Hey guys, I haven't posted here in a while but I have some spare time so I thought I'd post some of the stuff I've been taking lately.

You can see (a lot) more on my Flickr Stream.

Comments and critique are greatly appreciated!


one




two




three




four




five




six




seven




eight




nine

[JamesD]

I love the color and technique used on your first shot but I wish you had shot it in a vertical plane. The third shot is perfect exposure wise with even a slight blur in the hands showing action. Generally I would question cutting him off mid legs, however this seems to work in your shot and I'm not sure why. I'll take a look at your Flickr images later. Gotta run.

[roentarre]

They are very fine images. Artistic and well presented.

[ChrisA]

Ok, the bass guitar head silhouette is a well-executed piece of backlighting, giving a clean, simple and therefore effective 2D composition. The sharp lines make a bold pattern, and the way the light is at its most intense directly behind the shape emphasises the main subject. The tuning pegs being at different angles add interest without distracting, and the off-centre positioning, close to 1/3 of the way across, allows the eye to drift across to the empty area and back again. There's nothing in the photo to distract from the main subject.

On this basis, I think it works well.

In #2, I'd say the composition is much weaker. The colour of the green background to the left is disproportionately bright and out of focus; too much of the bass has been cut off, also the bass player's arm, and his eyes are closed. These, together with the out of focus drummer and background just dilute any impact it might have had.

In my view, there is too little in the way of a main theme, and too much in the way of distractions, for this one to have much merit.

#3 is much better, for all the reasons #2 is poor.

#4 made me laugh. Good detail, sharp, good bold colour. It's a highly symmetrical composition, so it's spoiled slightly by the slight ACW rotation of the word, relative to the nicely lined up board. And the knife looks dirty, which distracts a little too. Every detail has to be right in shots like this, otherwise the simplicity which contributes so much is marred, and it longer quite hits the mark.

#5 is a completely abstract composition. This would work in my view if the dents (joins?) in the metal were absent, if the lines in the right hand half were also straight, and if the exposure was better on the right. I find myself thinking it's neither one thing (a recognisable item) nor the other (a pure study in lines and angles) so it doesn't have much impact. It would be great in a "what's this" competition, but not otherwise to my eye.

#6 is unusual as portraits go, since the lighting is harsh, but still effective, in that its edginess is complemented by the busy design on the T-shirt. The lack of eye contact adds to a 'teenager with attitude' mood, although the expression could just as easily be seen as contemplative. A touch more sharpening would give the image more punch though. Apart from that, it's effective in my view, with no distractions.

#7. The idea is excellent, since the trombone is highly reflective, and its bell is quite rightly the sharpest and brightest part of the picture. At first glance it looks like a bubble in the air, so attracts a great deal of the eye's attention. However, the rest of the background is highly distracting, which weakens the overall composition substantially.

#8 would have been an excellent capture, with the squint looking into the light a great comic moment. Unfortunately, it's just not quite sharp enough to have the real impact that it would have done, had the face been razor sharp and the hands still moving. Terribly difficult these ones - you have to see and capture in an instant, and perfection is almost impossible. Again, excellent idea, strong composition, since the expression and the light take you straight to where the action is, but it's just let down slightly by the lack of sharpness where it counts, and also to some extent the distracting background.

#9 is let down IMO by the green cast, and the distracting, chopped off musician on the right.

So in summary, 1,3,4 and 6 are strong; 1 and 6 particularly so. The others contain good ideas but don't quite hit the mark for a number of reasons - the often uncontrollable distracting backgrounds being the most significant.

[Mandi]

ChrisA, no fair!!! How come sjl7678 gets critique for free and I have to beg??? :-D

[Mandi]

sjl7678, I posted that and then climbed into the shower and suddenly realised that I have just done to you exactly what upset me most on my own post, namely zipping in, looking at your pictures and then commenting on something on my own agenda which had nothing to do with your images. I was discourteous and selfish, and I apologise sincerely.

