ron_steedman

I agree! Replace the man or dress him differently and it would so work for me.

I prefer this flame. The base of the bonfire is sharply in-focus. The top is blurred, but that only helps to emphasize that it's dancing around. Noise is not obvious in the pile of wood as it was on the candle.

This is a tricky subject. Your tall flame is believable and nicely exposed. The reflection was a nice touch. Well done. Alas, your camera's sensor is relatively small and picks up alot of noise, bringing down the overall aesthetics. Noise reduction may be worth a try.

It's not bad, but I don't particularly like the focus/D.O.F. nor the lighting. With respect to the focus, the writing and lines on the bottle of "Newcastle Brown Ale" and several others are not crisp. With respect to the lighting, I see a hotspot on the bottle of guiness and two on the TV, but more importantly the colors and shapes of the bottles do not pop. Granted, the last couple lineup shots I took are no better! It's not so easy to photograph a lineup well with only on-camera equipment.

Dear Mark & Pierre, thank you. It's a nice surprise when I believe one of my crazy photo ideas has panned out, and nicer still when others agree! My daughter enjoyed it as well.

To me, the repetition of the pots with variation in spacing, colour, and mouth size is interesting and pleasing. It's not jaw-dropping, but it's nice. I wish there were a second light source to lighten the shadowy areas, and for better designs on the pots themselves.

Comments and critiques always welcome!

While it's a good concept, and the execution is mostly there, I don't like that his face is blurred. Looking at the EXIF data for answers, you shot at ISO 800, 1/15s, f/5.6. I suspect you would've had better results by increasing the shutter speed (coupled of course with a slight increase to the ISO and/or a slight decrease in the f-stop to maintain the exposure).

 

This is the better pirate girl image! You've got action, the lines her legs make as she slashes with her sword are wonderful, and I like her expression. I also like that you capture motion blur in the sword stroke, though I might prefer very slightly less. Too bad this was likely a parade and not a model shoot--the people in the background are a distraction, and the image likely would've been more intense if her sword and glance were aimed in the same direction.

I don't like the use of blur in this image. First, it's not the natural bokeh of a good lens and small f-stop, but rather something Photoshopped in. In some places you can even see the edges--abrupt shifts from sharpness to blur. Second, I would've chosen to make the girl, and especially her eyes, tack sharp. Despite these distractions, her costume and make-up are nice, and I'm left wondering why at least three people are dressed like pirates!

Any comments or critiques welcome. :)

I really like the wooden post above the dog that you chose to include in your composition.

I like your choice of subject and your crop, but I see at least two flaws in the image--(a) the man is underexposed and (b) you can clearly see a blue cast in the areas of the image not lit by the sun.

The easiest way to solve these problems would be to use flash when taking images of a dark subject against a bright background, but you can also partially fix them in post using Photoshop levels and saturation. I attached a quick example--hope this helps!

This is magnifique, especially the light and the blowing snow.

I can appreciate the difficulty of this shot, and it's commendable that you took on a challenging subject. And yet, it's noisy. If that's your camera's rendition of ISO 400, f/4.7, 1/60s then it was worth venturing a shot at ISO 200, f/4.7, 1/30th. True, you would need your subject to remain relatively still--either by asking them to, or shooting until they stilled naturally.

 

I would also consider eliminating the hard nose-shadow from the left side of her face by moving the partially-hidden candle to the right, and trying to separate her hair from the background somehow--possibly by utilizing the window we can see faintly behind her.

Good models, but they're looking directly at the sun, and that creates hard shadows that obscure the eyes of the lady in the pinkish dress and doesn't flatter her soft curves. And while the background says something, there aren't enough clues to identify what event they're watching / participating in.

I really like your framing and the texture of the skin, but the blurred nose is a distraction that keeps pulling me away from the eyes--you need more D.O.F. to get the nose in-focus. Also, usually one catchlight in the eye is preferable to having many. That could be fixed pre- or post-shot.

Well done. The eyes connect us to her, and the fingers keep drawing us back to the eyes. So many well-executed details... the the black fingernail close to her left eye, the eyeliner, the eyebrows, the leather, and low-key lighting to name a few.

I challenged myself to shoot this portrait with the subject against a light

wall with on-camera flash only, simulating conditions typical to a

wedding reception. Any comments appreciated! :)

I also really like how the mist separates her from the background. I can see some JPEG artifacting but that's likely only in the online version.

That one's a cutie! But he doesn't have an interesting expression like a yawn, laugh, or smile... he's not holding a special toy or stuffed animal... he doesn't have on a unique outfit. If you have the patience to wait for a memorable moment, your may just end up with a winner on your hands! If you decide to re-shoot, and I hope you will even if it's only just for your personal collection, you might try to reduce the shine on his face by toning down the flash or wiping his cheeks.

It's a cute baby photo and well-exposed, but her right eye's much sharper than her left eye, and your framing chopped off her right elbow but left extra whitespace to her left--those are clear errors. A tilt of the camera may have addressed both. Personally, I would close down 1/3rd stop to simplify focus and to see more of what she's holding in her hands, but that could be debated. I like the vignette.

A "two-light" setup is created via a glowworm and morning window light.

Any comments appreciated. :)

Any comments appreciated. :)