Your photos (158) |
|||||||||||||||||||
 Hints and tips by Philip Grosset If you'd like to submit photos for criticism, click here. |
|||||||||||||||||||
with comments from Philip Grosset "Hello, my name is Tricia Benner from Thornton, Colorado and i was curious if you would rate this picture. I took it in New Mexico, I was trying to capture the mushroom, at the same time including the green moss on the tree. I think that it is the best picture i have took yet, but i would like to hear your opinion." |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Your photo on the left looks slightly underexposed and the mushroom is a bit far away, so in my version, on the right, I've lightened it and tried coming in closer. Even so, you can't really see the top of the mushroom very clearly. Here is where a slightly higher camera angle might have made all the difference, as shown below (I hadn't got a mushroom handy but the passion flower shows what I mean): |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||
| My photo on the left uses a side view similar to the one you used for your mushroom picture. Go for a higher camera angle, as on the right, and you get a much clearer view of your subject. "I was just wondering what you think of these photos I shot. I use a canon elan 7. With a Tamron 24-135 lens. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you" (Craig Moline) |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| All three of these photos are composed in a similarly effective way with branches providing pleasing foreground framing. I prefer the one on the right as it includes the most reflections and provides the clearest image. The one on the left isn't at first so easy to understand - I had to check that I had got it the right way up! The one in the middle has vivid colors but might have been even more appealing if you'd included more of the reflections in the water. It's a bit frustrating just getting such a small glimpse of them as they look so colorful. |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
| Once again, more reflections might have added to the appeal. As it is, I still prefer the version on the top right, as, by comparison, the photo on the left rather leaves you wondering where to look. | |||||||||||||||||||
"The attached picture is taken available light with an Olympus E10. The settings are done manually since the dark areas of the stage would fool the light meter into overexposing. The picture as presented here is slightly cropped from the original view. When you shoot a play, you don't have much time to recognize and compose a shot, so things are done very much "on the fly". Fortunately, the theatre company allows me the run of the house so my opportunities are greater than most people would have. The picture is taken during a dress rehearsal of Cotton Patch Gospel. The show was a summer school project by TOROS (Theatre OutReach On Stage) and is sponsored by the Near North Board of Education in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. There were about 65 cast members involved. Other nights I shot cross stage from the wings or did cover shots from the balcony. In the scene presented here, my daughter, Jonna, is the leftmost dancer of the trio." (Paul Pedersen) |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
Your photo on the left is a very successful portrayal of a difficult subject. The dress rehearsal is certainly a very good time to take pictures like this, especially as you have the freedom to move around. All I'd suggest is that you could move in closer still, as on the right, to concentrate even more attention on the dancers and less on the black area. It's a very effective picture. Reply from Paul Pedersen: "Thanks for posting the picture and your cropping suggestion. While I might consider cropping a wee bit closer, I don't think I would crop as tightly as you show. As you know, a strong compositional device is the oval or implied oval. The dance picture actually has two! Follow the lines formed by floor-body-extended arm and you'll find the major oval. The secondary oval is formed at the top of the picture by the three faces and the extended arm. When the top is cropped too far down, the upper implied oval is diminished.The fun of the creative process is that differing opinions can occur. The best outcome of that is being forced to justify why you stand by your own convictions. You have given me that challenge and I appreciate it. Does this mean that I think your version is wrong? Nope! All it means is that we each have our own preferences and neither one is wrong. We have just had slightly different visions. Cheers!" Yes - neither version is right or wrong. But I'm still much more conscious of the large black area than of those invisible ovals! Ideally, perhaps, what was needed was a more interesting upper background that gave some clue as to what the dancers were pointing at! All much easier said than done... (PG) |
|||||||||||||||||||
Go on to YOUR PHOTOS (159) Please don't forget to sign my GUEST BOOK before you leave the site! NEXT PAGE PICKING THE BEST VIEWPOINT |
|||||||||||||||||||
