). I haven't shot in a while due to injury so I reprocessed photos to get entirely different feels from my original processing.   
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 04:57
|
|
|
Oprah Haza posted:Here are my three (I posted critique three posts up). I like the expression in the first photo, but 2 things bother me. First, it is underexposed, and second, it has the framing of a passport/driver's license photo. I like the post processing on the second picture, it reminds me of a painting. However, the picture looks really flat to me which makes it feel strange because he is a big guy. Picture three. I want to like this but I just can't. She is cute, has great hair, and beautiful eyes, but it looks like a random hand is touching her face, the top of her head is cut off, you can just barely see part of her shirt (easy enough to clone out), and it looks like she is trying to look sexy and provocative but it leaves me feeling like you snapped the picture right as she opened her mouth to say something. As for my pictures. I wanted to do something cliche, a jumping picture. Luckily I was looking in their direction right when they were acting like they were fighting. I only took 1 picture of the "fight" and this is it.  DSC_7012 by DarSevn, on Flickr Second picture. Weather has been fair here and I was waiting for the MRT, so I tried to line this up and make it look nice. I know there is a Taiwan goon here, you might or might not recognize the location, if you have been there of course.  DSC_6929 by DarSevn, on Flickr Edit: One more because I was trying to do some street shots today, along with eating and being interesting to the people I was with. Largest octopus tentacle I have ever seen at a BBQ stand here, and one of the youngest workers I have seen, she couldn't have been older than 14.  DSC_6991 by DarSevn, on Flickr Sevn fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Apr 4, 2012 |
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 13:12
|
|
|
Oprah Haza posted:Here are my three (I posted critique three posts up). 1. It looks underexposed, and is that dirt on the lens or sensor? Together they give a really grimy look to the picture. The exposure stops the "looking away" pose working for me as well, as the model is currently looking into darkness as far as I know - which makes her appear glum and completely disinterested. Honestly, the overall picture actually feels a bit seedy. 2. Processing is fine, crop is too tight, leading to a lack of depth between the microphone and his face. Currently it looks like it's practically resting on his chest and in his beard. You've caught a good expression - he's clearly concentrating quite deeply at this point, but unfortunately his eyes draw me towards a guitar that, well, isn't there. Mine:  Barren by falamhachd, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 16:08
|
|
|
Sevn posted:Edit: One more because I was trying to do some street shots today, along with eating and being interesting to the people I was with. Largest octopus tentacle I have ever seen at a BBQ stand here, and one of the youngest workers I have seen, she couldn't have been older than 14. I am sure that things were very cramped when you were taking this, but I don't think either of the things you mentioned in your explanation of the photograph are emphasized in this. It's very busy and with all the people behind her, it's hard to tell that the girl is even a worker at the stand. Not to mention that the octopus tentacle you're mentioning is all the way over on the edge of the frame. Plus it's been shot at a goofy angle. Like I said, I'm sure it was cramped, but this photo has a lot of problems. TomR posted:I decided to take a photograph today: I know I already faved it on flickr, but I really like the composition here. One for me:  Untitled by Myotomy, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 16:38
|
|
|
Okay, still struggling with fancy-pants baby pics, so I played around this morning and picked out three I'd like some further critique on. really appreciated the feedback yesterday, so let's try this again. Today, I tried to pick just a single thing to focus on, with a more color-contrasted background than yesterday's yellow, but which still isn't jarring color-wise. I have some brilliant colors I could put behind her, but I'll work up to that later I think. I think this would look better with the light coming from a less acute angle and being less directional, instead of being almost in a plane with the blanket, which made the lighting feel sort of harsh and put the fingers largely in shadow. I think the blanket ended up looking more washed out than it is in person to my eye, but I was having trouble doing anything there that I liked. I did attempt to retouch the fingers just a tiny bit to remove some shedding skin. To my untrained eye, the parts I retouched look okay, although there's still a lot of tiny bits left, but I decided to leave them rather than further apply any ham-handed editing. The skin looks a bit magenta the more I look at it. I hope the composition feels better than my previous attempt. In the end, though, I feel like this is just "a picture" and it doesn't really do anything for me or inspire any real emotions.  Hand and Blanket by Greg Short, on Flickr The same thing, but in black and white just to see how they compare. I like it, but again it doesn't really do much for me. I tried playing with the contrast and such for a bit, but the shadows are already big enough as is and most anything I did made it either washed-out or made the shadows way too black, and I feel like a baby picture like this should be soft and delicate, not hard and gritty.  Hand and Blanket in Black & White by Greg Short, on Flickr Lastly, this one was just for fun, I didn't really have a plan or anything, but I thought the end result was interesting, if nothing else. I like having the focus right on the eyelid, with everything else out of the focal plane, and the half-and-half composition of the image is, as I said, "interesting," at least to me. I feel like a more artistically-inclined person could do something more significant-feeling when taking such a picture, but I wanted to give it a try anyhow.  Baby Face by Greg Short, on Flickr
