[quote=Greensquared#28 - Halite - Sail On, Sailor
Great color here, but the story wasn't there. Why is he in the water? Why
is he looking happy about standing in the water. If he's a sailor, where is
his boat? To me, technically it's a great shot, but I keep thinking he's
just standing there up to his waist in water thinking "Gee, I wish I had a
boat, but this is as close as I can get."
[/quote]
Thanks for the feedback. I, too, felt the image needed more of a story. Maybe I should've titled it, "Waiting for his Ship to Come In," with him looking longingly at all the boats he doesn't own!
37 - BeemerChef - Fresh Paint - Very nice sunset colors and the composition really centers on them. Not sure what if anything I might change. Personally (and sadly) :cry I've become a bit jaded (Oh! no...) to sunsets having lived in a house for three years that had blow you away sunsets almost every night! Now that I don't live there anymore I think I'm regaining my appreciation. (sunsets are every days Mother Nature's fingerprint of the day... the culmination of all that works she has done, daily... how could you... )
Challenges are new to an amateur like me! And it seems that there is so much to it in the judging as personal likings and so forth... which is cool and not at the same time! I don't think it should be a factor that enters the judging... beauty should, emotions should. I learned two years ago that it is all so subjective... Another comment also was that this picture should have been cropped... I disagree on that as for 740 nights or just about, we have been living under the skies and the stars... I don't see Mother Nature cropping my own view!!!:D
So technically as I now understand, if the "subject" is appealing to a judge (unlike the "blaze" one of a sunset...) a photo has a better chance to place well...
I don't do digital manupulation either as I show the reality of my sights instead of a mental reality which to me is the definition of "digital manipulation". Not saying that I do not like some... it is just not my cup of tea.
I would love to be a judge for the day... because I "would" put aside my own preferences (landscape!) and only put ahead in my judging what warms up my senses and my heart, like a piece of Music that will tear you up at times and stand up your hair... regardless if it is Rock, Classical or other.
Just an opinion... I do not see this as a competition but as another facet of the human range analyzing and portraying my own hobby... It is very interesting and I sure appreciate the feedbacks as I know much time consuming.
Be well...
Ara & Spirit
PS:... Just for you... from last night!!!:D I even cropped it!!!
Thanks
Thanks for the critiques. I'm very green but want to learn, so the advice is of great help. I think I'll try again with "squalor". Unfortunately, I've got a lot to work with about 6 houses down the block....
Challenges are new to an amateur like me! And it seems that there is so much to it in the judging as personal likings and so forth... which is cool and not at the same time! I don't think it should be a factor that enters the judging... beauty should, emotions should. I learned two years ago that it is all so subjective...
Fortunately I didn't have to do the very hard job of judging, but if I was I would agree that doing one's best to strip away personal preferrences should be a number one goal (not that we ever can successfully completely strip them away). That said, there sadly have been a few cases in the past of some volunteer judges expressing obvious creative biases (a classic was a comment to the effect that anyone who can set an alarm clock can capture a beautiful sunrise landscape) but that is a rare thing and if it happens there is always the next round! In this particular case I was mentioning my bias only as an excuse for why the picture didn't connect with me to the level I thought it probably deserved - if I was judging I'd approach things much more objectively.
Another comment also was that this picture should have been cropped... I disagree on that as for 740 nights or just about, we have been living under the skies and the stars... I don't see Mother Nature cropping my own view!!!:D
Well, the specific cropping suggestion here might or might not be a good one, but be very careful with your generalization here. The second you picked up your camera you cropped "Mother Nature". You have a given space in which to fit visual data which is *vastly* smaller than what your eyes and visual processing system can absorb of the scene in situ. You as a photographer/artist have to decide how to distort and crop that immersive visual scene into a tiny two-dimensional representation in a way that can still communicate with the viewer. I highlight this only because for many years my major failing in landscape photography was constantly trying to "capture it all" and never taking my 24mm prime off my camera (a 35mm film camera at the time). I don't know if you suffer from this as I did, but your comment made me wonder because it sounds like something I would have said years back!
I don't do digital manupulation either as I show the reality of my sights instead of a mental reality which to me is the definition of "digital manipulation". Not saying that I do not like some... it is just not my cup of tea.
