Opinions?

Hi, I was hoping for more comments along with the low ratings on this

shot, I'm VERY new to flash as fill or anything else. In this shot, I

had to use the F-80's built in as a fill flash, and personally dislike

the shadow. The ear is a little too red from a tad too much beer

consumption at the event where I shot this. I'd REALLY like to know if

these are what bothers people about this shot, or if there are other

things that people are seeing.

 

Comments?<div></div>

It's a flatly-lit snap of someone's ear. To me, it doesn't convey anything beyond "here's what the side of her head looks like." I'm not clear what anyone is supposed to get out of it.

 

What do you think are the positive aspects of the image?

Honestly, the lighting doesn't bother me that much. I dont think it's very interesting

content and composition wise. There is nothing to show. I think it could provide more if

the direction she was looking in provided more content.

Why would anyone want to look at a tight shot of the side/back of a person's head?

I have to wonder what you see in the shot too, Alton. I rarely if ever critique anyone's work here - I'm certainly my own worst critic. But this looks almost like an accident, where the photographer hoped to catch the face, but the subject turned her head. Since you can't see her face, there's little to no emotion conveyed - just an ear and some hair. Put it this way: If you were a painter, would you paint your subject this way? Of course, all photographic interpretation is purely subjective so if you like the shot, that's all that counts! Best wishes . . .

Alton, it's just a very plain shot

You have other work that's quite interesting, so I look at this being simply a test shot or an experiment. I think it's an example of the problems of fill-flash up close, with too much flash. Outside, I usually set my fill flash to -2, so it's really just there to give a bit of catchlight and slightly brighten shadows. This shot would be more interesting with either (A) less or no fill-flash or (B) directional flash from the side. I'm not really commenting about the side of the head aspect, if she'd rotate her head a bit, it might be an interesting shot, but it seems you're trying to test ear shadows and such here.

an example of digital shutter lag??

VERY cool! Actually, the shot does capture some of her personality, but I've failed to convey that (my fault, not hers...wanted to try and include what she was looking at, but the other people in the immediate vicinity would have been distracting in the shot). It was very much a candid shot, and the lighting was abysmal (the flatness of the flash...).

 

What *I* see in the shot? A story, but I failed to convey that (and thanks for all the responses, I had no idea...)

 

Thanks for the fill flash comment, I had noticed that, but had been playing with -1, will DEFINITELY try -2 (this shot was using the on-camera flash, the SB-800 has already proven itself to be much better, but I've noticed that at 0 ev it does nasty things to the person).

 

Hmmm, actually, it really WAS a test shot, but one that I liked. This and another half-dozen shots are what convinced me and the model that we oughtta do a couple of shoots.

 

Nah, not digital shutter lag....I think photog's mental lag is more accurate :-D. I have noticed that lately with a lot of candid shots, the eye sees it, the mind says "CLICK IT!!!!!" and there is a breakdown in communication between mind and finger and the camera is strangely silent, lol.

 

Thanks so much for all the comments, its funny how a shot that *I* like can seem plain and uninteresting to most other people, and on occasion a shot I *HATE* is one that many people like (the one in my portfolio of Huang Yu Lan in the hot springs tub is one of my least favorites, but ratings here and reactions to the prints have been the opposite).

I think it is pretty obvious why the pictures in your Huang Yu Lan folder get a higher ratings than the ear shot.

I want to start it by saying that I am a bad photographer.<br>

Anything I see at your web site look fantastic.<br>

But this paticular one is a snap shot, nothing special about it.<br>

You know what though...<br>

If you had the exact same shot BUT if the model was an A-list movie star with a full make up, people would love this shot.<br>

It's just like the weddings, you take better pictures at expensive weddings compared to cheap weddings.<br>

The most interesting thing about a person are the eyes, followed by the rest of the face. You don't show them.

Composition error the eyes are too close to the left frame.

O.K. You can handle fill-flash and white balance. - But what for?

<i>If you had the exact same shot BUT if the model was an A-list movie star with a full make up, people would love this shot.</i><P>

Doubt it. Though I do suspect if Alton had looked at an identical shot taken by someone else of someone he didn't know, he'd probably think it was an uninteresting snap.<P>

One of the hardest things in assessing your own work is to disregard your memory of making the shot and your feelings about the subject and try to see the image for what it is, not for things it represents to you. If the image itself can tell that story (or even a fictional story) or convey that mood to someone who wasn't there, then you've got a winner.

Hi Alton,<P>

 

Nice photograph.

 

<P>Let me see if I can help you because you're on to something quite good. You've got a photographic eye. I believe what you're working on is a profile image. Let me say that I'm very much like you because I'm trying to learn by various means.

 

<P>My wife & I spent a week with Monte Zucker who is a terrific person and a wonderful portrait photographer. He is a master of lighting and posing techniques.

 

<P>Check out this web site of a gentleman who is Monte's mentor and good friend:<P>

 

<A Href="http://www.zuga.net/freelessons/zeltsman/jzch1.shtml">Joe Zeltsman</A><P>

 

I've found that these very talented and gifted people are so willing to help others out and are always putting your interests first. So check out this web site. The images are a little dated but nonetheless important even in the twenty first century. Look at image #10.

 

<P>And consider taking Monte's class. You will really like it.

<P>Hope this helps you.

<i>One of the hardest things in assessing your own work is to disregard your memory of making the shot and your feelings about the subject and try to see the image for what it is, not for things it represents to you.</i> <p>Bingo...<p>Oddly enough this is a paraphrase of one of my favorite Ansel Adams quotes, that "infatuation with subject or self is insufficient reason for the creation and display of photographs" or something like that... t <p>(and I wouldn't describe the lighting application in your image as "fill" flash. It's a little more potent than that.)

Mike, you are probably right about "...I do suspect if Alton had looked at an identical shot taken by someone else of someone he didn't know, he'd probably think it was an uninteresting snap." What you are talking about sounds like what we used to talk about as "Distance from the work" in the writing world (YOU know what you were trying to achieve, and you YOU, what you've just written makes perfect sense, but others looking at it say "Meh...").

 

Bill, I'll definitely check that site out. One of the difficulties living in Taiwan is getting accurate feedback (a lot of people tell you that they love it, even when they hate it). I have honestly not met many other photogs in Taiwan who don't feel competitive and secretive about how they work. I can't even get a group of folks together to basically do a studio co-op (why spend all that money on lighting and have it unused a lot of the time).

 

Tom, you are right....this was honestly the first time that I was forced to use flash, and actually some of the other shots got me believing in fill flash. I think I got myself confused metering this one. I've learned from it (and from the comments in this thread).

 

From a working standpoint, after spending many years playing live music (basically pure raw emotion where if you stop and think, you get in trouble musically) putting distance between myself and what I shoot really IS a challenge (and one of the main reasons I *love* posting things here and getting realistic comments).