Image Evaluation

[LesGirrior]

Cool pictures

[howard smith]

dwdallam, I think it might be informative (educational?) for you to write down WHY you like the reshoot better.  Try to do it in concrete terms instaed of "it moves me" or "it's my gut."

[howard smith]

"I really like [the phone], but I'm perplexed over it. The composition seems wrong."

OK, why do you like it, or what do you like about it?  What bothers you about the composition?

"I like the new Chocolate picture better because it pulls my eye across it, it's mroe balanced, ... ."  "... it jumps out at you more, that is, catches the eye better, which makes it more interesting I think."  Why is your eye pulled across the image?  Why does it jump out more?

Yes, you can ask "Why?" forever, but the better you can answer that question, the better chance you have of producing photos you like, that pull the eye, that jump out at you.

[macgyver]

I like the sign because of the color and the contrast.  The phone doesn't do much for me, nothing holds my attention.

Keep them coming, we should have a section for stuff like this.

maybe.

-macgyver

[howard smith]

dwdallam, I sympathize with you.  However, there is a difference between "why" and "how."  You may know what you want (and why) but lack the skill and/or equipment to do it (how).

"... I think that is it."  Try it.  The worst that will happen is you won't like, but you will have a "why" opportunity.

[dwdallam]

dwdallam, I sympathize with you.  However, there is a difference between "why" and "how."  You may know what you want (and why) but lack the skill and/or equipment to do it (how).

"... I think that is it."  Try it.  The worst that will happen is you won't like, but you will have a "why" opportunity.

True. waht I meant is that I don't know how to do what I wanted. But in the same repsect, I didn't know why I wasn't getting the picture I wanted.

[LesGirrior]

I like how there is no dust on the phone, still smooth and shiney despite its old age, and probably still works just fine.  The composition makes me wonder what else is around it.

Spell check your posts you sloppy typing sloppy typer :)  

Do you post any of your shots on the Steve's Digicams forums?  I'd love to see more of your shots.

[dwdallam]

I reshot the cocholates sign in landscape and zoomed it. Unless I'm missing something here, I think I like this version much better than the portrait version.

Next, I've been working this phone lit by warm, red neon light through the window of a local antiques store. I tried the phone from above and to both sides, straight-on, and the best I could get it to work technically is here pretty much. I love the colors of the phone and the setting, but it's giving me headaches. Something just looks wrong with the composition.

http://www.idlethoughtsandchaos.com/photo/

In the next day or so the tide will be back high at dark, so I can work more on the night boat shots once again taking all of your advise along with me in the earlier thread.--update. Some new boat came in and has its flood lights blaring, so the Jenna Lee is blown out 'till he leaves .

[Dan Sroka]

Unless I'm missing something here, I think I like this version much better than the portrait version.

Ain't nothing missing, if you like it!

Nice work.

[dwdallam]

dwdallam, I think it might be informative (educational?) for you to write down WHY you like the reshoot better.  Try to do it in concrete terms instaed of "it moves me" or "it's my gut."

Yeah that's fair enough and a good excercise. I like the new Chocolate picture better because it pulls my eye across it, it's mroe balanced, and the slanted off center look gives it a more whimsical look, which is what candy is. It is also more focused on the candy that other things, like refelctions and the window frame. Last, it jumps out at you more, that is, catches the eye better, which makes it more interesting I think.

OK, but you guys are not even commenting on the phone picture right below it. I really like that one, but I'm perplexed over it. The composition seems wrong. It's bothering me. Can you guys help on that any?

[Hank]

Well spoken, Howard.

[dwdallam]

I like the sign because of the color and the contrast.  The phone doesn't do much for me, nothing holds my attention.

Keep them coming, we should have a section for stuff like this.

maybe.

-macgyver

Well, I like the phone, but like you said, something isn't there and I cannot figure it out, except--composition.

I think for me the composition is worng because I cannot capture the phone close enough. I'm out of zoom. I think that is it. If I could fill the fram with all phone, and then get teh, for instance, center of the dial in the upper third quadrant, then I think it would work--so Howard, yes, After thinking and being prodded by you I think that is it. What do you think?

[dwdallam]

"I really like [the phone], but I'm perplexed over it. The composition seems wrong."

OK, why do you like it, or what do you like about it?  What bothers you about the composition?

"I like the new Chocolate picture better because it pulls my eye across it, it's mroe balanced, ... ."  "... it jumps out at you more, that is, catches the eye better, which makes it more interesting I think."  Why is your eye pulled across the image?  Why does it jump out more?

