The Eternal Debateby
GryphxComment by strangeghost: Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
The first three parts of this critique are written based purely on examination of your photo. "Final thoughts" is written after reviewing your score, photographer's comments, and voter comments.
TECHNIQUE
Your conversion to BW has left a fairly flat and uninteresting image. Sure, there are white whites (top edge of the seat) and black blacks (shadows between tank and bowl) but the overwhelming feeling of the pic is gray, gray, gray. Focus is good and I think you've made very nice use of a shallow depth of field. I think the lighting is the big downfall here - the image just feels to blah.
COMPOSITION
What's the best way to shoot a toilet bowl? You obviously want to stay away from the sterile "catalog" type shots and your unusual crop and perspective work well for you. You've captured the concept behind your shot nicely, with the seat not up but also not down.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Hmmm. I "get" the idea (I think), but it's not a real eye grabber, is it?
FINAL THOUGHTS
It looks like your commenters (and voters) had similar reactions to mine. I didn't vote this challenge and so didn't look at many of the shots (and therefore wasn't distracted by looking at lots of toilet shots), but I agree that this shot needed something to give it some wow (better lighting) and eye appeal (maybe a model lifting the seat, or whatever). As shot, it doesn't hold the attention or inspire questions, humor, or wonder. Doomed to the middle ground of the voting wasteland!
Photographer found comment helpful.
