puck

i clicked on the thumbnail as something about the depth of field had drawn me. now i find this to be a really interesting composition. i really like what you have done with the foreground. the detail on the treetrunk is quite wonderful.

tres magnifique mon ami :)

hi derek

i find this composition quite striking. would be interested to know some technical details. the aperture is interesting and from the detail captured on the model's body my impression is that the lense is closed. is the background blurred in photoshop perhaps? i notice that part of her right kneejoint feels a little blurred too.

 

the idea is very good indeed.

 

i feel that your restoration adds a bridge to the past. the backdrop looks like the distant past. the main subject, your grandfather seems almost modern from some central asian country. the overall image is interesting and pleasing. it would be even more interesting to know the technical specification of the original image.

hi glen,

the lighting is very flattering as it is and leaves much to the imagination. the problem i have is with the softness. i personally prefer sharper black and white studio nudes. the face is a little too out of focus for my taste. as for alternatives in lighting, the previous commentar made an interesting point. i'd perhaps suggest a much darker background as well.

hello erin

 

it certainly helps for the reviewer to have as much information at one's disposal. this is particularly the case if the image is question is rather ordinary. you haven't provided any technical information at all. a little more detail with regards to your equipment (body, lens, filters) as well as how the picture was taken (aperture/shutter) would have been a good starting point for a critique. in the absense of these details, one is left with just the image. based on what you have shown, the image has an underexposed quality about it. the softness or lack of focus might indicate an element of motion, perhaps a happy snap taken from a car. there seems to be an absence of context here although you have specified this to be a picture of the red light district. i do believe that a little more sharpness would not have gone a miss. i would also have kept a little more of the bikes in the frame, made them perfectly sharp, which in turn would have compensated for the blurred background. this would also have added a context of the perfect norm to the sleaze of the red light district.

frankly, these is a timeless element to these monochrome seascapes that belies the honesty. no trickery, no slow exposure, just letting the water freeze like a snapshot in time. i like the change in colour of the water. the dark rocks add an element of moodiness.

hi chris

this is a very flattering portrait. the cropping is just perfect. you have used a sharper lens that has captured the lines on her forehead and pimples on skin, but for me, these add more human interest. the exposure seems just right. well done.

puck

neither poetry, nor lyric, nor rap, this is just a very eye catching capture. there is very slight noise or pixelation which is not to my taste. would have preferred a cleaner look. the sharpness is nice as is the blurred background. the lack os symmetry as mentioned by other commentor distracted me as well.

hello erik, you are unlikely to get any negetive comments on the photo of such a beautiful cat! however, i shall try my best to offer a critique based on personal taste. there appears to be a little vignetting on the top left. i know how difficult it is to take pictures of cats, however, the composition just doesn't seem right here. perhaps a little more of the grass or a fine crop to the right and top might have made it more balanced.

 

without a doubt the best cat photographer on this site is a lady called sarah newton. do take a look at her cat galleries as you'd pick up many ideas.

i had been an admirer of your experimental work for a while now. you reflect the spirit of photography, that desire to capture light in all ints trickery really well. i just wish that your work had a little more exposure and others tried to recreate what you do here. so many of the pictures on this site tends to be about letting the water flow or to freeze it that when something like this comes up, i get truly excited!

 

i'd love to have known a little more of the technical detail as well as the context. the tonality is very nice indeed.

mark

this is lovely. when i looked at the thumbnail it appeared to me like a painting! very well captured and lovely composition. would love to know some technical details.

i like the depth of field and contrast. this is a very good capture.

david,

the idea is unique and the contrast is very eyecatching.

the depth of field, focus and wonderful skintones make this a pleasure to look at. something very classical about it too..

hello ben

i am not offering a critique as a professional but more on what i think of the above. usually, before making any comment i prefer to have the look at the rest of a photographer's portfolio to make a general impression of quality, interest and technical ability. in your case, this appears to be your only picture in the gallery.

 

the composition is fine, however, based on how it is, i would have cropped out those plansts and bits of wood from the bottom of the picture. a string sun always makes it difficult to take pictures. i think sharpness and good focus are a pre-requisites for architechture or landscape photography. this could have done with both. the metering is fine for the sky and the distant objects, but perhaps a one stop exposure compensation to brighten the water would have made it more interesting for me.

 

if it is at all possible, i would say that visit the same area again with a tripod or sturdy base for your camera half an hour before sunset or just before sunrise. use the self timer facility on your camera as well as aperture pririty mode. choose a low iso, around 5 seconds or longer shutter and as small aperture as possible. you will see the difference immediately.

a lovely soft composition that captures the mood very well.

hi bill, i think the larger version does much more justice to this shot. i would like to see an even larger version than what is offered here. the tonality is very nice and you have captured the light very well. it is a shame about the cows but i am sure it only makes you more determined to go back there and take some more with the cown in the scene!

i do think this is one of your best work. not sure how it was caotured but the metering is just right, so much so that the contast with the end of the tunnel is quite stark.

 

a sense of forlorn distance and loneliness comes out of it quite brilliantly. it would not have been out of place in some grunge band album cover! there is a documentary style in most of your abstract pictures and i like it.

i have never seen one outside of books so this is a very pleasant surprise for me. are they local to you?

 

it is a shame that the stone is very close in colour to the coat of the bird so contrast is suffering. nice image though and thanks for sharing.

hello liz, i was quite intrigued by the brightness and contrast of this image. so the thumbnail definitely drew me in. i'd like to know a little more about your white balance settings and what kind of metering you might have used here. the colour of the background sky is very dark and it is refrected in the lake water. how is the golf course so beautifully illuminated?

 

i don't dislike your picture. i find it interesting but also a little puzzling for the above reasons.

 

compositionally, i would like to have seen a little more on the left and rather less on the right. the shadows from those tress have been cropped off on the left a little abruptly for my taste.

i love the perspective, i love the composition and the exposure! however, saying that i love dark and moody black and whites generally. others might well comment on it being a little too dark.

a very pretty boy! as ever, amazing capture!

lovely depth of field!

what is that funnel type thing around his neck?!? he looks bemused. lovely depth of field.