Nothing wrong with this, in fact Galen Rowell had a very similar ethic. Just make sure you don't let it limit you too much. While Rowell would refuse to airbrush or otherwise edit out unsightly elements in his photos and had complete disdain for composites (like putting a moon into the sky) he did use Fuji Velvia film almost religiously. Velvia is an insanely saturated film, we're talking clown make-up levels of saturation. Velvia is like dialing up the saturation slider in photoshop to the point your monitor starts to bleed. He also used contrast masks extensively when making his prints and dupes (equivalent to what is sometimes in the new digital world called local contrast enhancement, LCE, or HiRaLoAm sharpening). The chemistry in both the E-6 developing process for the film and the print processing also caused pretty intense sharpening effects. Why did he do all this "manipulation"? Because to make an image that is a little 2D rectangle on paper with a tiny color gamut and small contrast range come even close to representling the reality your visual system perceives requires an enourmous amount of manipulation. So if you like a simple workflow and such a workflow makes you most creative that's excellent, but be careful when defining for yourself what the "reality of my sights" and "mental reality" are. There is a very wide range over which such definitions are surprisingly arbitrary so make sure you don't choose a definition too narrow for yourself - even as a landscape photographer! Of course there are other whole genres of photography that are entirely about creating alternative realities, and they began way before digital manipulation and have there own place as well.
PS:... Just for you... from last night!!!:D I even cropped it!!!
Awesome! Thanks! My sunsets these days consist of a wall of trees that slowly gets darker - I wish I'd paid more attention every evening in our old abode.
From your description it sounds like your going to get just the right things out of the contests, and I envy your lifestyle of the last 740 days!
Ken, that is very kind of you to reply as you did... very positive and with much knowledge I will put to use. Truly.
Who would have ever thought when I picked up my point and shoot two years ago it would lead to this! But I guess surrounded daily by such beauty one can only fall into trying to capture it... and you are so right as the camera itself has its limitations, one reason I always write for my readers to come and experience the Journey themselves... the photos are just photos!
Thank you again for you time and hope to some day see you on the road!
Be well... Spirit says so too!
45 - barrotj - Reflected Pastel - Neat concept! I find the white edge on the left and no edge on the right a bit distracting (maybe it is just me). I think trimming off the edge on the right would give it a bit more balance (and probably the white edge on the bottom as well). I'm unsure about the tree in the lower left, but I think it adds something. If there was any option to it you might have added a bit more tree. Clever!
Ken
Ken, thank you so much for the critique. I hadn't thought much of the white of the building on the right and bottom edges, but after reading your review, I see what you mean.
Funny thing is I was actually trying to remove the tree from the picture and couldn't crop it completely out as it took away from my subject of the reflected building.
I will be sure to look closer at my edges in the future,
Again, thank you for a job you didn't have to do.
#7 - WomanWithACamera - Yellow
Color is definitely the main message here and you did extremely well with
that. What little focus there is though, appears to be somewhere in the
upper part of the flower and that's just not working well. Focus on the
central area of the bloom would definitely help to keep the viewers eye
within the frame.
Thank you for your feedback. I am learning a lot by entering these challenges. Next time, maybe no soft focus.
#55 - sherstone - Bunny
Because I knew it was you, I found this hilarious. If I hadn't known it was
you, I probably would have found it more than creepy!
Thanks, Ken--I may try your idea about putting my dog in the shot. She'll never sit still, so the whiskey may be necessary! Thanks for your suggestion and comments--and many thanks for all your time in this thread!
Congrats to all!
Lauren
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)
Comments
i hope not, ive had this occur once in awhile you just need to remember what someone writes may not read as intended or vice versa...
Great color here, but the story wasn't there. Why is he in the water? Why
is he looking happy about standing in the water. If he's a sailor, where is
his boat? To me, technically it's a great shot, but I keep thinking he's
just standing there up to his waist in water thinking "Gee, I wish I had a
boat, but this is as close as I can get."
[/quote]
Thanks for the feedback. I, too, felt the image needed more of a story. Maybe I should've titled it, "Waiting for his Ship to Come In," with him looking longingly at all the boats he doesn't own!
Challenges are new to an amateur like me! And it seems that there is so much to it in the judging as personal likings and so forth... which is cool and not at the same time! I don't think it should be a factor that enters the judging... beauty should, emotions should. I learned two years ago that it is all so subjective... Another comment also was that this picture should have been cropped... I disagree on that as for 740 nights or just about, we have been living under the skies and the stars... I don't see Mother Nature cropping my own view!!!:D
So technically as I now understand, if the "subject" is appealing to a judge (unlike the "blaze" one of a sunset...) a photo has a better chance to place well...
