Lou_Meluso

I like the image. While I've seen similar images in this vein done more cleverly, there is something exciting about exploring the world through the lens and seeing something interesting and clicking the shutter. The spirit of exploration and discovery is there and though simply seen and executed, it still has that sense. The B&W rendering works here to help abstract and enhance the graphic power.

I feel this would be a stronger composition if the "subject", the sharply focused area, weren't place so bulls-eye dead center and bit of edge burn would help focus the eye into the frame.

These are pictures one has to make in order to stay curious and delighted in capturing the essence of the natural world. Cleverness can come later.

Correction-should read "her entire face would merge with the background".

I like this image. There seems to be a good connection between the subjects. The narrow depth of focus isolates the pair and renders the background less distracting while giving a sense of place and purpose. The girl is quite pretty in this lighting.

However, I don't like the exposure/post-processing. If not for a tuft of hair on the far side of the girls head, her entire head would merge with the background. The hand is blown out. I know this is often considered and artistic "look". It's not to my taste and it looks like an exposure/PP mistake.

Otherwise it's a delightful, candid at a wedding.

I like the image. As an experiment in using alternate light sources, it's a good idea. Ultimately a figure study in Nature. the figure is strongly contrasted with the background defining it well. The warm and cool relationships(with stars no less) is a very attractive combo.

I think there is plenty of room for improvement. The truncated spiral doesn't balance the composition as well as it could. And I wouldn't mind seeing the sparks splayed out more symmetrically right and left.

Overall, it's a nice idea and excellent use of an alternate light source to elevate an otherwise traditional figure study in Nature.

Nor do running down other's honest opinions make for a good critique.

I don't like this image. I do like the clear picture of the swan on the left. A good, crisp rendering with nice lighting. That alone, however does not carry the shot. One bird in focus and one far out does not complete the theme well.

I wish you would rethink the title. It turns a good attempt at a nature shot into a simpering message about human emotion. Why? Because the two swans necks make, sort of, a half-baked heart shape? This is love everywhere? Please. Two, in focus, swans touching beaks making a heart shape might be stronger visually but still unworthy of such a moniker. Pushing a "heart" theme would make more sense, not "love everywhere".

There is no doubt that serendipity often plays a role in catching a unique image of birds and animals. Keep at it, Bartosz, and realize no title, regardless of it's attempted emotional appeal, will ever make up for a weak image. I see where you are going with this, but this frame just misses the mark.

I like this picture. This appears to be a photo illustration/advertising type of approach which works pretty well. The subject certainly is a "character" with a great expression and the overall studio key and fill lighting is crisp and well measured. I can almost visualize the comp with text space left in the lower left corner. The optical distortion of the lower hand enhances the comic element. A nice concept shot with a humorous flair.

That said I have a few issues that are small but worth noting. Even, perhaps especially, on a studio illustration, the details expended in dressing the set will show. The subject seems a bit "dry" for a winter feel. Some judiciously placed wax snow flakes would add to the winter motif. Wind perhaps?

I'm not particularly fond of the background. Good idea, less good execution. The area around the shovel head, under the right elbow, and here and there around the figure are not clean and the shovel head, somehow, merges with it for no obvious reason. This could be easily cleaned up in post. The devil is in the details in illustration work.

Overall, however, nicely done, Scott!

I don't like this image. I do like that more documentary type shots are being shown on this forum. I do like the attempt here at what appears to be a rally to "stop" something. It's just this frame doesn't hit home for me. I want to see a wider view, the sign, a greater sense of place. A bit of building does give a clue to location...somewhat..I can't say I'd peg it as the Ukraine without the title. The center of interest, the man bottom left, here simply is not that interesting. I can't see him nor his expression well and the hand gesture is unclear. Deep in thought? Picking a bug off his forehead?

I think a wider view, different angle, and/or a better moment/expression captured may have been helpful here to help me understand what is going on.

...or, as I sometimes find, it is simply difficult to find the thread. It use to be posted on the main page, now replaced by the POD.

