Photo Critiqing Thread

[Robthebrit]

Brian,

Thanks for all your insight in this thread, its been a really good read, your edits and reasoning for them are great.

Brilliant.

Rob

 

[nwoods]

Shoot, Photo hosting site is not working.
I'll try again later.

For whatever reason, I am able to view your photos from the links within the email notice I got of your post.

http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#27
http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#11
http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#17

IMHO, you are done, they are great photos. Add some sharpening, and sell them to iStockPhoto, Corbus, or Veer today!

However, the Autum Arch Bridge photo could be improved upon a little, beyond simple sharpening. I think the presense of the road throws me off a bit. If you had moved 10 feet to the right, and re-shot it, I think it would be perfect. You could also crank up the blacks and a bit of saturation, but not too much.

I really like that subway photo. The only thing you can do to it to improve, would be to put a remorseful, attractive, weepy girl in the photo to suggest some sort of story.

 

[Photog]

For whatever reason, I am able to view your photos from the links within the email notice I got of your post.

http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#27
http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#11
http://web.mac.com/joel.winger/Site/Boston.html#17

IMHO, you are done, they are great photos. Add some sharpening, and sell them to iStockPhoto, Corbus, or Veer today!

However, the Autum Arch Bridge photo could be improved upon a little, beyond simple sharpening. I think the presense of the road throws me off a bit. If you had moved 10 feet to the right, and re-shot it, I think it would be perfect. You could also crank up the blacks and a bit of saturation, but not too much.

:iagree:

Also:
In the "Autumn Arch Bridge": no road or the whole road; but not a corner of it. Otherwise, it is outstanding. I'm hoping you walked around that area, and worked with different angles and compositions.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Brian, thanks for all your insight, it's been a huge help. What you have said makes perfect sense. I think I took the pool shot from one of the fine art categories, there was 3 or 4 shots of different empty pools.

Again thanks!

 

[Lost Canadian]

Here's one I'm curious about. I want to keep the feeling of space but I know this could have been improved upon. Thoughts?

 

[Railvan]

Interesting and fun thread. Great discussion. I'd be curious about any feedback on any of these photos:

http://www.pbase.com/railbat/favorites

Regards,

Brian
www.pbase.com/railbat

 

[Photog]

Here's one I'm curious about. I want to keep the feeling of space but I know this could have been improved upon. Thoughts?

This is what I would do, if it were my photograph.
By blacing the kayak, close to the edge, it creates tension, possibly creating the feeling he does not belong there. The porpois or whale, is closer to centrer, giving it a more powerful position. They are both placed at the left "rule of thirds" leaving a large amount of open water to the right. The whale has a larger space to move into, the kayak is running out of space. This is the whale's domain.

I might also play with a little vignetting, to draw attention to the subjects, or create a path through the image. (I did not do this to this photo).

Try cropping big & small, wide or tall, etc., and see how you can make it feel different.

 

[Photog]

Interesting and fun thread. Great discussion. I'd be curious about any feedback on any of these photos:

http://www.pbase.com/railbat/favorites

Regards,

Brian
www.pbase.com/railbat

Brian,
I can see why those are your favorites. They are well done.
I like your willingness to modify the crop, to improve composition and drama (twin tunnels and marmot).

Changing your shooting position, to improve the background is well done. (e.g. The antlers on the barn, and silhouette of the van)

Exposure, color, focus, etc - all well done.
Now, lets look at composition. Most of the images were fine.

A few of the photos have the subject in the middle (bulls eye) of the photo. This almost always looks better with the subject away from center (e.g. chipmunk, dozer, van silhouette)

The tire in the field is nice; but the horizon cuts through the middle of image. Crop at bottom or top, as there is nothing in either area, that adds to the story.

Everyone,
Remember, these are only my opinions. Take these ideas, and apply them to your images, and see what you think about the results. If you like the results, you may want to try applying them, while behind the camera, instead of on the computer (post processing). It is a great feeling to create an almost perfect image, at the time of "shutter release".

 

[Railvan]

"I can see why those are your favorites. They are well done."

Thanks.

"Now, lets look at composition. ... The tire in the field is nice; but the horizon cuts through the middle of image. Crop at bottom or top, as there is nothing in either area, that adds to the story."

This photo was frustrating to me at the time, and since then too. I loved the idea of the random tire left in the field, but the light at the time was horrible, and I wasn't at a place I could wait a few hours for it to be better. I thought about cropping the bottom of the photos to get the horizon to a "1/3" location but hated to loose the feeling of the large field. I'll play with it more.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Brian

 

[J_wings24]

Ok, finally got my Server up and working again. I am open to critique and recomendations. All these are striaght from my Canon 30D w/ 17-85 f/4 IS lens. Color pics have the saturation pushed to +3 on camera.

Next, Shot in a boston subway:

And one more for good measure. Also shot in boston:

Tell me how you guys like them!
thanks,
Joel

 

[Photog]

"I can see why those are your favorites. They are well done."

Thanks.

