chad_gard

Yeah, Barry, I do like this one better. I still would have moved her down just a little bit in the frame. However, the pose, and especially the shaddow, in this one make it much more interesting. to me, at least.

 

There is one distracting highlight accross the shaddow of her left leg that you might wanna take out in PS, but that's really a minor nit.

To tell you the truth, until you mentioned it I hadn't noticed the shiny silver thing. Now it's really distracting. I believe it is either some ice, or a little water and a coincidental lack of foliage blocking light from that spot.

 

It is not intended to be a focal point. Perhaps I can go back and burn a little there in photoshop to dial it down a little. However, I generally don't like doing that sort of thing, and am not that good at it...

Well, now I know Flying Men of Cuetzalan do! Fascinating - is the thing that flings them out in circles motorized, or are the flying men self propelled? Or does the spiral and gravity come into play? Looks painful.

yeah, but everyday objects in interesting situations and light, and that most people wouldnt' notice, are very interesting photographic subjects.

 

I try to leave a comment with every rating I give. I find it helps my own photoraphy probably more than it helps the person I'm rating

Uh, yeah, by graphic I mean tone, shape, and composition, not graphic in the sexuality sense.

 

It would be rather hard to make a sexually graphic photo no matter where the model was placed in the frame if she (or he) is under water.

 

Rather, what I was getting at would be something like moving the model down just a bit (hard to specify distances when we're talking about something on screen and with no reference point...), so, while still near the top, she has a little space to 'breathe'. Then perhaps lightening the bottom portion of the water so it doesn't have quite so much contrast to give it more of a minimalistic feel.

 

However, the hair will always probably be a stark contrast, unless you went with an albino model. Perhaps less exposure overall would darken the water some and make that contrast less, though that's hard to tell since one of the main light sources was under the water. And, I could just be wacky, and that contrast could be what makes the photo for other folks.

My first instinct was that it was simply under-exposed, but that was your goal, and you seem to have succeeded. i would like perhaps even more brightness from the train cars, and perhaps a higher angle, so the railing doesn't fight so much with the bottom of the windows in the foreground.

 

For what it's worth, I didn't know it was Bastille Station, and indeed have never lived in a city with a subway, but I knew that's what it was.

 

Very nice light, and I love the shape of the streets coming together. The fog also gives it a nice atmosphere. It does seem a little too busy, though. Not sure there's a good way to address that...

I, too, find the wire, crane,a nd building on the left distracting. Particularly because at this focual length, the building on the left is rather distorted from vertical, and this is extra disturbing on a building that is cut off down the center.

Probably not a very comfortable chair until spring.

 

Nice composition, and I love the shaddows. Sort of a photo-noir effect, but with natural light and no Humphry Bogart.

 

Might be interesting to see how it would look in black and white or as a duotone - I'm not sure that the green of the chair isn't a distraction.

Touching - very intimate and personal. The only thing that would improve it would be just a little catch-light in the man's (your?) eyes - not enough to remove the shaddow, but just enough to put a little hilight/glimmer there.

Man, you'd sure want to buy some tomatoes from him. Then call the FBI!

 

Unique and very environmental portrait.

Great colors really make the typically boring group photo very interstesting. I really want to know what exactly the Flying Men of Cuetzalan do, now. Fascintating.

 

The background textures and colors are very interesting, but fight a little bit with the men. It could be better to use a shallower depth-of-field to blur some of that distraction away.

Odd title, as the sky is not particularly blue. The sea, owever, is. Nice composition, would bennefit from early morning or late-evening light. You may also want to consider a warming filter (81-a, etc) to give the grass a bit more natural color in such overast conditions, though that would have to be carefully weighed against what changes it may make to the color of the ocean.

Very interesting, with a lot of motion. Perhaps what Jerry Lee Lewis would have looked like as a modern woman?

Very interesting/abstract. Not sure what it is. Or that I'm supposed to.