I like this image. A clean, clear documentary image of a an older woman in the entrance of her rural, hillside, stone hut. A straight ahead document that is beautiful in it's descriptive power of the subject and her environment. The directness of approach is wonderful in it's lack of sentimentality. The simple composition, pose and B&W rendering seem just right for this situation. Good work!

You really caught the joy of youth and the shallow DOF gives a great feel of space. Reconsider the placement of your copyright. A bit distracting.  Really well done, work!

Michael: Of course, anything is possible. Just my humble, somewhat queasy, impression.

I don't like this picture. The pose here is certainly impressive and displaying it on a plain white background, isolates it well. Overall, a good idea and well considered approach.

But as a figure study it feels lacking to me. The figure is simply not well seen or described with the choices the photographer has made on camera angle, focal length and overall soft lighting. The bright, large looming bottom of the foot is a distraction element to me to what, I feel, should be a study of grace, balance and calm power. The soft lighting would be fine if it had some directional quality to describe the musculature/ figure better.

The extreme cyan color cast of this image makes me queasy. Color can be a subjective/perceptual affair but when this much human skin is such a large part of the composition, on a neutral field, the deathly pall it coveys in this scene can not be interpreted as anything less than a mistake.

Fair enough. Here I made, admittedly quickly and crudely, changes to test my initial hypothesis. I have to say that I prefer this B&W version for the reasons I originally cited. I now feel the main subject come forward in the frame with a slight reduction of background detail. More "portrait-like".My philosophy is if color isn't specifically helping a picture, it isn't helping. Neither the original, cranked up version, nor the more subdued original version really adds anything to the scene to my eye. By simplifying, the scene, without the visual "noise", the shape of the man looms much larger and overall is more successful is conveying the interesting qualities that do exist in the frame.

I don't like this picture. Unlike the last POW, the lines of this scene do not to add focus direction or power. They just make it busy looking without adding real graphic value. I'm often a fan of digital processing when used to help describe or enhance the subject or theme. That is not the case here. The garish post treatment is quite a distraction. I think a pure B&W rendition would help this scene.

I know that candid street portraits are not easy so I tend to give wide berth to those that make the attempt. But it's still a portrait and as such begs for a less busy background that could have been helped, if not by position or timing, then by less depth of focus.

Still, the subject is an interesting looking character and I like the contrast of the younger, slimmer couple walking by. I think simplifying the picture by reducing some of the visual noise, via depth of focus control and conversion to B&W, would elevate this scene for me.

I like this picture. This is a strong diagonal composition with multiple leading lines right to the subject. I like the "worms-eye-view" and how the horse is shown only in part as a framing element. The moment of capture shows the energy and expression of effort of the subject well. Very nice!

The sky could be more interesting and the distribution of lights and darks seem to make this scene a bit bottom heavy but not overly so. The size and position of the horse helps here. The lomo-like edge blur looks done in post. I'm not really a fan of this type of treatment but it does not seem to detract in this scene and does seem to serve as a device to bring the eye into the frame more. In earlier days, we used filters to achieve similar effects. The positive or negative results of such treatment are dependent on the image and degree of application. It doesn't bother me here.

I like this picture. The brilliance and richness of the desert landscape is well seen and described by the perfect exposure and warm/cool colors. The careful composition of the trees provides a wonderful visual balance. I'm drawn into the scene by the powerful one-point perspective provided by the receding trees and the sharp front-to-back textures of the desert floor. The natural forms stand out starkly due to the side lighting and echo the desolation and bareness of the land.

There are not many ideas for improvement I can offer. I might like to see a bit more space on the rt/lt sides to pull the frame more horizontal to accentuate the sweep of the horizon more since the dark, vertical tree elements are so strong. And a bit more richness/density in the blue sky where the right side is a bit weak. Overall, however, this is a delightful scene with strong graphic impact, good texture and landscape story telling.

