Beach Chairs

Any critique welcome:

Beach Chairs by David Stephens, on Flickr

Not trying to monopolize the Forum, but one response leads to a new idea, which leads to another response and then another idea...

Not my cup of tea. The chairs just aren’t terribly interesting and the background blur is very prominent, somewhat unsightly, and calls attention to itself. Also, the hard delineation line of the blur is a bit harsh. Honestly, not to pile on, but the subject itself, empty chair(s) on the beach, is a bit cliché and this take on it doesn’t add much.

You’re not monopolizing the forum. I appreciate your openness to critique and willingness to put yourself out there and get the forum moving. I’ll look for something recent of mine to post as well.

Not my cup of tea. The chairs just aren’t terribly interesting and the background blur is very prominent, somewhat unsightly, and calls attention to itself. Also, the hard delineation line of the blur is a bit harsh. Honestly, not to pile on, but the subject itself, empty chair(s) on the beach, is a bit cliché and this take on it doesn’t add much.

 

You’re not monopolizing the forum. I appreciate your openness to critique and willingness to put yourself out there and get the forum moving. I’ll look for something recent of mine to post as well.

Thanks Sam. Not a normal subject for me. It seemed stronger in the viewfinder than to my naked eye. I think I like it because of abstraction of the background vs. the clarity of the chairs. I'm sending no message. Perhaps I should. Maybe this why I'm best at reality. ;-)

The blur feels abrupt and imposed, as if done in post? The horizon is way off level. All of the dust spots on your sensor showing in the water and sky are unsightly. The tonality is murky, almost sinister, despite the image itself speaking more to a sunny day at the beach. Something could have been done with that idea with a little ingenuity and a less cliche subject and placement.

BTW I do not think that anyone is monopolizing the forum. The simple truth is that, with this few active members remaining, there are only going to be so many people posting. The forum itself is a good idea. Thanks for participating.

The blur feels abrupt and imposed, as if done in post? The horizon is way off level. All of the dust spots on your sensor showing in the water and sky are unsightly. The tonality is murky, almost sinister, despite the image itself speaking more to a sunny day at the beach. Something could have been done with that idea with a little ingenuity and a less cliche subject and placement.

 

BTW I do not think that anyone is monopolizing the forum. The simple truth is that, with this few active members remaining, there are only going to be so many people posting. The forum itself is a good idea. Thanks for participating.

Thank you Gordon. The bokeh is the natural product of an 800mm focal length on a relatively near subject. I'm normally a stickler for level horizons and I can't explain why it didn't matter to me in this instance. I'm still conflicted about the horizon.