Window to our past and inevitable futureby
moonjeongComment by mpeters: Hi from the Critique Club.
Please feel free to PM me with any questions you have regarding my comments. HOPefully i can give you something valuable.
First impression: My eyes are drawn past the ironwork to the two small pics inside. Contrast seems a little soft and i am somewhat bothered by the crooked line of the door frame.
Composition: A slight counterclockwise rotation would improve IMO and i would also do what one of the commentators suggested and crop some off of the LH side to remove the lock. I also wonder what a more square crop would have done to place the decorative iron flowers and the pictures along the bottom third of the picture.
Lighting and Focus: Focus seems a little soft but likely this is the jpg compression. The highlights do appear to be blown out a little, mostly on the LH side of the door. A little burning would have helped. You did a good job of exposing for objects inside the door as was likely your intention.
Overall: I'm not sure this picture gives the view much to keep his/her attention for very long. It also suffers from having severaly different things vying for ones attention(the lock, bright door frame, flowers on the ironwork, pictures behind, even the jug on the shelf inside). I think the duotone/BW style was appropriate although i wonder if a splash of color might have helped people be more attracted to the picture. As i stated earlier, a slight change in cropping would have brought more focus to the pictures which would have been very nice. I also suspect that the leaning vertical lines did not help the pictures score either.
So, that is my two cents. Please take it for what it is worth and remember that i am not a professional, i just play one on the internet :)
Cheers and keep shooting,
mark
Photographer found comment helpful.