225 AMPS
by sailjo

Comment:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Technicals:
The lighting is sufficient to see the subject but doesn't do more than that.

Subject/composition:
Good choice in subject, however I feel the central theme of this challenge isn't the real focal point here. It's more about this person working in his environment more so than depicting "heat".

The composition is ok but like the lighting it doesn't do anything beyond just displaying the subject.

Suggestions for Improvement:
The lighting and composition are two areas where a lot of creativity can come in. In terms of the composition, I would see about shooting from a lower angle and facing more toward his right side rather than straight on. This should give the subject a larger presence in the frame and appear more powerful, which would go well with someone welding steel. If you can zoom in closer that would also help. The main area of interest here is that welder's mask and the sparks so the tighter you can make the crop the better especially given that busy background.

As for the lighting I think you have too much in the shot. I would try to utilize just the light coming from the sparks and eliminate as much ambient light as possible. The best way to do that is to shoot with a faster shutter speed and smaller aperture setting than what you used. I would suggest shooting in manual mode to set both the shutter speed and aperture manually if possible. Having less light in the scene will keep alot of that busy background in the dark and bring the focus squarely on the welding.

Message edited by author 2006-06-04 02:58:12.

Birds of a Feather Mag Mock-Up
by SJCarter

Comment:
Seagull reunion? So that's what those are. :P

Be The Angel Of My Religion
by Longfist

Comment:
I don't like the title but that's pretty much where my dislike ends. :P Really, great lighting. I also like the composition although a tighter crop may have been better. I also like the pose in general.

Speaking of the pose, there are two things I feel would have made this better. First, her right arm coming out of the darkness and dangling like that makes it look lifeless and doesn't do anything for the shot. So maybe just have her tuck that in. The other thing is her facial expression. It just doesn't look all that sexy to me while everything else about her does. However, it's not as big a deal here because this isn't a close up.

Anyway, that's it. Good luck.

The lamb
by sdburbank

Comment:
Changing the angle of the light source just a bit could have helped this greatly. There needs to be more light shining on the front to show more detail.

Baby I'd Love You to Want Me
by General

Comment:
Nice product shot. I can't believe you used only one light source for this.

Otherside
by sephick911

Comment:
Cool idea. One thing you may want to try is to show something on the other side via a shadow to raise the tension in this shot. Might not quite work in a still frame shot like this but I'm thinking like in a movie when a shadow suddenly appears.

crown bloom
by Jugan

Comment:
I like the choice in subject however, it's just too soft for me. Might I suggest either going with a smaller aperture to get more sharp or if the lens allows go with an extremely narrow DOF for artistic effect. What you used here is too "middle of the road" and thus doesn't carry the wow factor that either of my suggestions could provide. Also, there is a lot of color here but it's a bit dull. If you are limited with your post processing than try boosting up your saturation settings in camera.

Bamboo & Lamp
by lifternessjt

Comment:
I like the main subject and the color however I think this would have worked out better without the lamp in the shot.

Scotch
by spydr

Comment:
I like the idea and the lighting generally looks good. However, I might try difusing the light some more so it's less harsh on the label at the bottom.

Yellow Rose
by tonyv

Comment:
Very nice lighting. The yellow and green look a bit off to me probably due to the type of lighting you used or white balance. If that was intentional then just forget I just said that. :) Either way it gets a 7.