Unfortunately I am on my way to work right now, but as soon as I get home I promise I will come on again and do what I can to rectify my behaviour. Given time-zones, that will probably be before you wake up anyway! :-)

[Eaglerapids]

ChrisA, thank you for one of the most insightful C&Cs I've seen posted. I've learned a lot from this. I've been trying to take a great photo for a long time and maybe I've come close once or twice by accident, I still haven't done it and what is worse I never knew WHY they weren't good. This is the kind of c&c that a person who really wants to learn can get some ideas from. It also shows just how freakin hard it is to get a great photo, at least for me. They don't just happen.
When I first viewed #2 I loved it. I can feel exactly what 7678 was trying to convey and he did it well. I'm into the music through the bass player. That photo means a lot to 7678 because he was there and he felt it too. I like his framing of the shot, he nailed it. I don't mind the bass player's eyes closed, I think 7678 got the decisive moment there, in fact. But if 7678 is truly interested in taking his photo's to a higher level you've shown him the way in a very cool manner. If I had taken this photo I would have been pleased with what I had mentioned and probably wouldn't have even seen the things you point out. But I want to get better and your post shows me the way.
#1 is a cool photo. The big thing I don't like about it is I've been trying to think of a way to take a cool photo of my guitar and while I was thinking, 7678 did it!
#8 is strange to me because when I'm playing my guitar and look at my friends, that is the expression I commonly see on THEIR faces, lol.
My guess for #5? Escalators.

[sjl7678]

I love the color and technique used on your first shot but I wish you had shot it in a vertical plane. The third shot is perfect exposure wise with even a slight blur in the hands showing action. Generally I would question cutting him off mid legs, however this seems to work in your shot and I'm not sure why. I'll take a look at your Flickr images later. Gotta run.

I thought about shooting vertically for the first one, but the setup I had in my small apartment didn't really give me enough room to do that and still keep it looking nice.

Ok, the bass guitar head silhouette is a well-executed piece of backlighting, giving a clean, simple and therefore effective 2D composition. The sharp lines make a bold pattern, and the way the light is at its most intense directly behind the shape emphasises the main subject. The tuning pegs being at different angles add interest without distracting, and the off-centre positioning, close to 1/3 of the way across, allows the eye to drift across to the empty area and back again. There's nothing in the photo to distract from the main subject.

On this basis, I think it works well.

That's pretty much what I was going for. My class assignment was "silhouette" and I wanted to do something simple but effective for that.

In #2, I'd say the composition is much weaker. The colour of the green background to the left is disproportionately bright and out of focus; too much of the bass has been cut off, also the bass player's arm, and his eyes are closed. These, together with the out of focus drummer and background just dilute any impact it might have had.

In my view, there is too little in the way of a main theme, and too much in the way of distractions, for this one to have much merit.

#3 is much better, for all the reasons #2 is poor.

I think I like this number two more because I know the people in the image. I'm sure that biases me which is why I really like getting critiqued. I definitely agree that there are less distracting elements in three.

#4 made me laugh. Good detail, sharp, good bold colour. It's a highly symmetrical composition, so it's spoiled slightly by the slight ACW rotation of the word, relative to the nicely lined up board. And the knife looks dirty, which distracts a little too. Every detail has to be right in shots like this, otherwise the simplicity which contributes so much is marred, and it longer quite hits the mark.

Yeah, the knife is actually worn down to the copper underneath. I could probably fix that and the rotation in post, now that you mention it. You're right about getting everything right for stuff like this. It wasn't easy getting the even lighting; I know I still have a lot to learn.

#5 is a completely abstract composition. This would work in my view if the dents (joins?) in the metal were absent, if the lines in the right hand half were also straight, and if the exposure was better on the right. I find myself thinking it's neither one thing (a recognisable item) nor the other (a pure study in lines and angles) so it doesn't have much impact. It would be great in a "what's this" competition, but not otherwise to my eye.

I understand what you mean. I wish I could have gotten closer or had a longer lens for this shot because I think including just a bit less would have improved it. I couldn't do much for the exposure because I was shooting with ambient light and a slow shutter to blur out the steps, though I guess I could do it in post.

#6 is unusual as portraits go, since the lighting is harsh, but still effective, in that its edginess is complemented by the busy design on the T-shirt. The lack of eye contact adds to a 'teenager with attitude' mood, although the expression could just as easily be seen as contemplative. A touch more sharpening would give the image more punch though. Apart from that, it's effective in my view, with no distractions.

I always worry about oversharpening my images... Sometimes I have a tough time telling where to stop. Any advice for that?

