photo critiques *guaranteed*... all u need is a thick skin!

[rahul]

Here...
Let u all start practising with this 1...

.

i think the wire mesh that you were shooting through has not been utilized properly. You could have shot this by going a bit low so that the head of the foreground person was framed by it. Right now it is a bit distracting with the grey artifact on the person's head. It falls on the first point of observation(rule of thirds) and makes the observer lose a bit of interest.
The photograph is effective in making you follow the line of sight of the foreground person and makes you wonder about the person who is exiting.

 

[ortega]

this pic has a moody feel to it, but somehow the viewer's eye tends to be led out of the photo, either by the lack of "space" for the boat to move into, or the strong horizontal lines that cut the photo almost in two. for that reason, the photo ends up having a more 2-dimensional rather than 3-dimensional feel. i would suggest using a wider angle (some distortion may not be a bad thing!) and giving more space for the viewer's eye to explore.

I tend to agree with the lack of open space. I see your point about the eye being led out of the picture, thanks

the 2D look of the composition was intentional to bring the industrial background "looming" just behind the boatman, but I guess it does not work in this tight crop.

OK lesson learnt thanks

PS Sadly this is full frame and cannot be fixed via PSing ...
wait a second! there is nothing that PS cannot do

Not meant to be negative. Sometimes, I do not know what to say because I just do not have any feelings for the images, like this one as well as the one of the swan. They are OK, But...... neither here nor there. The one with the swan is OK, competently taken, but so boring because I have seen tons of them. This one is OK..., but then so uninteresting.

When an image is bad,or there are ideas that I can give (whether good or nonsense) I can write. When an image is wonderful because it showed something different or aroused an emotion, I can respond. But when I have no feelings... then it is really hard to write something

thanks anyway, if you do think of something, fire away
I always like to read your comments

 

[rahul]

Interesting thread...
Blast Away...

Interesting shot. The smoke lit up by the light provides a very intriguing background. Composition is spot on.
My only gripe is that the subjects eyes are too much in the shade. I would have liked to see more of a reflection in them..a spark so to speak. It would have added some vitality to the shot and retained its mysteriousness.

 

[ortega]

Interesting thread...
Blast Away...

other than saying the good stuff
I will say what I would have made the shot even better.

As mentioned earlier more shadow detail on the face
If the burning ambers of the cigerette could be seen it would just complete this image for me.

What do you think?

 

[ortega]

Have a go at this one.

Taken at a tranquil lake in Zurich

I will concentrate on how to make this image better
as everyone is at a different stage in photography.

sadly the head of the swan is not in focus, and I feel that if you decide to compose your subject in the center, it has to be dead center for graphic symmetry, also go for a lower point of view.

 

[swingoutsister]

Anyone likes to have a go at a photo I've posted in Still Life section entitled "Swing Out Sisters"?

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=1385008#post1385008post1385008

Doomo arigatoo!

i tried so hard to comprehend this picture, but i just can't.

i believe it is as literal as it can get, "I got this pair of small speakers and I didn't know what to do with it."

it will be beyond me to go on and try and analysis this, as "engaging in pseudo-intellectual photography discussion" is not my cup of latte.

 

[dennisc]

I just took this cutiepie sitting on my computer after seeing this thread. Hmm, what can be done to improve it/making it cuter and nicer? I'd like to know your views and ideas. For one, there isn't much to see, but what I want to know is, what can you improve on it if it's you? Like perhaps a full body pose, etc. I just want my doll to look more beautiful. thx!

 

[student]

Glad that this thread exists! As a learner seeking improvement, please comment on this shot.

This was taken at the Singapore Zoo, indoors at the reptiles area. The child was looking into the snake's enclosure and I wanted to capture his look of cautious fascination. No flash. I wanted the reflection to complete his face.

Thanks!

Let me try.

You were taken in by the wonderfulment of the boy's expression, and the corresponding reflection.

One of the problems with taking pictures of people is to do a "safe shot", meaning a 3/4 body. You might be constrained by fear of getting closer, or you might not.

Try this. Make it a tight crop. Crop off most of the uninteresting top. Remove those funny round things. Crop off half the face of the reflection. And crop off most of the bottom. Concentrate on the face.

Make the image an image of the boy's face and the reflection. See if this is stronger.

 

[roygoh]

OK, this is a sensitive issue and I will carefully explain my position and action here.

First of all, I fully support zaren's and the rest of the members' drive for better photo critiques on CS. However, I don't think using a single thread in the General forum for this purpose is the best way to do this in the long run.