I don't do digital manupulation either as I show the reality of my sights instead of a mental reality which to me is the definition of "digital manipulation". Not saying that I do not like some... it is just not my cup of tea.
I would love to be a judge for the day... because I "would" put aside my own preferences (landscape!) and only put ahead in my judging what warms up my senses and my heart, like a piece of Music that will tear you up at times and stand up your hair... regardless if it is Rock, Classical or other.
Just an opinion... I do not see this as a competition but as another facet of the human range analyzing and portraying my own hobby... It is very interesting and I sure appreciate the feedbacks as I know much time consuming.
Be well...
Ara & Spirit
PS:... Just for you... from last night!!!:D I even cropped it!!!
My Gallery in progress...
On the road, homeless, with my buddy Spirit...
Thanks for the critiques. I'm very green but want to learn, so the advice is of great help. I think I'll try again with "squalor". Unfortunately, I've got a lot to work with about 6 houses down the block....
Michele
Well, the specific cropping suggestion here might or might not be a good one, but be very careful with your generalization here. The second you picked up your camera you cropped "Mother Nature". You have a given space in which to fit visual data which is *vastly* smaller than what your eyes and visual processing system can absorb of the scene in situ. You as a photographer/artist have to decide how to distort and crop that immersive visual scene into a tiny two-dimensional representation in a way that can still communicate with the viewer. I highlight this only because for many years my major failing in landscape photography was constantly trying to "capture it all" and never taking my 24mm prime off my camera (a 35mm film camera at the time). I don't know if you suffer from this as I did, but your comment made me wonder because it sounds like something I would have said years back!
Nothing wrong with this, in fact Galen Rowell had a very similar ethic. Just make sure you don't let it limit you too much. While Rowell would refuse to airbrush or otherwise edit out unsightly elements in his photos and had complete disdain for composites (like putting a moon into the sky) he did use Fuji Velvia film almost religiously. Velvia is an insanely saturated film, we're talking clown make-up levels of saturation. Velvia is like dialing up the saturation slider in photoshop to the point your monitor starts to bleed. He also used contrast masks extensively when making his prints and dupes (equivalent to what is sometimes in the new digital world called local contrast enhancement, LCE, or HiRaLoAm sharpening). The chemistry in both the E-6 developing process for the film and the print processing also caused pretty intense sharpening effects. Why did he do all this "manipulation"? Because to make an image that is a little 2D rectangle on paper with a tiny color gamut and small contrast range come even close to representling the reality your visual system perceives requires an enourmous amount of manipulation. So if you like a simple workflow and such a workflow makes you most creative that's excellent, but be careful when defining for yourself what the "reality of my sights" and "mental reality" are. There is a very wide range over which such definitions are surprisingly arbitrary so make sure you don't choose a definition too narrow for yourself - even as a landscape photographer! Of course there are other whole genres of photography that are entirely about creating alternative realities, and they began way before digital manipulation and have there own place as well.
Awesome! Thanks! My sunsets these days consist of a wall of trees that slowly gets darker - I wish I'd paid more attention every evening in our old abode.
From your description it sounds like your going to get just the right things out of the contests, and I envy your lifestyle of the last 740 days!
Keep the great photos rolling in,
Ken
Who would have ever thought when I picked up my point and shoot two years ago it would lead to this! But I guess surrounded daily by such beauty one can only fall into trying to capture it... and you are so right as the camera itself has its limitations, one reason I always write for my readers to come and experience the Journey themselves... the photos are just photos!
Thank you again for you time and hope to some day see you on the road!
Be well... Spirit says so too!
My Gallery in progress...
On the road, homeless, with my buddy Spirit...
Ken, thank you so much for the critique. I hadn't thought much of the white of the building on the right and bottom edges, but after reading your review, I see what you mean.
Funny thing is I was actually trying to remove the tree from the picture and couldn't crop it completely out as it took away from my subject of the reflected building.
I will be sure to look closer at my edges in the future,
Again, thank you for a job you didn't have to do.
Thank you for your feedback. I am learning a lot by entering these challenges. Next time, maybe no soft focus.
http://annasphotos.smugmug.com
Congrats to all!
Lauren
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com