* Wed C&C No Theme Thread #332 14 09 03 *

19andrew47

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Welcome to the Wednesday Comments and Critique (No Theme) thread!

We are continuing the great tradition of this C&C thread because we are convinced that looking at and talking about images is vital for better photography.

The idea is simple: you post an image and get critique on it, and in return give other people your opinion of their images, or vice versa.

Generally, you should post only one single image for C&C. As an exception, you may post two pictures resulting from one shutter release but with different treatment (for example a color and a black & white version, or a different crop) for us to choose from and comment on.

TWO RULES:

1.If you post an image, you should critique at least one other image.

2.Keep your comments honest but polite. If you don’t care for an image try to explain why. This is neither a “Good shot!” nor an image-bashing thread.

Any style, any camera. It is a peer-to-peer photography workshop!

Feedback is guaranteed (for up to 48 h after the thread has started)! Though keep in mind that the thread tends to be busiest during the first 24 hours or so, so later image posts may get little feedback.

HOW TO PLAY:

1.Turn on "Threaded view" and reply to this post with a web-sized image. Change the title so we can sort different images out easily!

2.Get back to this thread in a minute, an hour or a day or so, and…

3.…still in threaded view, look at one or more pictures of your choice, click reply and critique it.

4.Remember to add the EXIF if your image doesn't embed it as this may help

5.Image posters: please consider telling us what your own opinion on your image is. What prompted you to click that shutter button? What did you see? Why do you like the result? You don't have to explain, but it might be interesting.

6.You are very welcome to post a group reply to the feedback you have received. This could include a new version of your image modified in response to the comments.

IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME, WELCOME! AND BE SURE TO READ THIS:

•The critique you give (point 3 from the above list) is vital. What was your first impression? What catches your eye about an image? Why? What do you like, and what distracts you? What would you change?

•Fiddle with the image in your head - composition, perspective, color balance, exposure.
  • It is understood that unless the original poster specifically states that they do not want an altered image posted that you are free to alter the posted image and repost it in a reply for C&C purposes. That reposted image may remain permanently or you may remove it after a short period of time if you prefer.
•More general feedback is also welcome. Do you know something about taking the same sort of image that would make matters easier - share your own as an example in your reply. Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

•Finally what is the verdict? Waste-bin? Snapshot? Could be better? Family Album? Frame on wall? Poster-size frame on wall? Billboard? Reuters? World Press Photo? National Geographic? Museum? (pick your own superlative here)

One of the first replies is “The Related Post”. This is the place to post your general musings about the C&C Thread.

Another of the first replies includes a link to all previous threads. This is called "Archives".

Andrew
 
The first is more spectacular, of course, but I love the subtler colors and tonal details in the second.

I always have mixed feelings about panos in this forum. I don't have a display with size and resolution sufficient to fully appreciate them. These must be terrific on a really big high-resolution display.
 
I like the composition and treatment and I also like Roel's crop. In fact I think Roel's crop is an even stronger composition.

This is a really nice image made from a pretty ordinary scene. Nice job.
 
Great job keeping the subject sharp and surrounded by motion-blurred vehicles. Perfect shutter speed. The motion blur does wonders for subject isolation here.

If this were mine, I think I might try a local adjustment brush on the fruit and try a cooler white balance setting and/or lower saturation and/or luminance adjustment to maybe improve the rendering of the fruit, which seems a bit clipped to me. Perhaps you've already done that.

Great shot.
 
Just beautiful colors, composition and lines. It looks like a painting, not because of any lack of detail but because of how perfectly beautiful it is. The high ISO setting does not seem to have hurt it at all.

Nice work.
 
It's a nice shot and, in the "original size" view, I can see some scenery reflected in the eye but, as Roel says, it can't be sufficiently resolved at this size. There's probably a lot more there that could be presented better in a cropped version.

Even if not, it's a nice alligator shot with nice light in the eye.
 
