The "I Can't Put My Finger To It But Something's Missing" Shot

[night86mare]

TS, I kinda liked the shot. It could have been better if you had shot more of the face of the fish so there will be a clearer point of interest. I don't think the half-BW worked though, it takes away the attention from the tuna, which i assume is your subject.Maybe u want to experiment with the people in the background in BW while the fish in colour? but its an interesting shot of the fish market, don't let the comments of others get to you. Don't be too concerned over the technicals the rule of thirds etc, they are just guides, photography is an art. I think Espion was a little overly critical, a lot of people seem to be on this forum to be bitter. A good photo's not something mechanical you achieve by applying all the rules and what's not. Techniques while important should be place a limit on creativity. I appreciate your experiment with the half BW, even if the effect did not turn out well. Keep Shooting!

Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.

--- Marcus Aurelius

unwarranted praise, is almost as bad as unwarranted censure. say your word, say your piece if you have a good intention, but unless there is something you see sorely wrong with another's piece; i would refrain from commenting on others' critiques. you only end up confusing the person who has been asking for help. to be fair, most of the peoples in critique corner are far from bitter; step into kopitiam though......

 

[Zichar]

Hey wxwayne, thanks for the kind words. Don't sweat it, I knew what I was up for when I posted here, heh And gathered up some courage before I took the plunge.

I personally believe that sound theory and technique allows one to be more creative, it's like having more tools. I'm not sure how to describe this well but sometimes I see a shot in my mind's eye but I can't seem to coax that picture out of my camera, or subsequently even PP to get that image out of the RAWs that I took. And that really frustrates me as an artist. To give you a personal example, I'm trained to paint in oils for a better part of my life, but there's been a lot of durned times when I wish I was more proficient with Photoshop than the brush! Haha. Or colour pencils for that matter depending on the subject, or water colour, etc, I hope you get what I mean.

I'm just glad people took the time out to look at the picture and if it gets them to think, then all the better. If it gets to think of how to make it better, that's fantastic, because it's been bugging me too, heh. So no worries, the experimentation will continue! A few misguided attempts at going full B&W but yeah, I'll definitely keep plugging at it.

As an aside, I realise I do have a penchant for the macabre. Hazards of the job. No, no I'm not an undertaker.

 

[bahibo]

I paint, i draw , i take photo ,too. And it's hard for me to throw my pieces of art away.

Winnogrand said something like this , if a whole photo work , it work , if only parts of it work ,it isn't really a good photo.

Further more, it's hard for an "artist" to select what to throw , what good, what excellent and what not , for his eyes aren't bias free. You took some photos, the feeling of when u took that photo was great, so you love that photo , thus it turn into excellent , or when someone praise that photo irregardless of whether it is art or just politeness , you feel great, that great feeling prevent u from throwing that photo away. That why it's best to view your photo after some times, especially when u forget about the moment u took it already , then may be u can judge whether ur photo good.

That aside, i don't think your photo work half here half there.