Dark and Lightby
davidus428Comment by dahkota: Greetings from the Critique Club!
Thank you for including your camera information. It helps!
There are some things to consider when taking a picture: Composition, tonal balance, focus, lighting, POV, DOF.
The composition of the image is centered. While I enjoy centered compositions, I don't think it fits the subject in this case. I understand you might be trying to balance the blacks and whites, but I don't think the extra space on the right contributes to the image.
Tonal Balance - your blacks and whites are very well done but there seems to be very little middle ground. I think you lose some detail due to this.
Focus - The focus is good - should be at F20, but unfortunately the extra stops cost you shutter speed which resulted in motion blur. In many cases motion blur works great in an image but I don't feel this is one of them.
Lighting - the lighting works in the image but seems a tad harsh, though i can't really tell if it is the lighting or the processing.
POV - Point of view is excellent.
Depth of Field - The DOF is excellent. You've captured the ants and stick sharply (with the exception of motion blur) and gotten a very nice blur for the background.
I think the framing works for this image.
I'm a fan of high contrast images. I think though, in this instance, you've lost important detail, the gradations of black that might be apparent if you toned it down just a hair. What's amazing is that I can see the hair on the ants - I know the detail is there.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to PM me.
Photographer found comment helpful.
