Terra cotta from the Getty

Just a tad more DOF for more sharpness on the main subject and patience to wait for the lightly clad and darkly clad people in the background to move out of the frame. Maybe even some fill flash...yes, some fill would be nice. 6/10, dump the folks and it's 8/10, fill and 10/10. Yes, this is a picky review, but when 10 of 10 means perfect I guess I'm going to be picky.

In still life photography, there are no excuses for not getting it perfect. It's not like photojournalism or wedding photography where things happen and you try to get an image. The maker of this photo either didn't see the person in the background between the terra cotta figures or he/she hasn't considered that what you leave out is as important as what you include in an image. If an element does not improve an image it should be left out. With this still life, just waiting a minute for the person to move, or lowering the camera viewpoint would have been the thing to do. Another explanation is that the image-maker wanted to have this out of focus (and light) image there between the terra cotta figures, in which case, I do not comprehend the intent of this photo.

Sincerely, Frank Scheitrowsky

... however since the photo was, in fact, a snapshot made in a crowded room under severe time pressure I won't apologize for the distracting background detail.

 

Had I had the time to put more care and thought into the composition, it would have been possible to address the issue.

 

Note that I did not post this photo with the intent of it being critiqued in its own right (although I did invite attention in one thread) but only because I found the light and shadow on the foreground terra cotta piece to be interesting.

 

By the way, in response to the first poster's comment, I would have definitely used fill flash had I had photography as the primary intent of my trip and had I been allowed to use flash. Unfortunately, flash and the use of a tripod were forbidden.

 

Thanks for taking the time to comment!

 

A shame. Perhaps another trip with a reflector or even a torch lamp(Flashlight) would be in order :)

It is a rather interesting light, if just a little to dark in the shadows. With all it's defects it's still a 6 of 10... a respectable rating for a photo made with the aim of recording a memory and no more.