Snapped at a medieval fayre in Beaumaris Castle in North Wales





EM1 and 50-200mm F/Thirds lens combo
EM1 and 50-200mm F/Thirds lens combo
 
I think this is a fine example of your recent work, and I like it a lot. Using the motion blur does tell a story of someone trying to make a living with an indifferent society swirling around him. I only wish that I could see a larger version in which the determined expression on his face is more evident.
 
Snapped at a medieval fayre in Beaumaris Castle in North Wales

EM1 and 50-200mm F/Thirds lens combo
EM1 and 50-200mm F/Thirds lens combo
The heart of this picture is in the triangle of the subject's hand-eye-script. Other elements -- cap, robe, ponytail, ink, pens, easel, even the beard -- provide supplemental context.

Everything outside these mentioned add little to the story for a viewer, so I would nibble all 'round just to give the main theme elements a slightly larger relative share of the total frame.

A top crop can cut into the cap because the seam still carries the cap's shape, cueing the viewer to understand the whole. Same with the ponytail -- a crop leaves enough that the viewer mentally completes the hair. This crop also leaves enough (and the best) fabric folds to "explain" the robe.

On the right, bringing the crop close to the fancy script gives that writing a bit of extra prominence naturally gained by occupying an Edge location. On the bottom, pens (brushes?) are retained because they suggest to a viewer the intricate, multi-tool nature of the work.

If it were my picture, I'd crop it so:



0919b58cc40a402694b3799be81be937.jpg

Excellent picture. Lots of interesting textures and tonal gradation, and the subject is caught in an interesting moment. Hands at work seen in close relation to a worker's face/gaze have power. Seeing the whole face becomes unnecessary. Subject's leaning-in posture completes the scene.



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Zin
 
I like the processing you used here Stephen. For me, it would benefit from a slight bottom crop so that the edge of the road meets the corner. I tried all the other suggested crops but I have mixed feelings about all. I also tried cropping so that the top edge of the road exits the bottom corner resulting in a close to square crop but I think I like the fuller image better.

Andrew
 
I haven't been shooting much lately, but here's one from a local park taken in Spring. It doesn't really say anything to me, but I'd be interested to know your reactions.

As usual, expanded and original view seem sharper.

4797cbe6b92540c0a51acdd23bba72b3.jpg

--
Zin
 
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An interesting subject and a nice conversion David. Looks like your fayre would have been an excellent source of material to shot.

For me this would have benefited from a little more in the image on the right side, as in a 3:2 format, so that the writing board was complete, or conversely, a tighter crop making the face, hand and script a larger part of the image.

Andrew
 
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I like the detailed leaves against the abstract looking background. I would be temped to crop somewhat and likely either remove the lone leaf from the upper left or relocate it in the frame, possibly upper right. One possibility below. The branches were hanging out over a body of water I presume.

Andrew



66dd9f17f0df4d77a80ff7ca9feae5ff.jpg
 
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Lots of challenges to shooting these fellows in the rain from an airboat, experimenting to find some creative ways to present them...
I've struggled with this, too, as you can see by this echo image of a Cayman in Costa Rica.

8649959572_804f90318a_o_d.jpg


Not sure I came to any earth shattering conclusions, but there is one thing I can suggest. After being sure to get the animal absolutely sharp, which you achieved better than I did, I think the next thing is to get creative with the water. Maybe you could play with blurring everything but the 'gator, as if the water were flowing around it (or it were moving through the water). In my case, I settled for a pretty heavy vignette to help deemphasize the water.

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-Mike
You can observe a lot by looking - Yogi Berra
 
I think this photo with Zin's suggested crop is wonderful. I like the intensity he displays, and I like the contrasty look of the B&W conversion.
 
I think this shot has some possibilities but the size as posted, even in the expanded view, seems too small to do it justice. I'd like to see a larger version to really get a sense of the depth of the black water. I also think the border is a bit distracting, but maybe in a larger version not as much. Maybe it would benefit from a black or very dark gray border, wider than your current one, outside the frame.
 
Thanks for your detailed response. I agree with you that the key parts of the photograph are the hands and the text. And I like the way your crop addresses that.

In retrospect, I should have taken some additional photos from slightly behind the scribe to see how it looked concentrating on the hands/text.
 

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