I am not a photographer, but …

[IHF]

“I am looking for general feel and what direction I am heading + scream/pointing out what are my main mistakes”.

Editing and displaying are your biggest problems, and you already know that. As far as what direction you’re headed, and over all feel. This is kind of all on you to figure out. More time behind the camera and more time in front of the screen editing, and you’ll find the flow and ebb eventually, and it will evolve and change over time. Then it will start showing more strongly in your work, and others will be able to see as well. Welcome to the torture of being a photographer. lol. I wish it was clearer, for myself as well, but I’m afraid what you are searching for will only come with time and lots of shooting.

Bill, you have linked to this critique by (oh gosh! I can’t remember his real name) Fro, before. It’s not very critical at all to me. It’s more critical and informative than his usual, but that’s not saying much. I watched all the videos from beginning to end and… I just don’t get it. He’s invested so much of his time into this kid, and I’m sorry but he kind of comes off like he really just doesn’t care, and isn’t really interested. Just because a person looked up where you went to school and told you “I want to go to that school too”?!? lol I don’t think he was even expecting or wanting a reply. It doesn’t seem to be based on his eye for photography at all, his drive, or on raw talent. He can’t explain why or how a shot was taken, or how it was finished/printed or otherwise, and he can’t even try to explain why he even likes photography. I kind of feel for him, and the pressure he must feel to follow through with something he found out he really isn’t all that into, all because he got bored one night and wrote on Fro’s wall. Yes, he lets Fro talk and doesn’t get defensive at all, but I don’t think it’s because he’s hanging on his every word, or because he is desperate to learn and make his images better. I think it’s just more due to having a passive personality, and not ever really investing himself into his shots at all. He’s just clicking and along for the ride poor kid. I really do hope he proves me wrong, WAY WAAAAY wrong, but I don’t think he will, and I don’t think it will phase him one bit if he ends up moving along to something else.  I bet he already would have if Fro hadn’t gotten so involved with him

[cameraclicker]

The things I like about http://www.zuzanas.eu.pn/zuzanas/ZuzanasPhotography/Pages/COLORED_PEOPLE.html#7, are the way the child seems to be looking into a window that is right at floor level, and we are looking back.  I think we are helped by not being able to see the top of his head and parts of both arms/hands.  The wide eyed expression makes the photo and it has the eyes sharp, which is critical.   Every time I see the picture, my eyes go right to the child’s eyes, so I think it is a really successful photo.  Just to see, try out a conversion to B&W, it might work like that.  The image seems desaturated.  The eyes are beautiful, but the lips, tongue and gums seem too muted, and the skin has a grey hue.  He is already in grey and blue cloths and the decor seems to be mostly white, so you get a selective colour photo, without having to do selective colour, and the child is the coloured part , so it works out.  I would try going back to the original photo, figure out what the correct white balance is, make sure the eyes stay sharp, and do minimal editing otherwise.  If you are concerned about the hands being cut off, run a blur tool over both arms, up to about the elbows.  Try to get more blur as you get closer to the lower border.   You shouldn’t have to blur much.  A swipe near the elbows and two or three at the wrists should do it.  Keep a copy of the original photo, a copy of the one we have been looking at, and compare both to the new one so you can see the differences.

Jared Polin is an interesting character.  I thought his critique seemed a bit lame.  It seemed to consist mostly of looking at prints and claiming they were not sharp.  That might be true, but I would have liked to hear more about the photos in terms of composition and what might be done to improve them.  The critique didn’t help me grow and probably didn’t help the student much either.

Here is a link to a different set of critiques, by someone who has been at it a bit longer than Jared:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=PYltqSEJMyU&NR=1

[IHF]

Ahhhhhh! Joe McNally!!  Great episode CC :).  I hadn’t watched this one before, and I  truly missed out on a good one.  Wow

[stef]

Dunno why it thought that was spam, IHF.

 

I don’t do a lot on this site, but was able to un-flag your post. I left the final one.

 

[It Makes My Eyes Burn]

I’m a big fan of Jared’s. I enjoy his raw talk cause of his photography news and because of a lot of his interviews. I also like watching a lot of Scott Kelby’s stuff HERE http://kelbytv.com/

[Author]

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