Tanya
by bamaster

Comment:
Nice job capturing both motion and stillness -- I suspect it was a tricky lighting and exposure job. Certainly puts a new spin on belly dancing!

SEESAW.
by tattoo

Comment:
Good choice of subject with occilating motion.

Motion and motion stopper.
by wingy

Comment:
Lighting is understandably a bit harsh; good use of non-standard cropping ratio.

Hollywood Pop/Rock
by heartsdivide

Comment:
A little overexposed on the face, but captures the energy of the moment. Wish the singer's mouth was visible on the other side of the mic. I would crop from the right to where the shadow and cable meet the guitar neck, about the to singer's left shoulder, to bring more focus/attention to your subject, eliminating the head of the bass and the large distracting shadow on the back wall.

A Stranger, A Piece of Me, Walks Away
by coeurdusucre

Comment:
Would have helps had the person in the background were still behind the tree, helping isolate your subject. I'm a little confused how it can me both a "stranger" AND a "part of me." Would also have been easier to evaluate if it had been rotated into the vertical orientation.

Continuous Flow
by darb

Comment:
Nice range of tones, composition leads the eye across the image. NOT trying to freeze the water helps in the context of this challenge.

Fall in Motion
by Turbotech

Comment:
Well captued motion nd a nice combination of colors, but it seems a little sterile. I rather see the solid background with a "still" life, or the leaf falling in a more naural setting.

Blew Bubble
by myqyl

Comment:

Originally posted by jmsetzler: Greetings from the Critique Club :) I believe from your challenge comments, we have already established the fact that she is cute, so I won't elaborate on that :) ...I read one of your comments mentioning a 'snapshot' quality about the image. What do you think about this? There are definite difference between your average family album shapshots and portrait photos. What could you have done differently with this subject to eliminate the 'snapshot' feel of the image? I am no expert on this subject, so I don't know either :) Keep up the good work though :) John Setzler

John -- Thanks for sneaking in a hint of the Socratic method -- it's effective and "inoffensive."

myqyl -- I originally got my camera to shoot snapshots of MY cute kid, but had enough previous (graphic) art experience to try and make it possible to artistically "re-purpose" them.

The most prominent difference between snapshots and "artistic" photos seems to be cropping. This makes sense, since the purpose of the snapshot is usually to record the presence of a person/thing or event at a particular time and location, so there's usually a lot of background and context with a barely-recognizable subject. In more arty photos of people or things, most photographers crop away almost all the background, or make it neutral, or otherwise de-emphasize it versus he subject.

This frame doesn't leave much to crop. If I were to re-shoot it, I would definitely capture the frame with her hand up by her face and the bubble in the process of emerging, from a position about 15 degrees to the left of where you took this one, and maybe even lower. You'd see her eyes, as John mentioned, but they'd be twisted down and in as she concentrates on the bubble (no reflection if you want to use the flash). You'd be able to crop to the back of her hand on the left, her hair on the top and right, and to her elbow on the bottom.

Send me an email if you want to discuss the Art of the Snapshot outside of DPC, and exchange examples...

--Paul

Message edited by author 2002-12-11 23:16:41.

Peeling Blue
by paynekj

Comment:
As I mentioned in a forum post, I like the grid background, but would have used a "non-repro blue" paste-up board.

Spaghetti
by Jacko

Comment:
The way the image is lost in the corners bothers me little (maybe an almost-square crop would help), but I like the overall idea and execution -- good use of mundane subject.