In Remembrance of the Conquests

I would very much like to hear critiques on this photo.

 

Thanks.

Jason, this my be a little biased due to the fact that I've completely gone B&W, but my initial impressions of this photo is that it's a

"good snapshot."

 

The composition is textbook, there's a good balance between left and right. My eye enters the frame with the "castle" and exits through the "statue."

 

My critiques? Looks like something I've already seen... Has a certain postcard look to it. Perhaps because the popping colors. Is that good or bad? I'd say thats for you, the photographer, to decide. However, If I were photographing this, I would have probablly focused on one object, and filled that objcet in my frame. Or if you wanted both, I would have composed the statue vertically, and stopped down to a 8.0 or so that the background was almost in focus.

 

Like I said, the photo has a certain familiarity to it, as if I've already seen it already. Otherwise, keep up the good work.

I would have to agree with David in that it does have that post card kind of look to it. ( It is not neccessarily a bad thing to be able to create commerically viable photographs.) Because of the extreme depth of field that you have chosen to use the two major compositional elements become competing elements. (actually the red flower on the far left also competes for my attention.) When I look at the shot, my eye goes back and forth between the building and the indian a couple of times and then it wanders to the red flower. My eye never really comes to rest on a particular area of the image for long. I think less depth of field would have helped with the competing elements problem. I can see that this was thoughtfully composed in a very "proper" manner. To a large degree Ithink it works as is, but I also think that it could be even more effective by "toning down" some of the competing elements.

This is all my fault. I suggested you try to put three elements in the picture space and here we have it . . . . but the three don't really relate as a theme for me.

 

What I saw first was a new title . . .

 

'death to the flower !!'

Yes, indeed it has a certain postcard look to it, but by stepping back and including a foreground you have avoided the (IMHO dreadful) effect of tilting your camera backwards to capture the building. The light seems a bit harsh, but overall I find this a pleasing image.