*** Weekly C & C Thread #51 *** Feedback for free!

Right up front I'll let you know that I find images like this VERY hard to critique for many reasons. First, this is a moment in time that will be very hard to recreate. I don't know about your kids, but mine are extremely difficult to get to cooperate for a photo. I would feel very fortunate to get anything close to what you have here. I think the light is beautiful and the feel is good. But this is a critique thread so I'll do my best to try and give you some of my thoughts of what I think might improve it.

The pier does give a sense of exact place, but I am not sure it adds to the image. I would like to see more ocean, maybe close enough so their heads are higher than the breakers in the background. Depending on the tide and waves, this could be a challenge to achieve, but would give a clean look. By the looks of the waves, on this day it would have been a possibility. If not, then moving more directly behind them as they walk along the shore is a possibility too. With all that said, knowing how difficult it can be to get our kids to cooperate...I say print it and hang it on the wall. It is a moment in time that will more than likely become more precious as time passes. And honestly, it is precious enough as is.

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LaRee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27204583@N05/
http://www.laree.smugmug.com/
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WSSA #181 Pentax Chapter

It works for me. I love studies of flowers and playing with dof.
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LaRee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27204583@N05/
http://www.laree.smugmug.com/
http://laree.zenfolio.com/
WSSA #181 Pentax Chapter

I love the colors and the sharpness of this image. I just wish I could see the edge at the top of the curved bridge.
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LaRee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27204583@N05/
http://www.laree.smugmug.com/
http://laree.zenfolio.com/
WSSA #181 Pentax Chapter

Yep, the composition does seem a bit off. I was struggling with composition and this just seemed the best I could do under the circumstances. Here is a link to two other shots I took within minutes of this one while I was trying to find a composition I wanted.
http://laree.zenfolio.com/p860496730/h36149c6d#h36149c6d
Thank you for taking a look and commenting. I appreciate it!
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LaRee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27204583@N05/
http://www.laree.smugmug.com/
http://laree.zenfolio.com/
WSSA #181 Pentax Chapter

lawsonstone said:

Perhaps in disagreement with the others, I like the crowdedness of the shot. I guess I've had my hands down in the gearing of such a bike too many times and been too aware of how much stuff there is to work around. I also like the way you've used the B&W. Did you do anything special to get the particular B&W look here? I"m trying to learn different ways to achieve different monochrome looks.

Click to expand...

Thank.s. I was aiming for a claustrophobic, crowded feeling. I do agree with another commenter that the bicycle lock on the left detracts a bit from it though.

The BW conversion came for free with the film

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Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/
Blog: http://janneinosaka.blogspot.com

Looks fine technically to me. But I'm not a fan of the composition. It's quite static, and the wide angle makes the building look far away, receding into the image, without any foreground point of interest to balance it. Exactly this point is what's been frustrating me when trying to learn to use a really wide-angle lens myself so I'm pretty aware of this aspect...

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Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/
Blog: http://janneinosaka.blogspot.com

I think I would have put the focus on the cup rather than the book. No idea if that would actually improve things or not though. Or leave it at the book but crop the image on the left so the cup and hand frames the image along the left and upper edge - but then the focus of interest is the book rather than the coffee.

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Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/
Blog: http://janneinosaka.blogspot.com

As an exercise in DOF it is interesting, but as a composition - less so. The stamen is tiny and it is overwhelmed by the large colouful blobs. I would like to see the subject of the photo a little bit better. If you want to present just the stamen then get even closer, otherwise show us more of the flower.

I honestly don´t think there´s anything wrong with the image, nor with the lock on the left [which nicely frames the view and focuses on the spikes], nor with the other black blob on the upper right part of it.

Sometimes the "less is more" approach can dangerously dwingle into the "less is bore", or stock photography. There´s nothing wrong with stock photography, but not ALL photography has to resemble that.

Look for Nitsa photo, a blog of no rules photography. Very refreshing.

Thanks for the comments, Iaki. The 'double subject' appealed to me, but the strong yellow colour, although accurate, may be a bit too dominant.
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Robert
rgmwa

Day at the drags

gday guys what do you think in any way this could be better im happy with it just open to diff ways shot with K20d and tam 70-200



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The car is probably in motion, but looking at the photo it's only a guess.

I think it would be nice to motion blur the background. I'd go for a slower shutter speed and move the camera along with the car. This could be tricky to get right, but when you do the effect is much better.

I guess you have cropped out some mess at the bottom of the photo, but I would also remove some of the left margin - just to get the vehicle off the dead center

Great shot Lloyd. Only suggestion would be to clone that lonely, gray cloud. Distracting from an otherwise perfect sky. A tighter crop as suggested might work, but... well... nevermind. Just kill that cloud! Great work!
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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

Love it mike. Reminds me that I have to start using the DA21 more for street photography. Like the composition, the different elements. Life isn't clean and tidy and neither is street photography. Great documentary shot.

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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

Thanks for the comment JanneM. There was water, I'll have to go back to my file and see just how much I cropped. If I recall, the tide was ebbing and the water was a bit muddy and flat.... but I'll have to verify that. Thanks again for taking the time to post.
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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

Thanks Mike! I was really astonished with the receding tone of the mountains in real life. This was an early shot from my K10D, and it was this image that gave me all sorts of confidence in my equipment. To capture those subtle tones in that light... The exposure was tricky, but my Pentax helped me manage it well. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

Thanks Lloyd. If I remember, the inlet was at full ebb tide and looking muddy and flat. I'll have to take a look at my original and see if there's an option of opening the crop. As always, thanks for taking the time to comment. I always learn a lot in these threads.
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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

Exposure is just right. I'd like to see a bit more of the track on the bottom and maybe crop some of the left hand side of the photo, because the car is a bit too far to the right in the image (IMO of course). If you have the opportunity, panning with the car and using a slow shutter speed would blur the background and create a feeling of movement.
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Robert
rgmwa

Hey Robert! Well the concensus is in... I'll see if I can open the crop. I really like these threads for this reason... I learn so much when the same c&c gets repeated. Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
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Ryan

'Old Heraclitus could not have stepped in the same river once, let alone twice.' - Jim
Harrison, The Road Home

http://www.jpgmag.com/people/ryansabo

You've nicely balanced the lights from the houses and the light from the sky, and the pink cloud is striking. However, despite being a well executed photo, it doesn't really have a lot of impact. Probably just me though.
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Robert
rgmwa