 

If I'm not supposed to, then the little light tail/streak on the right side of the object going towards the top of the frame is disturbing. It would be good to clone it out.

 

If I am supposed to, I don't know where to begin...

Overall very nice.

 

With the hill starting so close to the top of frame on the right and essentially heading only down until it runs off the bottom, it does give one a bit of a lost/ungrounded feeling that would seem to conflict with the subject. It might also be good to move the building somewhat off-center, even in a panoramic photo.

Overall very nice, and I really like the background fabric chosen. Just a little too much light reflecting off of (or is it shining through?) the fabric in front of the bottle

Very nice hydrant - great textures and colors. While typically a subject off-center is a good thing, I would dissagree with Jeff in this case. The hydrant pretty well fills the frame, and I think that is good. It's also naturally very symetrical. Typically having the subject off-center allows the eye to be drawn in and accross the photo more, but a hydrant is a very solid and stationary object (one hopes!), and with this close of a view of it, it seems better centered.

 

I would like to see a slightly lower angle, though. We typically look down at hydrants, but I'd like to see an angle a little closer to straight on. Or what about looking up (if there's enough of a hill behind or it's a cloudy day with not much in the background that can be blurred).

 

It might also be good to try a different horizontal angle on it. Maybe move clockwise a bit, to see if you can limit the interruptions from little sticks and get a better angle on the little snow shape to the right of the hydrant.

Very interesting architecture and GREAT light/atmosphere. I like most of the birds, but the one centered on the center spire I keep waffling back and forth on - sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. You may also want to play with cropping or un-cropping the left side a bit so we don't get a sliver of building fighting for attention.

Very nice. The only thing that might improve it would be if it were sharp all the way to the "vanishing point" of its perspective. It looks like there is some fog in the air - perhaps trying it again on a clear night (there's a rare request...) could make it even better.

Interesting textures and composition. I'd like a little greater depth of field so the background wall was more in focus, and maybe a little softer light on that wall so it wouldn't be quite so washed out. Maybe waiting 'till sunset/rise, on a mostly-cloudy day, but with a clear horizon. That could give softer light with a warmer tone to it and could make a photo such as this really come to life.

Very atmospheric. Very textural. Very dusty. Very yellow.

 

It's a very very photo...

The shape of the mountain is quite interesting, and the composition is OK, but the light is extremely harsh, and much of the photo is over-exposed, while the foreground tree and shaddow areas are under-exposed.

 

The same scene taken in more favorable light, which from the length of the shaddows probably could have been had either an hour or two earlier or an hour or two later (morning or evening?) could be quite striking.

 

Thanks, Charo.

 

There is a lot going on, admittedly. It was a very tough situation to photograph in, because the audience completely surrounded the performance area. Only two of the people in the background are tourists, for what that's worth. The third is one of the employees minding the pig-roasting pit.

 

I would have liked to have gotten lower, too, but then you'd see a bunch of database developers in the foreground.

 

The luau was a fascinating environment I'd love to be able to spend some time shooting. Very challenging, as it's lit almost entirely by fire, and doesn't begin until after sunset (this was actually some pre-luau entertainment). Lots of colors and fast motion, too.

 

To shoot it right would require less crowd, a tripod, and less food (and maybe less drinking, too). Alas, there was a large crowd, no tripod, lots of food, and an open bar...

 

So, this was one of the few shots that are reasonably sharp enough to even bother with. And I do really like the light on the dancer.

 

I've played arround with different crops to try and simplify the shot and focus on that light, but been unsuccessful in finding one I like better than the full-frame shot. The best I've come up with is attached - perhaps if I spent the time cloning out the remnants of the tourist in the background, it would work, but seems quite unbalanced compositionally. Would you (or anyone) mind taking a stab at a better crop and posting it here?

Love the colors and graphic shape, as well as how the stairs seem to go down infinitely. Great light, and leaving the top right corner black really helps define the shape of the stairs in an appealing way.