Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: semillerimages on October 06, 2010, 06:02:29 pm
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I've seen some really nice critiques here as of late so I'm tossing my hat into the pile with this new image I've created.
Critique away!
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Hi,
To me the strengh is in the composition, very well executed.
The only action I would do is lighten a little bit the outside view (soil+house), the reason why is that I thing it would give a little more mystery and at the same time add some depth dimension.
Being really maniac, I find the sharpening a little too much? on the inside floor particularly.
Good picture!
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i find it an intriguing picture. My eye is drawn in at several places at once making it hard for me to understand what the picture is trying to say - through the doorway, through the missing boards, into the green window ( At first i thought there was a reflection there) . The pronounced grain of the wood is interesting of itself. If it were part of a series of shots that could imply a story, that would be really neat, IMHO.
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Excellent, agree with fredjiang on the sharpening but the advantage is that it brings out the textures and structure very well which is an essential part of making the image so nice. So if you back it off make sure you don't lose that and experiment a bit with ratio between sharpening and clarity (local contrast) to preserve the overall impression you've got in this version.
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Excellent, agree with fredjiang on the sharpening but the advantage is that it brings out the textures and structure very well which is an essential part of making the image so nice. So if you back it off make sure you don't lose that and experiment a bit with ratio between sharpening and clarity (local contrast) to preserve the overall impression you've got in this version.
I agree. Does it really need colour? Textures and structure tend to look good in b&w.
Jeremy
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I'd like to see a B/W version… but I agree with most points expressed above. Composition (and texture) is the strong point of this image.
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I like it composition-wise and the colors too.
The colors are special here, because there are so few and muted colors, which is great.
B/W: Good Idea to try!
Mystery: Maybe some artificial vignetting could support this?
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I do like the idea, and I do like the colors, but am I the only one who thinks that this image would have been better if taken with a wider-angle lens?
I find myself wanting to see more floor ... wanting to see the whole shelving on the left ... wanting to see more of the doorway leading outside ... wanting to see the extent of rotting boards on the upper right ... etc.
As I have learned alot on this website (from member input), Mike told me once, "Never lead the viewer's eye off the image." If this maxim is true, then IMO this image breaks it in multiple respects, drawing me in at first with initial interest, but ultimately leaving me unsatisfied and wanting to "see more" than what is actually shown. Too much that is interesting is cut-off ...
Jack
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First of all, thanks to all of you who have taken the time to reply to my request for critique, it's appreciated. I'll also add that this was a 5 image HDR made from SNS-HDR, which I've had some tremendous luck with in terms of making 'realistic' looking HDR images.
@fred I think the floor looks oversharpened on an LCD vs my CRT - at least it looks like it to me as I view the images on my MacPro laptop vs my Lacie. In the print (16x24) it definitely looks ok, but I think the contrast of the white particles on the dark floor emphasizes them immensely. Thanks for the compliment on the composition and I think you're right about toning down the outside, which I did for my print.
@degrub I find myself struggling many times with that question of 'what am I trying to say with this picture' because a lot of the times, especially with images like these, all I am doing is showing my attraction to the geometry of the lines and the textures throughout. I look upon this image as being very abstract rather than having a substantial statement about it.
@pegelli see above with my comment to fred, but I do agree with you.
@kikashi It does look fine in b/w also, but one of the attractions to me was the painted 'thing' in blue being in such sharp contrast to the dull browns/yellows and reds. I'll probably print a b/w version too, but my heart will stay with the color one :)
@francios see above ;)
@christoph Thanks for the suggestions, not sure if I'll try the vingette though as I've never been satisfied with my post vingette attempts in photoshop and/or lightroom
@John I would have liked it wider too... but... I hate my 17-40L zoom's lack of sharpness and I hate my 24-70L's lack of sharpness too (I need to send both to CPS). I do LOVE my cheap ass Canon 28 F2.8 though (which this was shot with) because there is this quality to it that seems significantly better than any other wide angle I've used on my Canon. I'm not so sure if I agree with the 'never lead the viewer's eye' comment in regards to this image other than the fact that it might have been ok with a closer point, cropping out some of the extraneous info, but then the foreground dimensionality would have been lost to a degree.
Thanks again all, it's an interesting exercise in hearing and then responding to your ideas - one that I hope to participate in more fully in the future.
Cheers to all,
*steve
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There are two thinks that I would try on this photograph: B&W (or at least some desaturation, with an emphasis on textures, of course) and cropping (both right wall and floor are unneeded, IMHO; I would even cut the green door in half).
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@John I would have liked it wider too... but... I hate my 17-40L zoom's lack of sharpness and I hate my 24-70L's lack of sharpness too (I need to send both to CPS). I do LOVE my cheap ass Canon 28 F2.8 though (which this was shot with) because there is this quality to it that seems significantly better than any other wide angle I've used on my Canon. I'm not so sure if I agree with the 'never lead the viewer's eye' comment in regards to this image other than the fact that it might have been ok with a closer point, cropping out some of the extraneous info, but then the foreground dimensionality would have been lost to a degree.
Cheers to all,
*steve
Hi Steve;
Well, I understand your point about "rules," and I am not sure I quite agree with that one either. I believe, in essence, a person should try to capture what they want to capture ... and sometimes that might involve leading the viewer off the image ... so long as this was the intent and not a mistake.
I guess we both agree that wider would have been preferable, and would have illuminated the points of interest, but you just didn't have that particular tool.
Perhaps the best 3 questions to ask, would be (1) what compelled you to take the photograph to begin with?; (2) do you feel you captured the essence of what you were seeing and trying to capture?; and (3) what, in retrospect, could you have done differently to capture exactly what compelled you to begin with?
For me, it would have been a wider view, so as to fully-illuminate the points of interest, but I am not the photographer here. I realize many photographs are open to interpretation, but I also know there is always an "original mood" or "original desire" which prompted the composition.
What was that, was it captured, and (if not) what could have been done differently to capture it?
Thanks for sharing,
Jack
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