Tumble Dry on Lowby
DougPazComment by emorgan49: Hello from the Critique Club - As I promised, I am back to review your photo. I'm sorry that this is the picture I have to critique, cute as it is, because some of your other work is so stunning. I think the lady in the faucet is the best picture ever posted here. I loved the belly button fisher too.
This is an adorable picture (adorable kid to, but you only get partial credit there). And of course it is funny. The poor kids looks dizzy. I hope you didn't really spin him. Perhaps the picture looks a bit too posed with the socks on his arm. I think the white thing in front could look more like a "blankie" Like you washed the wrong item. Don't tell him that, he looks too old for one of those.
Your composition is nice and simple - Both boy and the darkest spot in the picture (dryer cavern) are in the "thirds" position. All the lines are straight except for the kid and let's call it his blankie. Many of the diagonals point straight at the kid, see the lines of dots on the dryer door, and the baseboard and the blankie. The focus is perfectly sharp as it should be with a squeeky clean kid. Also the color composition is lovely. Everything but the kid is muted beige tones, but he is pink and blue. Even his hair matches the beiges. This helps to unclutter the picture, not that it is cluttered. My next point is how uncluttered it is. Everything that is there belongs there. You paid careful attention to everything you included, either in set up or cropping, probably both. That is your trademark, the careful set up, attention to detail and lack of extraneous visual distractions. Maybe that's why the only fault I can find with this picture is that it looks set up, not quite candid enough for the subject. The sparks in his eyes are great too.
Although this is a expertly done photo, it probably scored lower that it's quality would indicate because it does not have a universal appeal. "Dad takes picture of cute kid, mildly amusing" would be the first reaction. And with DPC voting it's that frst reaction that counts. There is nothing here that anyone could score down, nothing techinically wrong. But it takes a minute or so to sort out the precision here. Keep this one for the family album and don't try to enter it in the same gallery show as the faucet lady.
PS. Someone said that the color balance was off, hands were too pink. I have looked at this on three dfferent monitors, and yes, on my cheapo monitor at home, they were too pink and he had lipstick on too. But here at work the colors are just right. Taught me a lesson!!! My editing from home has looked awful. I won't submit from that monitor again.
and the disclaimer: Please remember that this critique is just the opinion of one far from expert viewer.
Message edited by author 2003-01-22 09:37:59. 
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