richard_milner2

I like the quality of the light. The washed out background makes a good silhouette. The colours of the foreground help to create a peaceful atmostphere.

 

However, I feel for the balance of the image, the subject photographer should be a bit further to the left. He seems too close to the tree at the moment.

Somehow I like this picture. It's good the way the rails travel across the frame rather than just straight into the middle.

Lovely shot. The JPEG artifacts probably result from compression to 256 colour. Maybe it's something you have to accept for putting the image on the web with a small file size.

The tree branches on top right are a bit intrusive, otherwise a nice shot.

I like the use of B&W which always gives portraits a classic look. The natural light is also wonderful for portraits and gives a soft, very sympathetic feel to the image.

 

However, there are a few places where I feel you could improve this picture.

 

1. The background on the boy's left hand side is distracting because of the patterns of the curtain (drape?). Good style for portraits is usually considered to be one of the following;

 

>a plain background,

>a formal pose, with objects that indicate the sitter's interests and position in life,

>an 'environmental' situation - for instance the boy could be looking out of his own bedroom window, in which case showing his own room's furniture is quite appropriate. The curtain does not fulfil any of these functions in this image, and contrasts unfavourably with the dark background.

 

2. His right face is nearly hidden by darkness. I think it is effective, but it would fit better with a 'moody' expression. The subject's expression is bright and cheerful, which seems at odds with the lighting. You could get some light into this area of the photo by using a reflector such as a white card, or sheet, held out of the frame on the subject's right.

 

3. It is a shame that his hand is slightly cut off. The hands can be very expressive even when in repose as they are here.

 

Still, it is a good effort and I wish you good luck with your next try.

The colours are fantastic and I love the way the tree is silhouetted.

 

One criticism, the dark line of the ground from which the tree is growing is slightly slanted. It could of course be that the ground *does* slant like that, but it makes me feel the camera was not level. I just find it is slightly distracting.

 

How about cropping the image very slightly to bring the ground more level and lose the rock (?) that sticks in at the left hand side?

Very colourful.

 

How about if you put the camera into the portrait orientation and focus attention on the stream of traffic moving into/out of the very colourful neon signage. This would also show more of the black sky which highlights the colours even more.

 

Next time I am in Japan I think I will try for some shots like this.

This was shot in the O-Daiba area of Tokyo.

 

I was struck by the contrast of the old bicycle's wheel and the giant

Ferris wheel. I tried to put this into the photo.

I like the combination of colours and the dark sky.

 

Timage would have better balance if the foreground figure were further to the right of the image (more to her left).

This is an ad in a Coffee Boss vending machine.

 

The pipe and moustache are drawn on as part of the ad campaign; they

are from the main Coffee Boss logo character.

 

I just thought it was funny.

This is a small traditional shop in the resort town of Hakone, near

Tokyo. The shop specialises in umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums eaten

with rice as a condiment) which are prepared on the premises where

they are sold.

This was part of a display outside an antiques shop in the Lake

Hakone region of Japan.

The exposure is right and you have got some nice cloud contrast. I like the tonality of the black and white, and the way the sun gleams off the dome.

 

The dome is leaning slightly left. If you used a tripod and a spirit level, you could ensure your camera was level with horizontal. That is considered the best style in landscape or architectural photographs.

 

I feel the trees in the foreground are sharp enough to distract from the main subject, while being unfocussed enough to be annoyed they are not sharp. Also, they add little to a sense of framing or to draw sight lines within the image.

 

Finally, the flagstaff on top of the dome is right up to the edge of the frame, and feels cramped. If there was a flag on it, I would certainly like to see it.

 

I feel this shot would be improved by turning the camera to the portrait format, by stepping forward slightly and moving a bit to the right to get the dome in a gap the middle of the trees. This would concentrate attention on the dome, which is more impressive than the rest of the building.

 

Then I would either try the trees in sharp focus, or to unfocuss them more. You could try both ways, and compare the results.

 

This looks an impressive building to photograph, and I hope you can return there often to try out different approaches. It can be very challenging to approach the same subject many different ways.

Interesting shot - at first I thought it must be infra-red and the white stuff was seaweed. Then I realised the water is white too.

 

As it is 6X6 I would like to see the whole negative. Presumably you cut something out that didn't go well.

This railway locomotive is potentially a nice subject but you have not done it full justice.

 

The focus seems slightly off though that could be the low resolution of the uploaded file.

 

Despite the fact it is sunny, the colours are quite subdued. I would have liked to see the hulking black engine set against a blazing colourful surrounding. (You could enhance the colours digitally.)

 

The Sky is rather washed out.

 

You are quite close to the engine and so we cannot see a lot of the surroundings.

 

I wonder if you live hear there so you may easily go and take some more shots. I would like to see some.

From this angle there is something skull-like about the contours of the front of the face. This does give it a very different feeling to the normal frontal shot.

 

I feel it is slightly cramped in front of the face, but perhaps that is part of your different vision.

I think you judged the DOF nicely. There is enough blur to let me know what is in the background without distracting attention from the portraitee.

 

However there is nothing to show he is the clerk. That detracts from the image as an environmental portrait. How do I know it's the clerk except for the title? If it is special that he is the clerk, I would like to see why.

Exposure is good and the black background helps the subject stand out.

 

On the down side, the subject's right eye is not as crisply focussed as her left, and you can see figures reflected in the lens of her eyeglasses.

 

I like the idea of the piece of cake (?) coming in from the right of the frame, and how she is watching it and anticipating it. But because there is nothing shown of her hand holding the cake, it could be something attacking her. If you pulled out a bit, and showed her arm, it would look better.

There is potentially quite a striking image here but I feel it is let down by the slight inward lean of the columns.

 

It would work better if you leave out the upper arches and concentrate on the repetitive vertical lines of the columns curving round the building.

It is a very sombre scene. Because of the white page it is difficult for the eye to detect the subtle shades of grey. It would be nice to see a print of this. That is the limitation of the web, I suppose.

I like this image very much. The square crop really suits it.

 

The one criticism I have is that the focus seems less than pin-sharp, especially viewing the large scan. I suppose this could be due to the scanning resolution, or the type/format of film used.

 

I think this image would work well in B&W - perhaps you could try it out in Photoshop.

The subject is not looking directly at the camera and his hat is lost against the black background.

 

The weathered wood goes well with his shirt to suggest a 'country and western' feeling.

I like this shot.

 

What I find interesting is that the perspective is confusing so that it's difficult to tell if you are viewing from the top of a flight of stairs downwards, or along a flat passageway.

I agree - the top of the tower is cramped. I love the cloud reflections, though.

 

I think there may be another slightly different picture in this scene. If you moved to a position where the wooden wall was excluded, but the glass tower reflected more clouds, it could make a very nice shot against a blue and white sky.

I like the subdued colouring.

 

The square format suits the pose well.

 

The black strap over the right shoulder is a bit intrusive. It would work better without the leather (?) jacket.