#7. The idea is excellent, since the trombone is highly reflective, and its bell is quite rightly the sharpest and brightest part of the picture. At first glance it looks like a bubble in the air, so attracts a great deal of the eye's attention. However, the rest of the background is highly distracting, which weakens the overall composition substantially.

Shooting at that place it tough. That's from one of my earlier shoots there; I'm getting better at eliminating distractions every time I do it (especially that stupid plant). I think my favorite thing about this one is the reflection of the bassist.

#8 would have been an excellent capture, with the squint looking into the light a great comic moment. Unfortunately, it's just not quite sharp enough to have the real impact that it would have done, had the face been razor sharp and the hands still moving. Terribly difficult these ones - you have to see and capture in an instant, and perfection is almost impossible. Again, excellent idea, strong composition, since the expression and the light take you straight to where the action is, but it's just let down slightly by the lack of sharpness where it counts, and also to some extent the distracting background.

Focusing has always been tough for me. I guess it just takes a lot of practice. I may try getting one of the split-prism screens for my K100D to see if that will help; my K1000 has one and I seem to do better with it.

#9 is let down IMO by the green cast, and the distracting, chopped off musician on the right.

So in summary, 1,3,4 and 6 are strong; 1 and 6 particularly so. The others contain good ideas but don't quite hit the mark for a number of reasons - the often uncontrollable distracting backgrounds being the most significant.

Thanks very much for all the comments; they made me think and gave me some specific things to work on. I definitely need to watch the background more when I shoot!

sjl7678, I posted that and then climbed into the shower and suddenly realised that I have just done to you exactly what upset me most on my own post, namely zipping in, looking at your pictures and then commenting on something on my own agenda which had nothing to do with your images. I was discourteous and selfish, and I apologise sincerely.

Unfortunately I am on my way to work right now, but as soon as I get home I promise I will come on again and do what I can to rectify my behaviour. Given time-zones, that will probably be before you wake up anyway! :-)

Don't worry about it, I don't mind!

ChrisA, thank you for one of the most insightful C&Cs I've seen posted. I've learned a lot from this. I've been trying to take a great photo for a long time and maybe I've come close once or twice by accident, I still haven't done it and what is worse I never knew WHY they weren't good. This is the kind of c&c that a person who really wants to learn can get some ideas from. It also shows just how freakin hard it is to get a great photo, at least for me. They don't just happen.
When I first viewed #2 I loved it. I can feel exactly what 7678 was trying to convey and he did it well. I'm into the music through the bass player. That photo means a lot to 7678 because he was there and he felt it too. I like his framing of the shot, he nailed it. I don't mind the bass player's eyes closed, I think 7678 got the decisive moment there, in fact. But if 7678 is truly interested in taking his photo's to a higher level you've shown him the way in a very cool manner. If I had taken this photo I would have been pleased with what I had mentioned and probably wouldn't have even seen the things you point out. But I want to get better and your post shows me the way.
#1 is a cool photo. The big thing I don't like about it is I've been trying to think of a way to take a cool photo of my guitar and while I was thinking, 7678 did it!
#8 is strange to me because when I'm playing my guitar and look at my friends, that is the expression I commonly see on THEIR faces, lol.
My guess for #5? Escalators.

Being a bassist means I take a lot of photos of bassists because I know how rarely we get pictures of ourselves playing and also because it seems easier for me because I know what they're going to be doing. Trombone players, on the other hand, baffle me!

You should do the shot with your guitar but change something about it to make it your own. I'd like to see it if you do.

You're right on five; escalators turn into slides when you use a slow shutter.



Thanks everyone for the awesome advice. Chime in if you have more!

[ChrisA]

I always worry about oversharpening my images... Sometimes I have a tough time telling where to stop. Any advice for that?

Well, it depends on how you're presenting them. At 800px wide for the web it's easy to overdo it. I tend to go for Pixels and Threshold both set to 1, and Amount usually between 60 and 100. If applying the USM causes even the slightest hint of a halo, then it's too much, so step back from there. Similarly noise.

The larger the image, the more you can get away with, but the more progressively you want to apply it (so a Radius and Threshold of more than 1, unless there is a lot of extremely fine detail).

Sounds obvious, but a kitten should not look like a porcupine.

I'm not an expert, by any means. Most of what I do is trial and error, erring on the side of a natural look.