joseph_eiche

I would have moved that Hay Bale up and to the left a bit more giving it a little more space at the bottom and placing the house between the two bales. The sky is wonderfully done if not a bit menacing.

Overall a nice shot, I like it.

I leave for a while but it is nice to see that some things don't change. Beautiful photograph Alf.

Now for the question...Is there some layering done on that sky.

Fantastic shot Alf 5 out of 5

Joe

A wonderful scene Alf. I wish I had boats in the middle of the beach for me to photograph :).

I assume once the tide comes in that boat floats again or what is the deal here?

Hi Alf, Great shot. What was the lighting like it seems a bit HDRish to me. Did you layer the shot in photoshop or did you just get good enough light to keep the contrast low enough to get good detail?

After a long hiatus from photography (inspired by photography becoming

too much work and not enough play) I have started shooting again. This

was taken in the meat packing district of Manhattan. Something about

NY always makes me feel like I should shoot in B&W.

The lighting and exposure is quite good here. I also think that the pose and expression that you have captured are also quite good. The arms create good lines leading into a sexy smirk.

I would consider cropping this just above the knee and a little off the top so that there is less space in the frame and more of her. I like the design on her pants and the skin that shows I just think you can maybe do away with a little of the leg. Also maybe a little more off the top than I have done in my suggestion to get rid of that light. This will also serve to move her eyes to the top 1/3rd of the frame.

Once again Dale an excellent portrait. I think maybe I need to get away from shooting families and spend a bit more time shooting models because I am really enjoying looking at how you are capturing these beautiful models.

Wonderful looking shot Greg. Great exposure and lovely to look at.

Someone recently commented to me regarding a very pretty model that I took a photograph of and said, "How can you not take a beautiful photograph of her, she is gorgeous." But we both no that this is not the case all the time and even the most beautiful of models have to be photographed right.

Here you have done a wonderful job capturing a beautiful model just right. The lighting is good and the focus is good. There is a carefree feeling about this photo, it feels almost impromptu but I am pretty sure it probably wasn't.

About the only things that I might want to see different about this is the hand and the arm. The fingers in the bottom left leave me a bit uneasy. Wouldn't say it hurts the photo but makes me wonder. The arm behind the hair does the same thing although I feel that this does add the feeling of the model leaning forward and running her hand through her hair.

Eitherway a nice shot to look at.

Gail, I love to look at your work for a number of reasons. 1) You do something with your photos that I don't have an eye for 2) You do something with your photos that I can't (at least at this point) 3) There is often a sort of dreamy or surreal property about your photos that I enjoy looking at. This one is no different. The processing is something unique and is interesting to look at. Wonderful work here Gail.

I was looking through your portfolio and found this wonderful landscape. I love the tones you have captured with this excellent exposure. Looking at it is calming and while I adore this color version I must wonder what this looks like in b&w? Great photograph.

Personally I love this shot. There may be some out there who won't like the silky water but I think the perspective and composition are excellent. This is something that I like to look it. The green moss on the rock give a nice earthy feel to the shot not to mention the orange leaves captured in the stream. Lovely scene.

This really is a magical place and you have done an excellent job with the exposure and post processing.

The only thing that I would like to see different is that branch in the upper left hand corner. I am not saying that it is bad I am saying that I would like to see a shot without it there to see what the shot loses. Maybe moving closer to the tree in the right third of the frame, make it more prominent and cut out the branch.

Again this is a wonderful shot I just wonder about that branch.

The exposure is perfect with a nice tonal range. About the only suggestion that I would make (and it is a small one) would be to clone out the South Main on the far left or move it to the right more. It being so close to the left edge almost makes the photo seem a bit haphazard and the little bit of sky on the right side really doesn't add as much as the South Main lettering does. Of course I could be wrong.

The exposure looks good with nice range.

I like the stand in the foreground it makes the photograph stronger but I think this one needs something else. The sky isn't all that impressive, nor is the sea and lifeguard stand in and of itself seems a bit too plain. I would add someone on that stand or wait for a day when there is more anger or beauty in either the sky or sea.

On a day of angry seas it might be fitting that there is no lifeguard.

