sjmurray

Alberto, I thank you for all the nice comments on several of my photos. This one I took 30 years ago and I don't remember why I composed it so tightly, but I still like it this way. I particularly like the contrast between the red and yellow leaves and the dark background, as well as the shapes of the white trees. I had a print of it on my wall in my office for a while since I recently scanned the slide for the first time.

 

I think we all have certain sensitivities and tastes for images. I seem to like complex and graphic compositions. Images are like music, I may love a certain song that you hate. The main thing is to like the work you do for your own reasons.

Thanks Fab. I've come to realize that the "ratings" here on photonet are not very expert and prone to biases. It seems many of the favorite images here tend to be very much "post card" type images or trendy advertising type images, both genres I try to avoid like the plague. Hence, my images don't get high ratings in general. The other thing that doesn't get any attention is the format used. Images made with a 3 megapixel camera, no matter how excellent, cannot make a decent print compared to medium and large format film mediums. They only look good on a monitor. I can take my images and make sharp prints with a beautiful range of tones and no pixels at 16x20 easily. To me the print is the art form, not the screen image.

You have some nice photos on your portfolio, but I do not particulary enjoy this one. To me it is too soft and the composition is disturbing. It looks too "digital" in its softness. One could do a lot more with this face!

Thanks for commenting Jeremy.

 

About monitor contrast. I followed the instructions of the Adobe Gamma application that comes with PS. It has you turn your monitor's contrast all the way up and leave it there before adjusting gamma. Try this and review this image. The contrast is good on my monitor.

 

As for the distracting sunlight. This was basically a candid shot and that's where she was sitting. I suppose I could crop it for a tighter head shot. To me her eyes and the lighting on her face are so beautiful I tend not to notice the sunlight. I did burn it down as much as I could without making it look unnatural.

 

The actual print has a beautiful range of tones in her face.

Thanks Andrew. Yeah, it would have been nice with my 4x5 and tri-x, but all I had with me was my Nikon. You have some nice shots in your portfolio!

Yeah, it was taken in the early 1970's. That's my younger brother when he was a teenager. I like the leaves in the background and the triangle motif throughout.

 

BTW Chris, the contrast is perfect on my monitor at home and at work. You might check your monitor's gamma with Adobe Gamma or check out this web site: http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Gamma.htm

 

A while back I unwittingly had my monitor set too dark and all the images I posted looked too light and washed out on other people's monitors. After I made the correction I had to delete and repost all my stuff. If anything I tend to err toward being too dark now. If this image appears washed out on your monitor you may need a gamma adjustment.

 

Thanks for commenting

To me no visual tension. Textures can be nice to look at but I still want my eye to be directed by the composition. With this one my eyes wander around aimlessly. I can see by the above comments each person sees differently and has different expectations of an image. You'll never please us all, so always please yourself.

Very nice natural light portrait. I think the softness is just fine in this image.

To Joseph: I never thought of it that way. Thanks for pointing that out! Now I see it in a new way.

To David: I think its probably a matter of personal taste. I have an 8x10 of this framed in my office. I'm looking at it right now. The angles work very well for me to increase the "visual tension." That's probably why I moved to this angle when I shot it. The shadow angles interplay with the angles of the vertical boards. The print is very sharp overall and looks much better on the wall than on a monitor. Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. If you have some images posted I'll have a look at them.

Thanks, Andrew

This was a great idea. I love the colors contrasting with the gray stones. I have to admit I am a bit uneasy with the composition. Maybe my eye wants to see something at the top, where the sidewalk goes. Also, for this to work, the print would have to be very sharp from top to bottom, in my opinion. Did you try some other compositions of this scene?

Nice textures and colors. The composition doesn't grab me. Did you do any other angles?

I like tree shots. Do a lot of them myself. This one has wonderful design due to the composition, colors and texture of the tree itself. Nice job.

To me it looks like an abstract painting. I can't tell what I'm looking at. Maybe its the loss of detail reducing it to screen size. May I ask you how you produced the "picture frame" around the image.

I can see you are experimenting with framing fore ground and background elements. If it were my photo I would probably darken it and increase the contrast. I would clone out or crop out the dark building protruding on the upper right corner. Keep taking pictures!

Doug, trust your first instincts. Its like "use the force, Luke." Don't second guess yourself. This is a great image in several variations, but the one you choose is the most important. Other viewers will often have a different opinion. This is your image.

Nice picture. I cropped out the post on the left with piece of paper held up to my screen. Gives it a slightly different feel. I would be tempted to lighten up the boat a little too. Colors and scene are very nice.

This is a wonderful candid picture. Well done! Its just so real! Congrats.

Someone has to make at least one constructive criticism to this long list of praise. So I guess it will be me. This is a wonderful graphic image, there is no doubt about that. It is perfect in that respect. And I love graphics. But, to me it is somewhat removed from reality. A water drop placed on a feather by a photographer. Shot with a macro lens and a strobe (or sun). It screams of technique and the intentional design of the photographer. It doesn't pull me an any farther than that. I am more drawn in by graphic images that are naturally occurring and discovered by the artist and captured by technique in such a way so that the technique is more transparent, leaving me to be in awe of the subject, of the amazing images in this world. This is simply another perspective or criterion that can be applied. I mean no ill will, but just to add at least one constructive criticism for a gifted graphic artist. I do try to apply the same criterion to my own work.

Is this a photo?

Nice composition and colors. My bias would be to do the original in large format. But that's just my thing. Keep up the good work.

I agree with others above who would not crop this picture. It is a nicely done image with effective composition. This type of picture makes a good magazine illustration because it gets your attention right away. Good for print media. Perfect for advertising. I could not look at it day after day on the wall, however. There's just not enough there for my brain to be enchanted for more than a few seconds.

An irresistable subject. You did a very nice composition of it.

Excellent graphic image. Nicely done!