markskelly

Dustin,

I don't speak French. However, a friend I was with asked the attendant at the door about photographing in the tomb. He said that flash photography was forbidden, as was touching the remains. This made sense to me. A camera flash in those dark halls would have temporarily blinded everyone, and disturbing the remains physically is an obvious no-no. Considering that the gift shop was selling poster sized photos, it seems that the current administrators are alright with photographs. I try to play by the rules, and I certainly wouldn't have taken them had I any indication that it would have been distrespectful.

Also, these are sharp only because they were taken on a tripod with very, very long exposures.

I like this very much. The colors are beautiful. The blue shadows are quite nice. Are they a reflection of blue objects inside? At first glance, I felt that the woman was too overpowered by the arch she is leaning against. Maybe I'd crop left and top. But it's nice to see her expression so small and so telling amidst the rest of the environment. Nice catch.

Comments and critiques appreciated. I liked this one because it portrays a

variety of characters in a single moment. Your thoughts?...

I don't get it. where's the bird?

I know this wouldn't rate well, but I enjoy photos that have a subtle suggestion

of narrative, yet are offhand and slightly mysterious. What do you think?

Pretty damn cool. However, the action is going on in his face. Get closer.

I disagree with the above comment. No, nothing needs to be in focus. However, something needs to be the dominant subject. The eye needs to have a place to be, and a path to travel from or to. Focused or not, this is bad composition. Reconsider your composition and try your creative idea again.

In this case, a shoemaker. Critiques/Comments welcome.

This is a shot from a practice session of a young boxer training for Golden Glove

certification. Ratings/Critiques appreciated.

I like it. The tonality is good, as is the light. I like how the bright areas on lower left/right emphasize his beard. His gaze is strong also. Tight crop makes for more of a direct punch. I might have shifted the frame up a bit as I'd like to see more of his hat at the loss of a bit of beard. Also, I'd like to see his right eye complete. Finally, there's a lack of sharpness here that works against it. Normally I wouldn't harp on it, but there's a lot of texture here that would really add to the feeling of the photo if it were nice and crisp. But, overall a really strong portrait. Congrats.

Thought this was interesting...

Thought this was a wonderful moment. I shot this at an outdoor party at my

former college.

In February of 2005, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude revealed a public

art exhibition in New York. It consisted of 7,503 orange gates, each hung with

a fabric curtain and placed along the paths of Central Park. The work

remained for 16 days before being taken down. I spent 3 days walking the

park and photographing what I saw. This is one of my photographs. Critiques

on this, or any other photos in this folder appreciated. Thanks, Mark.

Thank you for the comments! I agree with the cropping suggestion. I would have cropped it something like that, but I'm keeping to a 'no cropping' rule for now so I can learn to better place the camera frame.

A family during an average evening at home.

I agree with many of the above. Horizontal works in this one. You've got the rule of thirds working for you here.

What I meant by what created this is how the ground became cracked. Was it erosion, wind, water or geothermal activity? Looking at it now, it bears a more than slight resemblance to the mars rover photos. Just for laughs, I'd consider coloring one in the same orange/red. ;-)

I really like the concept here. The format is a tad too vertical for my taste, but otherwise I really like it. It reminds me of some verticals that Andy Goldsworthy did of some of his creations. I would have liked the background in focus, though. But perhaps that was your intention. What, by the way, created this?

I like the tension and indentations of the hands on the stomach. This is something I haven't seen often in nudes, that are usually posed graceful and soft. Very original.

Very striking shot. I love the color. Very surreal. Also, good composition. I might say that I'd like to see a little more of the people, they seem crowded into the bottom, but maybe not. It's really about the handles first, which leads down to the people. Excellent shot, simple and unique.

I like this, but my eye keeps going back and forth between the hand/foot and the weight to the left. The weight doesn't tell me much, and I'd rather it not be there. I'd like to see the foot more towards center (just a bit) as the primary subject, and either no other objects, or perhaps one that is more directly related to the activity of the subject.

Very charming portrait. I think that what works here is the angle and composition. That's what caught my eye. Also, this looks like you were close to them and shooting wide. There's an intimacy here. I suppose that, classically speaking, there are compositional flaws, ie. her head is too far to the right, but I like to see work that tosses things up a bit. It's an interesting shot with a lot of personality to it. Much liked.

I'd put this in the sports catagory. Hell, I'd put this in Sports Illustrated. Excellent image. Sharp where it's supposed to be, blurred where it should be moving.

Hmmm. My first impression was the same as many others. A sellable image.

Iconically obvious.

Really like the lighting in this one. Lit from below, no? I never have any luck with that. You've really made it work in this one. Nice classic pose also.