The Queen's Guardby
NuzzerComment 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
My first-glance reaction to the technique is WOW. Very nice BW tones, excellent contrast, sky tones, focus, exposure seems perfect. A very clean image. You nailed the technicals. The conversion to BW was handled very well - I'd love to see what method you used. The selective desat looks perfect as well, right down to the tones of the hats, rifles and pants. Even though it looks as if you selected red only, the hats and pants stand out as well because they're the darkest regions of the photo. Excellent job! One could quibble and say that the sky looks like it may have been manipulated a bit (a little dodge/burn?) but I don't take issue with that. It's done very well and greatly compliments the dirty, sooty textures of the buildings.
COMPOSITION
I love the composition - an artistic success! The angles and lines created by the curb, street and buildings makes for a perfect vanishing point centered nearly perfectly on a third. The image is well balanced between foreground subjects and the gradually receding facades. Everything is detailed and sharp. The image provides a wealth of fodder for the wandering eye. The guards are interesting all by themselves because of that reputation for stoic indifference. Your use of desat to highlight them is just genius. Honestly, I can't find anything about the composition that I don't like.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Very well done picture, you should be proud to have made it. There is feel of isolation and desolation that is enhanced by the gray tones. Even the colorful subjects don't disturb that sense because they're almost statue-like in their indifference to their surroundings. The only problem with a picture like this is that the measly 640 pixels doesn't begin to do it justice. I long to see this image in a larger format where I could feast upon it for hours! If you don't have a print available of this yet, shame. If you don't have a 16x24 hanging on your own wall, what's wrong with you!?
You can probably guess that I'm liking this shot. It grabs and keeps my attention. It has a subtle "wow" factor that is elusive. It provokes my imagination and makes me want to look and then look more.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm gratified to see that this scored high, but disappointed not to see a ribbon beside it. I didn't enter or vote this challenge so I 'm not sure how strong the field was, but your shot is a winner in my book. I don't really "get" the whole tone mapping thing, and many examples I've seen in previous challenges and the forums make me less than excited about the method, but your shot proves the value of this technique.
Well done; superb photograph! Take heed on my comments about the print! I'll buy!
Photographer found comment helpful.