I believe the exposure is good and the colors you have captured are well done but in this instance that cone being out of focus is more of a distraction than a help to the photo.

The cone's position center frame and its prominence (read size) in the photo tell my mind that this is the subject, this is what I want to be looking at but it is blurry and that is unsettling to my eye. Instead it seems the focus is falling on the needles behind the cone but this is not what my eye wants to focus on.

That being said I like the idea and the sun has created a nice golden tone behind the branch. With the right focus this might have been more appealing to at least my eye.

Hi Alf, Much thanks for the feedback. For every shot I got like this I got 4 more with a sad face or with him crying but that is the nature of working with children. Some days you eat the bear some days the child beats you into submission. :)

I felt the same thing about the eye contact and my idea of the balloons had this downside. He was more interested in the balloons than he was in any rattle, bell or other device we could think of to get him to look up. Probably a more experienced child photographer would have grabbed that element but at least this leaves me something to strive for.

Sometimes impressions as just a viewer are the most important. The average person who looks at a photograph knows very little about photography, they just know that they like or don't like an image. Sometimes photographers forget that when we make our art. I have been thoroughly impressed with myself at times when everyone around me kind of ho-hummed at a shot that I thought was an award winner.

Thanks Alf for the input, it is most greatly appreciated.

Once again perusing your website and your gallery and came across this one. Simply put an excellent photo. What a striking image, excellently composed and exposed. The b&w treatment makes it a home run. This is one I would hang on my wall Stephen and there aren't many that I would do that with. Great photograph.

I typically look at the pictures of the week, read the feedback but never comment. Instead I use the comments as an exercise to see how other interpret works against what I see as an amateur. After reading the thread here I felt a strong need to comment.
As a professional teacher I most certainly can take and give constructive criticism and what this thread has done for me (and probably many others) is hope that none of my photos ever gets selected as POW. Offering criticism, disagreeing with a technique or offering alternative ideas for post processing is much different than saying things like, "awful", "bad stylisitcs", "hamfisted" or even "ruined it". Of course these comments were only tempered by the old, "Your works sucks so what do you know anyway" response for the poster.
In my opinion this thread has shown that whether or not you are a great photographer the art of giving or taking constructive criticism is easily lost by many.

This scene is very interesting to look at. Wonderful detail, great color and there is alot going to look at.  Although in this one there is alot of sky (some may not like it) this feeling of vastness isn't empty since the boats on the river give me more to look at. Nice photograph.

The exposure is very well done as the sunset and tonality are not overpowering in any way.The colors on the right edge look to be interesting and I would be curious to see any other shots that were panned right more.

For me the main subject (being the city I would assume) isn't prominent to carry the image so this scene becomes more about the water and the sunset than it does about the city. As such there is a vastness to this photo that makes it feel a little empty.

I had a shoot this past Friday to do some shots of a boy turning one

year old. The parents had a slew of ideas and so most of the time I

was just along for the ride. Most things didn't really work all that

well thanks to a cranky child but we did manage to grab a few shots. I

devised a series of shots like this with a single off camera strobe

and umbrella. I liked many pics from this series but this one

intrigued me because of the balloon placement in the foreground. The

client loved it and I guess that means something but the real question

is, does it work? Does the balloon overpower the shot or does it act

to sort of frame in some of the attention of the viewer. Questions and

comments are greatly appreciated.

Hi Dale, I clicked over a shot and this was what came up next after the other one that I just viewed. This is a wonderfully exposed and beautiful shot. The light, the pose, the setting, the theme everything about this shot works for me. Nice work here.

A beautifully exposed portrait, absolutely wonderful color captured in the sunset and the lighting on the subject is well done. When I saw the thumb pic of this I had to look at the photo, it grabs at you as a viewer and is pleasant to look at.

About the only suggestion that I would make as a viewer is to move her up more in the photo so that her feet aren't so close to the bottom edge, it feels crowded to me. Also I am not sure how I feel about her partially obscuring the setting sun. If she were to completely obscure it I feel that something would be lost. Then again if you repositioned so that there was more separation would it compete to much?

Of the three shots this shot I like the best. I think it shows the best color, range but of course it may just be the most picturesque shot which is causing me some bias. Great shot Alf.