Yes, you can ask "Why?" forever, but the better you can answer that question, the better chance you have of producing photos you like, that pull the eye, that jump out at you.

Well, yes, but remeber, I'm still trying to get my "eye" as it were. So your comments help me "see." However, your point is well taken, and I am now thinking about it more consciously. I appreciate that.

It's kinda like the old pro I talked with at the marina the otehr day. I aksed him to watch waht I was trying to do and then review teh picture for me. He agreed. So I took teh shot, and then told him that I new something was wrong, and that I thought it was something I was doing wrong.

He then said the picture I got was about as good as any professional could ahve done composition wise, except one thing. He said, "If you want to take full framed boats, you have to get above them. If not, you won;t get teh correct composition." He then told me to look at the refelction of a boat hull in the water, and then had me walk towards it. It shrunk as I walked towards it. He then said, "Now you can get the boat's hull and all of its relfection in the shot composed correctly becsaue you are standing higer. Otherwise everything is too long or tall." He explained also that the best way to get a marina shot is to get as high as possible and back about 100 yards on the mast of another boat, and then use a 200 telephoto lens to compress the entire scene down into a frame that you can compose correctly and get a blurred background. Barring that, he said just use a boat close to the one I want to shoot, use a wide angle, and get as high as possible, but the DoF will be deep.

So, after all that work trying to get a marina shot, I know now how to do it, and that I wasn't doing anything wrong except not having the knowledge to capture a good marina shot.

We went to his boat and he let me see some of his shots he had taken over the years of boats, and everyone--I now noticed--was taken from above. I asked him how he got the right angle while getting above the boats, since all of them looked perfect, and he said "Helicopter."  hahahaah He actually hired a helicopter and pilot to take the majority of his marina shots over the years. So anyway, it helped me understand that I was doing the best I could down on the docks, and what to try to do for a better shot.

That's why I am asking "Why?"

[Dan Sroka]

So, after all that work trying to get a marina shot, I know now how to do it, and that I wasn't doing anything wrong except not having the knowledge to capture a good marina shot.

Regarding the phone: ask youself what you are trying to capture with that image. What is your backstory? Is it supposed to be a commercial photo for the phone company? Is it supposed to suggest "communications"? Or is it supposed to capture a mood, the feeling you get when waiting for the phone to ring? Each of this would require  different composition, different lighting.

No... you now know how to take a marina shot like that old pro does. Is it better? Maybe in one sense, but that's a subjective call. There is NEVER one way to capture any scene. His advice can help you see another way to create a shot... but be sure to keep your eyes and mind open while you are doing it, and always be willing to experiment and break "the rules".

[dwdallam]

So, after all that work trying to get a marina shot, I know now how to do it, and that I wasn't doing anything wrong except not having the knowledge to capture a good marina shot.

Regarding the phone: ask youself what you are trying to capture with that image. What is your backstory? Is it supposed to be a commercial photo for the phone company? Is it supposed to suggest "communications"? Or is it supposed to capture a mood, the feeling you get when waiting for the phone to ring? Each of this would require  different composition, different lighting.

No... you now know how to take a marina shot like that old pro does. Is it better? Maybe in one sense, but that's a subjective call. There is NEVER one way to capture any scene. His advice can help you see another way to create a shot... but be sure to keep your eyes and mind open while you are doing it, and always be willing to experiment and break "the rules".

Dan, true, and while I was there, I did get a really good shot, and he said so too. But what I was wanting to do was to get teh entire mast of a baot, from teh back end, in the picture, get teh entrire relfection in teh picture, and have the boart or one of it's masts in the upper third waudrant. It cannot be done at ground level. So I didn't explain that too well.

But your point about keeping an open creative mind is well taken for sure.

As far as the phone goes, it's an old dial phone with a metal dial, so it's really old. The light looks to me like something "state of the art" or "modern." It was the contrast between the new, represented by the techo-like lighting, and the old, represented by the dial phone.

[dwdallam]

I like how there is no dust on the phone, still smooth and shiney despite its old age, and probably still works just fine.  The composition makes me wonder what else is around it.

Spell check your posts you sloppy typing sloppy typer   

Do you post any of your shots on the Steve's Digicams forums?  I'd love to see more of your shots.

Naw haven't posted much because I'm still trying to get a display going for my home town, which is really into arts and photography.

I think I figured out what the phone needs. It needs the center dial zoomed in to fill the entire screen while maintaining it in the upper right third. The problem is that I'm out of zoom, and it's in a store window

Sloppy typer? I thought I did zat one goed.

True, please forgive my lazy typing and checking.