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 18:02
|
|
|
Babies with their eyes closed never works, because they look dead. Probably holds true for anyone laying down I guess, but it seems to happen the most with babies.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 19:26
|
|
|
RangerScum posted:I am sure that things were very cramped when you were taking this, but I don't think either of the things you mentioned in your explanation of the photograph are emphasized in this. It's very busy and with all the people behind her, it's hard to tell that the girl is even a worker at the stand. Not to mention that the octopus tentacle you're mentioning is all the way over on the edge of the frame. Plus it's been shot at a goofy angle. Like I said, I'm sure it was cramped, but this photo has a lot of problems. Oh cramped is an understatement. Sunny day, holiday, and one of the best markets in Taiwan. I couldn't even stop to line up anything in that shot. I don't wanna poo poo up the thread with more shots from the market, but I added one more picture to Flickr to give a sense of the amount of people in that market. It also shows the tentacle maybe a little bit better, the thing was the size and girth of my forearm! Edit: As far as your shot of the horses, I like it but I think it is a little cramped also. It looks like really dreary weather, so it would have been nice to see more of the ground and also the rest of the horse's head on the right.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 19:31
|
|
|
xzzy posted:Babies with their eyes closed never works, because they look dead. Haha, wow, you totally changed that picture for me. Probably doesn't help in that particular case, either, that the colors are as cool as they are. What if I managed to get something similar with eyes open and warmed everything up a bit? Or (instead of adjusting the temperature) did it on a sunny day instead of a really grey--but bright--overcast?
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 19:48
|
|
|
Sleeping baby shots can definitely work, but you do have to be careful of dead baby syndrome. I don't particularly get that vibe from your shot, but it's something to watch for.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 19:49
|
|
|
I agree. Dead baby look tends to be guided moreso by the color temperature and any selective coloring than by having their eyes closed. I've seen hundreds of closed eye baby photos that look great. In fact, I prefer them to eyes open shots, especially for newborns because their eyes are pretty wonky and they can look cross-eyed really easily.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 21:45
|
|
|
 I'm an utter photography scrub, so while I really like this picture, I had very little to do with why. It was taken along the canal very close to central Manchester. The image of 2-, 3-story red bricks being dwarfed by Beetham Tower sort of encapsulates it's weirdness of the recent redevelopment. The buildings (and perspective) frame the tower really nicely in the crux of a v, there's a strong colour contrast between the brown and red against the blue, and I really like the reflections of clouds against the skyscraper. I don't really know what I'm doing, so I can't really say anything further.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 22:39
|
|
|
TomR posted:I decided to take a photograph today: I love this. I started out wanting to hate it. It would be incredibly easy to hate if there was something off about it. And it wouldn't even be a "look and dismiss" viewing, it'd be something I'd remember and remember to dislike it. Straight off I saw the masts on the right and how their anchor lines were cut off and I thought I was going to not like it. Then I saw the house right on an axis and more alarm bells started going off. But then my eyes started dancing around the picture. The backwards L formed by the poles and masts, cutting a diagnol at each other. The house right in the middle to take up the foreground, diverting your attention from the lines drawn between the poles and masts. The little lights on masts contrasting against the sky. And that big sky, a huge area of nothing at all to contrast the busy lower-right foreground. There's so many pieces to the photo, and they all merge like a collage. If someone had arranged the subjects to show off their understanding of geometry I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. And it's so much more than that. The dark tone of the image, the spark of light from the masts, the thunderous, foreboding sky. If this was up large on a gallery wall I'd stop and look hard at it, and then I'd finish the tour of the gallery and come back and look some more. And I'd even remember it that night. A really excellent image. I love it. Another one from my harbour walkabout.  I didn't like this when I first went through the images after this shoot. I came back on it a few months later and decided I quite liked the harbour scene, especially the yellow, blue and green of the foreground and how that colourfulness follows through with the blue sea, red ship in the background and blue sky. I also chose this image because I haven't done much with photoshop bar follow tutorials, and I needed to work at it to get the proper colours to come out of it. My main problem with it is that there's no point of focus, maybe something living in the shot could draw focus and illustrate the contrast against the industrial side of the harbour. And I have a lot of hesitation about whether I overegged the colour. Also, I know posting images without critiquing others isn't on. How about critiquing if you don't post an image? I could understand it going either way.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 00:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 23:09 |
|
|
Buceph posted:
Please tell me that "overegged" is short for overegglestoned. I don't particularly care for this image. The tones are pleasing but almost all the dynamic lines are leading your eye out of the frame to the right side. None of the juxatposition does anything for me, there's just no drama or tension. I think the scene could have some real value if you went back and shot a bit wider.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 00:52
|
|
