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.

at the bottom of the slide
by shutterfly

Comment:
Nice timing. I've used these tubular slides as props myself (see my entry for "Upside Down" if you're curious).

Busy Merry-Go-Round
by vestanpance

Comment:
Personally I'd probably like this better if you'd been able to get a clear shot without the people in the foreground.

Reaching the Fractals
by paganini

Comment:
Well I got your title, and think this is an excellent natural example. I like this even more now that I can read about how you did the color, as I'm a big fan of duotone mode, and look forward to trying this on one of my numerous shots of trees and sky.

A Plethora of Privet Berries
by GeneralE

Comment:
For the record, I have a common (in men) form of red-green color-blindness, which gives me difficulty in distinguishing between blues and purples, greens and browns, etc. I avoid making many judgements based on color -- I make my esthetic decisions primarily on tone, contrast, cropping, and sharpening, and the appropriate application of each considering the subject matter.

When I checked some of the brightly-lit berries in Photoshop the densitometry indicated a pretty pure blue, although I'm sure there's a lot of purple ones too.

These were several feet up, and the wind was gusting that day 30-40mph and they were swaying pretty wildly, so I couldn't really make it a much tighter shot. And, it was mostly back- and side-lit through the rest of the hedge.

Privet berries are much esteemed by birds, but my gardening book makes no mention of their edibility by humans, so I'd suggest not eating any. It did mention that the fruit made a huge mess, so don't plant over your patio or driveway. Privets are bushes or small trees used with great frequency for hedges.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I think I actually scored a little better than I predicted!