Reply To: Am I a fauxtog? :S

[Brownie]

Hi,

I am going to critique your work by comparing it to a scene I could possibly imagine in a film. Alfred Hitchcock films always stand up to this scrutiny. If you take a frame of one of his movies, it could probably stand strong as a photograph.

 

So let’s dive in to your work…

Immediately, I’m greeted by this…Oh my gawd: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7632393354/in/photostream

Incredibly contrasty, and not in a good way. The image is technically really bad. There’s nothing redeeming about it. our subject is a mile away.

 

The next one is really contrasty, not as bad as the other. Composition and subject are ‘meh’ for me.

 

Same issues on the next one…

 

This one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7632406768/in/photostream/ is getting there. technically it’s not exposed properly but the composition is more interesting as well as multiple subjects with a pretty good framing job. I’m digging the reflections off of that car too,  nice.

 

The next one is pretty interesting as well. I am drawn more to the guy carrying the bags as to the little girl with the tennis racket. but one thing I love about that girl is her form, her arms are all twisted with this playful expression that counters the ambiguity of the bag man and the girls. compositionally, its okay. the top frame and the side frames are not held in very well, which makes the eye kinda wander where you don’t want it to go. The blank sky is nothing you want in monochrome photography, so overall it’s a little too contrasty.

 

I’m going to skip around a little bit and harp on the ones I like and the ones I don’t like…

Focus is off here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7617737068/in/photostream/lightbox/

The contrast is still high in this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7617740260/in/photostream/lightbox/ but since the whites aren’t blown out, it’s not nearly as off as some of the work we first looked at. It basically looks like a less flashy ad.

 

This image is far too saturated for my taste: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7605483136/in/photostream/lightbox/ I can’t speak as confidently about color photography but it looks like it will ooze off of those flowers. Maybe someone else has an opinion on this.

 

I think out of all your images, this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7605499954/in/photostream/lightbox/, is my favorite. Tonality looks decent, blacks are blown out, so is the sky but I could see this as a frame in a film. Composition is pretty centralized but that doesn’t bother me too much.

 

This is one of your weaker images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpereiraphoto/7605486220/in/photostream/lightbox/,

There’s some weird fog around the right corner and it’s boring.

 

I hope you found something redeeming out of this, Hah. I go back to school Monday at my University so I’m trying to get the summer rust off by critiquing more. Haha…

 

Just watch your contrast, composition, framing and avoid the cliche.