I don't like this picture. Clearly this image of a sculpture, of a draped figure in despair, in what appears to be a dark field of rubble (?), was an emotional touchstone to the photographer. The white figure does contrast well against the dark surround. However, without the title, I wouldn't have a clue what this scene is suppose to represent. All the pathos of the image is not delivered by the photographer but by the hand of the sculptor. Perhaps if the object were given more context of the war ravaged surround I could make the connection better, but in this scene, the surround is hard to identify as rubble much less war torn Iraq. Indeed, even the sculpture itself does not read as signature "Iraqi Woman" and could exist as a Judeo-Christian symbol in a church. The title is helpful but I need more visual clues, in the image, to connect with it at an emotional level.

Nice job, on the portrait, John. The left side seems a bit empty here. I might want to crop some of that out and focus on the pretty lady more. It would also clean-up some of those cords on the floor which are a bit of a distraction.

I don't like this picture. The model appears

to be without arms which are in deep

shadow. The curve of her back is nice in

the back light but that's about it. The pose

seems forced to me. I find no great beauty

in this image.

Question: Why are the Elves seeding this

forum with their opinion and, now, also

leading questions? Do you think this is

helping? Please stay neutral or you risk

setting a bias in the reviews. Do, however,

jump in, as a member, and share your

opinion and enter the discussion with the

rest of the group.

Yeah, Tim, I get that sensation too but I have to admit the position of those legs, and the way they echo the lines of the background, really ties the two into a graphic whole. My first thought was this was the brain child of a smart fashion creative director and a pro model and the entire thing is posed exactly, but the blur of the feet and some of the fashion details (bracelets look cheesy, hat is a bit too floppy) makes me think this is a street grab shot. If so, it is street photography of high order (according to my taste anyway).

I like this picture...a lot! Whether by plan or happenstance, the photographer has caught a moment on the street which is beautiful in it's form, timing, composition and tonal quality. Such a common scene, a woman adjusting her shoe, shows the kind of art-in-life that takes a sensitive eye and quick trigger finger to capture. Her pose, and attractive figure, displays a beautiful form and is well set off by the simple gray wall with simple lines. By not showing the face the emphasis on the form is even greater and has a distinct fashion-feel to it. The hat adds a nice circular shape to the composition. The B&W rendering is yet another tool to enhance the graphic elements of the composition with a delightful arrangement of grays. One of the nicest POW I've seen in a long while.

Nice Shot, Barry. I was drawn in by my recognition of the Greek sculpture. I photographed it several times in the past at the Getty. Neat juxtaposition with the guy.

I like this picture. I like the idea more than the execution. The idea that birds can sense an impending doom and, regardless of species, band together to greet the end as a group is interesting. Sort of an avian "Peaceable Kingdom"(Hicks) on the last day on earth. A cool concept and a very high level of creative thinking.
Being an obvious photo illustration, I look to see how well the concept is graphically realized. The lighting on the birds is good and from the right direction but the lack of color matching of the birds with the surround, the mismatched eye highlights relative to the sun, and the cut-out look of the birds suspend the impact of the concept. Compositionally, the picture is heavy in the lower left corner although the sky, sun and flying birds try to help out the balance. The sky would be a good place for type if this were spec'd for a publication otherwise it just seems a bit corner heavy.

This is terrific idea! All the technical issues I raised could be addressed and then, this somewhat strange, spooky gathering of birds on Judgement Day, would read better for me. Thumbs up for thinking outside the box, Julie. Image compositing techniques can be learned but creative ideas are much harder to come by.

I like this image. It's a clean looking, high key table top picture. I like the simplicity of the idea and execution. The design parameters are rendered simply and boldly and are quite eye catching. The slight warmth to the picture is not bothersome to me but I think this would look fine converted to B&W. It's a classic example of a color image that gains no benefit from being in color.

I disagree with the Elven assertion that this is a good example of breaking the rule of thirds. I feel it is an example, just not a very good one and playing with the image I configured a number of crops that I feel work better compositionally.