Criticism Please.

[duckgoose]

I’m not sure if I’m putting this in the right place so let me know please 🙂

I’ve just recently started a photography course. As part of a digital imaging assessment I had to create a fantasy image and make one of my photos black and white.  To finish the assessment I need constructive criticism on both of these.

The first image http://nickiienoo.deviantart.com/#/d5run1x contains other peoples work; the background and the wings. I took the photo of the “fairy” myself.

The second image http://nickiienoo.deviantart.com/#/d5runmh was my first time taking pictures of people. I tend to stick with landscapes as that’s what really interests me but a friend asked me to get a couple of shots of her husband meeting their little girl for the first time.

If you could just let me know what you think & where I’ve gone wrong I would really appreciate it.

Also, I’m completely knew at Photoshop, as in I started using it this October just gone, so please don’t get too techy on me ^.^

[cameraclicker]

d5run1x looks good, but is defective.  Your fairy seems to be creating fall foliage by blowing kisses and coloured leaves!  Too bad she is in the middle of a coniferous forest.  Evergreen trees have needles for leaves and stay green all year.

In d5runmh, the baby appears to be about to be crushed by the parent’s hug, or perhaps is in transit, being passed from the woman to the man.  It just looks awkward.  The woman’s face is almost completely hidden.  The man is trying to do what?  There is more light on the baby, which is where we are presumably supposed to be looking.  That is the photo’s good feature.  The conversion to  B&W was successful.  I can tell he was a red head with freckles.  It seems bland, however.  It might work better with stronger lighting.  The B&W photos that I remember typically had strong elements and side lighting.

[reality check]

First one is just kind of awkward to look at.  Too much going on that doesn’t go with anything else.  More like a collage really.  The fall leaves bother me too, and how they go in a straight diagonal line that seems to drop off somewhere off the image and turn into butterflies?

Not very impressed with the moment you captured in the second one.  The Mom is hiding, the Dad is almost expressionless, like you just missed the moment.  and the baby just looks hungry and kind of squished.  The conversion to black and white is a little muddy, and I don’t like the vignette.

I also can’t help but notice you said the second photo was your first time taking pictures of people, and you are completely new to Photoshop yet you have this beautifully lit and edited woman in the first image, that you claim is yours.  So it makes me think, ummmmmmm you just pasted a whole bunch of things together and called it “art”

[duckgoose]

I honestly didn’t even think of that. But other than the confusion of the image, have I cut her & the wings out neatly? Also I recoloured the mushrooms.. is it overly obvious? sorry I’m not wording this very well I know. But I really need feedback on the digital side of things.

With the black and white could you give me some tips on how to improve the effect?I’ve just tried it again. http://www.flickr.com/photos/80095806@N06/8393019435/in/photostream better or worse?

Yes I took the second photo a few months ago, before I even started the course. I was asked to go to the airport with her to just take photos. She offered to pay but I refused as I knew they wouldn’t be so crash hot & I told her as much. The model in the first image I took just last Tuesday. But is the lighting for her honestly okay? I only had 15 minutes in the studio and I’m not very confident with lighting and posing people. Does she look too awkward?

I’m not trying to sound snarky so I’m sorry if my reply has come across that way. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to give me a bit of feedback.

[fstopper89]

While I’m not crazy about the fantasy-style image, I think your photograph of the model is pretty good though it’s hard to tell because she’s a small part of the whole image. It looks sharp and the lighting is pretty good. Were you supposed to take images taken by other people and integrate your portrait into it? Normally, most critics would frown upon that, and depending if you had permission to use them or not, it can get into that gray area of copyright infringement but I’ll assume you had permission to use them and that it was allowed for the project.

The black and white image isn’t really great as far as contrast and focus, but if it was before you knew much about photography it’s understandable and doesn’t make you a fauxtographer. I do see emotion in it but would have really liked to see the mother’s face. I’m guessing it was a case of everything happening quickly and the mother was in tears as she went to hug her husband. The vignette is too intense and fake too.

It sounds like you are on the right path though. Your photography course will be very beneficial.

That being said, I hate deviantart. I had an account once but deleted it because it was slow, disorganized, and full of anime junk and emo kids posting pictures of their rainbow socks and their dyed black hair covering their one eye. It wasn’t conducive to showcasing photography. Get a flickr account, I love it! Much easier to organize and connect with other photographers.

[Kimera]

Hi, the setting is mystical and I see how you’re going for that ethereal look. I look at it as a whole impression, then at each element.
What the picture makes me want to do is, first, warm the girl’s face. She’s a bit ashy against the vivid greenery.
I like the wings but they seem to blend into the trees instead of being defined.

Can you copy the image (so you keep your original), then give it some shadow and depth? It wants distance. The far off trees are suggesting it but as they’re so sharp, the background looks like the backdrop in a theatre or movie.

I hope I’m not being too picky or harsh. Your idea is lovely. Keep in mind as I make these comments that I’m more of an artist than a photographer, tho’ I enjoy learning that area as well.

[soaringturkeys]

Hey!

A good way for your person to not stick out and look out of place is for you to make sure she has the right colour.   Find out what colour the highlights and shadows are in the background and adjust it accordingly.  Dropping the blue highlights would produce a closer effect 🙂

[duckgoose]

For this assessment I got the okay to use work made by others & I had their permission on the condition I credit them.

The situation was very much like that. I was way out of my depth. And I have noticed that about deviantart. Unfortunately it was necessary evil. 

Kimera, not harsh at all. It really helps to have these things pointed out to me as I didn’t pick up on it at all (obviously (: ). I will definitely give it a try. I’ll have to find out how to even attempt it first though!  

& ST. do you know any tutorials or anything that would help me out with that? I have no idea how to even approach something like that.

Thanks again everyone. 😀

[soaringturkeys]

Hey!

Umm I’m sure you can find lots of that, it’s not really a specific thing to do more just something to refine realism.

First you have your Model Image – Image A and your Background Image – Image B

Go to image a, Take the colour syringe tool (i dont know if this is the official name of it lol) and go to the brightest place in the image, this is called the highlights, and take a sample of the colour. Go to the colour palette and find out the balance of R, G, B. Take note.

Do the same with the darkest place in the image, this is called the shadows, and take a sample and do the same thing.

Now go to your image B, and bring up the curves tool or any other colouring tool pretty much and adjust accordingly. 🙂
I’ll try and look for some tutorials for you

[soaringturkeys]

I’ll be out on location shoot for the next 5 days. So won’t be able to help you out for a while

Check this link out though

<a href=”http://preptopost.com/”&gt; Prep To post </a>

[Brownie]

The 2nd image is too dark and flat and the vignette isn’t needed, it holds in that far edge but in kind of a clunkier way

[Author]

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