Some time ago, we have a Critique's Corner subform on CS and its intention was exactly the same as what zaren posted this thread for - serious photo critique.

At that time the admins and mods felt that there was a need for such a forum for discussions that are focused on the appreciation and criticism of posted photographs. Certain guidelines were imposed on that forum, such as one photo per thread, and strictly no banal talk. That did not work out and the subforum eventually lost its focus and became more like a "theme-less" gallery sub-forum. The main problem were that no one was committed to give critiques on every photo that was posted, and there were member who kept violating the guidelines by posting multiple photos in a single thread that sub-forum.

I predict that this thread will get messy over time, and will end up defeating the very purpose zaren started it. In other words, suffer the same fate as the Critiques Corner.

Rev's suggestion is good, but for the time being, my suggestion is for zaren to take the lead in organising a group of members who will commit to giving more indepth photo critiques. The group can then go around the various subforums to critique photos, and can communicate among themselves via PM for issues such as load sharing and alerting each other of threads that require attention. That way your presence can be felt throughout the forum and I think that would be the most effective way in promoting good critiques in CS.

Members who are interested in reading zaren's or the rest of the critique group's posts can always do a search for the repective nicks. Members who want to receive critiques from the critique group can always PM any of the group member. Members who are motivated to give more indepth critiques can do so anytime, and do not have to "officially" join zaren's enthusiasts group first.

For this thread, I would suggest that members stop posting new photos and critiques here as this is not what the General forum is meant for. You can continue here to discuss about techniques in giving critiques.

As time permits, I will try to split this thread so that all the photos and related critiques go into the repective gallery sub-forums.

If members continue to post photos here then I will have to close this thread.

Thank you for your understanding.

- Roy

 

[zaren]

I just took this cutiepie sitting on my computer after seeing this thread. Hmm, what can be done to improve it/making it cuter and nicer? I'd like to know your views and ideas. For one, there isn't much to see, but what I want to know is, what can you improve on it if it's you? Like perhaps a full body pose, etc. I just want my doll to look more beautiful. thx!

posing a doll is not unlike posing a human model..... start by giving her nice clothes to wear! rubber bands tying up the hair is also a big turn off. try coordinating what she wears with a suitable background, and try a more diffused lighting rather than the rather harsh frontal flash lighting.

 

[zaren]

OK, this is a sensitive issue and I will carefully explain my position and action here.

First of all, I fully support zaren's and the rest of the members' drive for better photo critiques on CS. However, I don't think using a single thread in the General forum for this purpose is the best way to do this in the long run.

Some time ago, we have a Critique's Corner subform on CS and its intention was exactly the same as what zaren posted this thread for - serious photo critique.

At that time the admins and mods felt that there was a need for such a forum for discussions that are focused on the appreciation and criticism of posted photographs. Certain guidelines were imposed on that forum, such as one photo per thread, and strictly no banal talk. That did not work out and the subforum eventually lost its focus and became more like a "theme-less" gallery sub-forum. The main problem were that no one was committed to give critiques on every photo that was posted, and there were member who kept violating the guidelines by posting multiple photos in a single thread that sub-forum.

I predict that this thread will get messy over time, and will end up defeating the very purpose zaren started it. In other words, suffer the same fate as the Critiques Corner.

Rev's suggestion is good, but for the time being, my suggestion is for zaren to take the lead in organising a group of members who will commit to giving more indepth photo critiques. The group can then go around the various subforums to critique photos, and can communicate among themselves via PM for issues such as load sharing and alerting each other of threads that require attention. That way your presence can be felt throughout the forum and I think that would be the most effective way in promoting good critiques in CS.

Members who are interested in reading zaren's or the rest of the critique group's posts can always do a search for the repective nicks. Members who want to receive critiques from the critique group can always PM any of the group member. Members who are motivated to give more indepth critiques can do so anytime, and do not have to "officially" join zaren's enthusiasts group first.

For this thread, I would suggest that members stop posting new photos and critiques here as this is not what the General forum is meant for. You can continue here to discuss about techniques in giving critiques.

As time permits, I will try to split this thread so that all the photos and related critiques go into the repective gallery sub-forums.

If members continue to post photos here then I will have to close this thread.

Thank you for your understanding.

- Roy

thanks for clarifying, roy....

ok....anyone who wants a guaranteed critique, pls PM me and i will make sure you get one, either by me, or by any of the CS members who have critiqued on this thread. please don't post photos here for critique anymore.