mrraz

Nadya, I'm glad you found my critique helpful. Even without a studio and professional lighting you can do a great deal with simple clamp lights and daylight balanced incandescent bulbs. Keep working at it and you'll succeed. You're heading in the right direction. Best regards, Glenn

Here are a number of suggestions that may help in the future,

 

First is to tighten the composition. What you have feels far too loose.

 

Second is to think about using a vertical format when there is one tall object, in this case a flower. It will also help the composition because you'll have group the shorter items closer together.

 

Third is to use bounce light from the top as your main light source. You can then use fill light from the sides or just reflectors for more control. Your grapes in this shot don't have much separation, and the bases of the green bottle and vase go very dark.

 

Details are important. The paper towel in the vase shouldn't be visible. The grapes might be more attractive were they to spill over the front of the dish, and the stems would be better hidden.

 

I feel like you've made a good start, but take your time. Studio work is the most difficult to accomplish in many instances. The more time you take the better the results. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

It's maybe a little too centered in the frame. You might consider cropping about half the left side BG. This would provide someplace for the viewer's eyes follow the Serval's eyes to the right. It would be nice to see all of its ears in the frame, but I can accept photographer's choice on that.

 

 

There is good detail in its fur and eyes, and a fine expression of concentration. Nice work.

The composition works very well. The quality of the light seems fine providing excellent shape and form, however, the flatness of the presentation seems to diminish the potential impact. The tonal range is far too centralized to be effective. I'd suggest increasing the depth of the tones and increasing the contrast. I feel it will provide a much stronger visual statement.

While the subjects are caught at a defining moment, I feel you might have missed the composition slightly. The edge of their shoes are clipped at the bottom, and there is far too much empty space on the left. Cropping just to the left of the column would have provided a good framing element and allowed the visual flow to move from left to right more seamlessly. To your credit the tonal range is spot on. This is good work.

The color is beautifully intense. Maybe a bit longer exposure to increase the water blur. Vertical landscapes are always a favorite with me. Fine work.

It's a fine action capture. I do find the vignetting to be somewhat distracting, but I think I understand why you used it. I feel the composition could be improved by cropping the left side to remove the extra space there. You might find a much stronger visual statement with the resulting vertical format for this shot.

Since I used to do commercial, product and advertising photography for a living, I'm going to critique this like I was a buyer.

 

The bottle needs to be straightened in the frame, so it is vertical. There is condensation over the whole bottle. You should consider using a warm bottle of lemonade and a spray bottle to spray droplets of water onto the bottles surface in just a couple of places.

 

The straight on lighting is not attractive to the product. Using bounce light from the sides as the main light you can then use a small fill light in front to provide better shape to the bottle. You might also consider turning the bottle a small amount clockwise

 

To finish this shot the small tears in the edges of the labels need to be cloned out. It will give the resulting image a more finished and complete look.

 

 

While I might have chosen a somewhat different composition, your interpretation is also valid. There's a completeness to the image. It has an almost painting like quality. A very accomplished work.

There's an impressionistic quality to this image that I find appealing. As to the visual statement, I might suggest cropping a small amount of the top. It seems to strengthen the relationship of the compositional elements for me. Well seen!

It's a great treatment of the subject. It has a pleasingly unreal feeling that works beautifully in context. The composition is handled with finesse carrying the eye back and forth across and down. Fine work.

I feel the lack of contrast in this shot does a great deal to lessen its visual impact even though the composition 1st class. Were you to darken the image using levels you could then increase the contrast without losing detail in the light areas.

A beautifully executed image. I know how difficult this must have been to get just right. I'd suggest cropping the top just a bit because there's a visual heaviness created by having the space at the bottom smaller then at the top. Aside from that small thing this is outstanding work.

Were you to crop the right to remove the space behind the right Mah Jong player this would be a terrific shot. Well seen.

I'd suggest cropping the top to remove the window sash then seeing if you could pull a little more sharpness in the reflection. It's a telling image.

I find the position of the individual watches in this shot to be somewhat problematic within the composition. The black watch on the bottom could be more straight on to the camera because its position exposes the underside of the tip of the leather band and cuts off a portion of the face. It might have been better to have either of the other two watches on the bottom to provide more light to highlight the buttons for the chronograph functions. It would be a nice touch to be able to see at least one of the strap buckles without being cutoff.

 

The framing of the image also seems to create an imbalance to the composition. A square format might have served better for this presentation.

 

There is a lot about this image that is also well accomplished. Your lighting is well controlled and displays the features of the watches for the most part very well. I'd like to see some variations on this theme for comparison. You've got a real challenge with this shot.

An unusual and satisfying abstract. The design elements all work in harmony to produce a strong visual statement. I might suggest you consider sharpening the the overall image a bit. The size of the image presents a feeling of softness in some areas. It is still very nice work.

The composition might have been more complete had you included the more of the girl in blue jeans and less of the empty space on the right side of the trash can. Additionally, this might be one of those images that has more impact as a B&W.

 

And to think, she's doing it all with her eyes closed. Good moment.

The look of pain is obviously due to the lack of acceptable reading materials. What kind of library is this supposed to be? Not even a newspaper. ;-)

 

 

The engineering required to pull this shot off is outstanding. In turn the composition and lighting create a truly ingenious image. I do wish the the FG reflection was more complete, at least to see the complete base glass on its side. This is a first class illustration worthy of publication. My compliments!

A remarkable face full of beauty and character. The composition is effective in presenting this subject in a way that is very sympathetic but uncompromising. Some careful dodging of the areas above her eyes to open the shadows just a small amount would provide the only improvement I can suggest. A very nice candid portrait.

More varied fruit, bowl in its natural position flat on the BG, bounce light from the side and top and greater definition to the bottle from a side light will all improve the basics of this shot. There is already very nice tonality, but there is a feeling of a record shot in the present composition. You need to get more shape into the various elements of this shot and soften the shadows.

 

This shot has a lot of potential yet to be realized.

The color is postcard like, rich and densely saturated. It's very easy to view.

 

However, if this were my shot, there's only one thing I might consider to improve it. I would crop about half the distance from the top frame edge to the top of the foremast. This would relieve the slight feeling of heaviness I get with the present composition. Very nice work.

The composition is very well thought out and balanced perfectly. It might be my monitor which is calibrated, but there is a slight feeling of flatness which in turn softens the look of the image. A bit more contrast might really make this shot pop.

I find this to be a composition that shows a great deal of thought and finesse in its presentation. The use of negative space provides a balance that emphasizes rather then detracts from the focal point of the image. A very fine piece of work.