Reply To: Opinions

[picstop]

David, you have some powerful images which I like. My critique is as follows…

Red hair…one of the few that is most like a portrait, I find the crop a little distracting. The rule of thirds is a rule that can be broken but in this case might be better if it wasn’t. Probably just me but having her not plunked dead center doesn’t work for me. Otherwise, nice expression.

Oceans…almost the same critique. With the lady facing slightly to her right, I would have cropped the left of the photo more to have the viewer follow her gaze out into the ocean.

Looming…same. Unlike Oceans, I’m not sure why she is there. Is the focus her or the scene? With Oceans, I get the mood but here there is little in the way of provocation of thought other than I wonder what she is thinking. I then need more of her to follow through with that or more of the scene to make her a speck in the world. As is, not the best of your bunch, to me.

Wasting…for me it’s the same. It’s about the crop. I’m left unsure as to the focus of the photo, the scene or man. I know it’s both but you should have a dominant idea and complimentary parts of the image. Is it a field with a man or a man in a field. They are not the same thing. And yes, everyone crops their photos differently however, cropping is about ensuring that people immediately are drawn to the part of the image that matters most, the idea, and then explore the rest which hopefully expands upon it.

A sky…this is just about it. Although I’m not a fan of the low contrast, this is the shot. A boy full of wonder looking to the sky. The crop is good, the leading lines, the empty space…it’s all good. The only other one that appeals to me like this one is “can’t refuse” and maybe “hunted”. The rest are pretty much the same critique wherein the crops are less than ideal to my eyes. I are pretty sure your main focus is the landscape but you have to realize that in these photos, placing a person there is a point of interest in an otherwise singly idea-ed photo. Imagine you had a ship on that dramatic sea. You would naturally look to it. No matter how wonderful that sea and sky, you will look at that person and wonder why she is there. What I’m getting at is that if you are going to put a person in that photo, there needs to be a reason for it. That person isn’t just a rock or wave. We will wonder the purpose of that person and if it isn’t clear, the photo suffers. If that person is not placed well, the photo suffers. The only photo that appeals to me where you have a lady dead center is “point”. This breaks rules but it works because of the light, the lady and the vignetting. However, try to crop off about half of the foliage to the right of her and tell me if you think that makes her stand out even more. I don’t mind it as is but losing some of the photo on the right (and even some the the trees at the top), makes me walk right to her.

I hope this helped a little and remember, these are just one person’s opinions.