Photo2

Hi all

I have got a question. I am getting very low ratings for

photos which I think carry a story and good compsoitional

rules. This photo for example has contrasting colours, a

man in a poor situation yet he is smiling, the fact that he is

hiding his eyes brings mystery. This to me has stadium and

punctum so why would it score a 3,6?

I would love to know what I am doing wrong that feels rite?

Elliot,

I have no idea why we get the ratings we do.  For me, I've decided to ignore ratings and concentrate more on reading the specifics of whatever good, complete critiques I can find, whether about my images or about others' images.  My personal concern is that I get better as a photographer.  In this particular image I see some nice complimentary colors and some strong diagonal lines all of which add interest.  There are elements of his clothing that imply an interesting story:  his hat, mask filter, worn-out boot.  I would like to see a version with his eyes visible, but it still could possibly work and add mystery (as you mention) without them.  I will mention a few things that I am currently working on and have heard from my mentors about my images:  Have you cropped out all the unessential parts of the image?  In this case, does the color add or distract as a compositional element?  Do I justify this image without his eyes visible because it was the only shot I got of him, or do I truly believe the lack of eye contact makes it into a different kind of story?  Have I experimented with different crop options?  Are there any distracting elements (white bag, bottom right, or the sky, maybe)?  And so on...I'll attach three versions to illustrate what other possibilities there might be.  Bottom line here:  Don't sweat the ratings, you are doing fine!

Another idea...go B&W as many street photographers do...

Just posted that B&W and maybe should have increased the contrast...and I don't like the effect of that Nik preset on the sky.  Anyway, here's a third variation using the Tonal Contrast preset in Nik's Color Efex Pro.  BTW, you can get all these effects in Photoshop with a little patience, so it isn't necessary to buy other software.

Daniel is right in his comment above - ratings mean nothing.  They depend too much on people's experience, taste, perception and zillion other things.  Better concentrate on comments, sometimes they are really helpful.  I like your work, keep it going.  Regards, Yelena

Hi Elliot,

This picture is actually my favorite in the monthly pool. 

I sometimes ask myself the same question; but you know this is only internet public forum, so people have different opinion about what is a good photography. While you have great photographers on this forum, I personally think you have more people who are only interested/capable of appreciate photographs by their technical merit; and even worse people prefer overly processed photographs filled with technical weirdness for no reason.

So just don't care too much about the ratings, or take some stunning but meaningless photographs for that ;)

Regards

Fei