Critique This, Please Pt 2

here’s another recent image, please let me know what you think

 

Sorry but the photo doesn't do anything for me. It's certainly one I would try out but soon chuck.

Thanks Mike, I very much appreciate your input.

 

Anybody else?

I usually accept a photo’s being in black and white or color and shy away from imagining what it would be like the other way. This one is different, and I see it being more interesting in color. You don’t shoot much, if any, color, but that still could be a way to consider how a different black and white rendering might affect it. Still life photography, to me, is a tough genre, and one I love. I think it often searches for that balance/tension/counterpoint between stillness and life, or life and death (nature morte in French) not to get too profound. A good still life often has that something extra I can’t quite put my finger on, a kind of grasping at the extraordinary through the ordinary. I think there’s also often a quality that plays the recognizability of the objects portrayed alongside visceral abstractions, such as shape, geometry, relationship, texture, tonality, and more. The tied string that’s maybe attached to a stirrer or whatever, which is in pretty stark focus and very light tone, really pulls me away from the rest of the photo. It’s like there’s something in my eye not letting me appreciate everything else which is so different in quality from that. Given the fairly obvious focusing technique, the photo feels a little too much like a camera exercise. I don’t necessarily think you’re that far off and would keep at it because I think there are rewards to be found in this kind of work, which I’ve dabbled with myself though am still looking for that special something myself.

I hope you realise that extreme in focus, out of focus shots can cause epileptic fits.

 

viewer discretion advised

Sam thanks for your in-depth thoughts about this shot. Yeah that tied know thing is the focus- it’s a bamboo skewers that’s holding the lemon, olive, & lime and is laying across the top of the glass.

 

the idea was to feature the geometric juxtaposition between the glass and the napkin & implements- my sunglasses were lying there and I thought it’s throw the whole thing off kilter just enough. Maybe the shallow depth of field is too drastic but I like the general look of this enough that I posted it here for critique.

 

Hadn’t thought of it as a still life but in the end that’s a good way to look at this. It was a sort of exercise in depth of field- getting to knows I recall this “new” camera and lens. Honestly there’s probably enough color in the lemon lime, olive, & the red Bloody Mary mix to make this a little more impactful- good point there. I usually do have at least 2 camera with me when I’m out and often one will have color film in it. As I recall this day, I only had the one camera along tho. A friend of mine once told me that “color film is for colorful things, and black and white films for everything else”- so ive been trying to shoot either with that in mind.

 

I’ll keep trying for sure.

My reading of the subject of the photo (whatever the content) is 'narrow, selective focus'

Not a fan. May, MAY, make an ok stock image, but I don't think it would get past their inspectors. Just my .02

Cluttered. I like the look of the knife and fork...remove the sun glasses...IMO that kind of drink calls for color...reshoot a simple martini.

Thanks much for your comments, everyone!