ellis_davison

Grab shot as a snow squall was coming in

Very nice picture. Whatever it is does not show up at this resolution, so maybe you could post a high-resolution crop showing the phenomenon. Also, shooting perameters: shutter speed, ISO setting etc. I suspect your problem is noise from either a long exposure, a high ISO setting or both, since this looks like it was shot through an infrared filter. I have not used them, but I understand specific noise progrms like "Noise Ninja" work well. (Another solution is a camera with a larger, less noisy sensor, but I hesitate to suggest it because you are doing just fine with this one.)

Nice picture. It is a little big--I can't get the whole thing on my screen at one time, and the "Larger" option blows it up way too much. That being said, the middle part of the picture, which crops a couple of inches or so off the top and bottom on my screeen, works better compositionally. The focus needs to be on the lamps, and cropping strengthens the composition and puts the focus where it belongs.

Well exposed, good tonality and contrast and an interesting range of expressions on the subjects. Composed a little tight on the sides and bottom, and the background (vehicles, man with white shirt) is a little distracting. Fine photo.

I agree with previous commenters. Maybe a bit edgy for this venue, and hence lower marks than it should have gotten. I do not comment on a picture unless I like it a lot, so consider the following in that context: There is a little dust in the right brow (left facing us) that should be stamped out, and what looks like a water or chemical mark in the chin area. It is not sharp, and it defininately does not need to be, but fix the artifacts. Also, I would not use such an elaborate title. This is a very expressive shot, and it does not need to be bolstered by the title. (Sorry I do not speak your language, and I hope this gets across.)

This is the kind of picture I am looking for when I visit thelow end of the rating spectrum. You ought to get "4s" for just getting the horizon straight and the exposure right, but this has a lot more. Well balanced and composed, a nice rhythm with the horizontal elements (jetties(?) and clouds), a lot of different and interesting things going on with the boats and figures, good textures. Fine picture, belongs much higher up the totem pole.

I like this picture. Sometimes I cruise the lower-rated end of this gallery to see this kind of shot--among the genuinely bad pictures, there are a few that are just a little edgy to get high marks. The grain, lack of sharp focus add to the mood. You have the right-to-left movement echoed in the ship, the child and the waves, and, since we read left-to-right this adds tension that contributes to the mood. Composition is good, but it might be better balance if you had caught the ship a few moments earlier, closer to the right of the frame. Good eye--keep it up.

This is a good concept--coupla suggestions:

1. Fill in the technical information. It would be somewhat helpful to know if this is a black-and-white negative scanned, or a color negative/slide scanned & converted, or a digital camera with a file conversion to monochrome.

2. Horizon is a little off. It looks like the file has room to crop & correct this.

3. Looks like some kind of artifact (white spot)toward the right, in the water or at the edge of the fence. This should be cloned out. Even if it is an actual object (buoy in the water or something) I would clone it out, but there are purists that would disagree with that.

4. Looks like the background is slightly out of focus, although it could be the haze. If you have autofocus, it could be locking on the fence, so you need to manually focus to split the difference between foreground (fence) and background (everything else). Manual exposure control (or pick the right auto program) to select a high f-number (small aperture) to pick up more depth of field.

5. Since this got into a digital file somehow, you can kick up the contrast a bit in curves (photoshop) or some other way. It may help.

6. Sometimes you have a good concept, and the light just stinks. It is hard to not take the picture anyway. I have boxes full of them in all kinds of different formats.

Hope this helps. It's still basically a good concept and a good picture, but you asked for comments.

Good exposure--catches the texture of the snow while retaining detail in the dark branch. I might be inclined to crop a little off of the top, bottom and right side: add to the power of the design and composition.

Good concept. I like the design, the texture of the grain at the bottom and the framing of the branch at the top. The middle may be a little too empty, though, and I would like to see a little more detail in the highlights reaching out along the tops of the grain to the middle of the field, without losing the high-key concept.

This is the sort of picture that brings me to the back of the pack from time to time. It could easily be in "Blind Spot" or a New York gallery without causing comment. The horizon is tilted and, if straightened, would probably bisect the frame: both violations of conventional composition wisdom. But there is a sense of the form, texture and rhythm of the landscape that is difficult to catch in two dimensions. A fine picture, but one that is not likely to get good marks in this venue.

Nice light, engaging subject. I would move the head off of center. Out of focus body in background does not help.

This looks like a stitched panorama, in which case the horizon has to be absolutely level and centered to work (which it is). Fine execution but in the position of arm- chair quarterback I would like to see a bit more of the field.

A picture of someone else's art, a weathered bas relief. Capturing a visual detail that others may overlook or not have access to is, itself, a legitmate part of our art.

Enigmatic; abstract without tricks or gimmicks.

The boat being close to the left edge, running out of the picture makes it edgy, but then a hydroplane pealing along at (probably) 90+ mph is an edgy subject, and I think it works, particularly in light of the overall balance of elements with the roostertail. This kind of picture can get a little boreing, and this one is not. Good exposure, nice background, overall a very good shot