"Now, lets look at composition. ... The tire in the field is nice; but the horizon cuts through the middle of image. Crop at bottom or top, as there is nothing in either area, that adds to the story."

This photo was frustrating to me at the time, and since then too. I loved the idea of the random tire left in the field, but the light at the time was horrible, and I wasn't at a place I could wait a few hours for it to be better. I thought about cropping the bottom of the photos to get the horizon to a "1/3" location but hated to loose the feeling of the large field. I'll play with it more.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Brian

How do you feel about this version of the "Tire in the Field"?

Possible changes on the day you shot it: If you were to get up higher (on the van maybe), you would be looking a little more "down" on the tire. this would push the horizon higher above the tire. Then compose the horizon at the upper third. The light is coming from the right, so place the tire at the left third, looking into the space at the right (where the light is coming from).

When I cropped it, I placed the tire level with the center of the image, this forces the horizon above center. I eliminated the upper part of the clouds; but kept the interesting puff-ball near the middle.
Next, I added some saturation, to bring out the color in the field and sky.
Then boosted the contrast, with an adjustment to the curves.
Then some dodging and burning, to bring all attention to the tire (I do this on a pair of Levels Adjustment layers. I won't use the Dodge/burn tools).

I think of camera images as the foundation for artwork. I don't add objects, or swap skies, etc. Just darkroom work to the basic image.

(I know, I promissed not to chop any more photos. Sorry.)

 

[Photog]

Ok, finally got my Server up and working again. I am open to critique and recomendations. All these are striaght from my Canon 30D w/ 17-85 f/4 IS lens. Color pics have the saturation pushed to +3 on camera.

Perfect. Play with a 4x5 crop, to see what you can pull out of this outstanding image.

Next, Shot in a boston subway:

Include or exclude the light on the right. I would exclude it, as it demands your attention. If you know the person in the subway, have them move to the next closer bench, laying down for a nap.

And one more for good measure. Also shot in boston:

Already discussed. Include or exclude the road, nothing in betwen.

 

[Railvan]

How do you feel about this version of the "Tire in the Field"?

Possible changes on the day you shot it: If you were to get up higher (on the van maybe), you would be looking a little more "down" on the tire. this would push the horizon higher above the tire. Then compose the horizon at the upper third. The light is coming from the right, so place the tire at the left third, looking into the space at the right (where the light is coming from).

When I cropped it, I placed the tire level with the center of the image, this forces the horizon above center. I eliminated the upper part of the clouds; but kept the interesting puff-ball near the middle.
Next, I added some saturation, to bring out the color in the field and sky.
Then boosted the contrast, with an adjustment to the curves.
Then some dodging and burning, to bring all attention to the tire (I do this on a pair of Levels Adjustment layers. I won't use the Dodge/burn tools).

I think of camera images as the foundation for artwork. I don't add objects, or swap skies, etc. Just darkroom work to the basic image.

(I know, I promised not to chop any more photos. Sorry.)

I like it and agree totally with your changes. I took the photo as a grab shot and didn't spend the time I would have liked to looking for better angles. The colors were muted, more like my version, more than your version, but that's OK. I think the revised version is a better "photo" even if it doesn't look like the scene did. I actually had done some subtle work to the image before I posted it. I has been darkened around the edges and had the levels changed to "set" the contrast. But, this was done to make it look neutral.

Re: Cropping the photo with the tire on the left. I recall other "stuff" that would have been in the frame if it was shot that way.

Which reminds me of an online photo discussion where a guy suggested one of my photos "would have looked better without that mountain in the left of the frame." OK, next time I'll move that mountain first... ;^)

Brian

 

[Photog]

I like it and agree totally with your changes. I took the photo as a grab shot and didn't spend the time I would have liked to looking for better angles. The colors were muted, more like my version, more than your version, but that's OK. I think the revised version is a better "photo" even if it doesn't look like the scene did. I actually had done some subtle work to the image before I posted it. I has been darkened around the edges and had the levels changed to "set" the contrast. But, this was done to make it look neutral.

Re: Cropping the photo with the tire on the left. I recall other "stuff" that would have been in the frame if it was shot that way.

Which reminds me of an online photo discussion where a guy suggested one of my photos "would have looked better without that mountain in the left of the frame." OK, next time I'll move that mountain first... ;^)

Brian

I know what its like, not having time to spend with a subject, to create better images. I also run into the problem of wanting a certain composition, but some other object prevents me from getting the image I want.

By the way, the muted images, taken on overcast days, allow for much more modification of light and color. This lets you create the artwork you invisioned, from the scene captured by the you and your camera.

 

[Photog]

Here are a series of example photos, to show some of the things I have been describing, concerning composition. Look at them, and see which one feels the best.

This one, has the subject in the middle of the frame (called a bullseye photo).

This image places the subject on th right third, looking out of the frame.

This one places the subject on the left third, looking into the frame.

This one then moves the camera down, closer to the level of the subject, instead of looking down on it. Also a slight vignette to draw attention to the subject.