Lights, Camera, ACTION!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by GeneralE:

Originally posted by jaded_youth: didnt want to cut off the top of the clapboard but there was a very distracting light fixture up there and I couldnt seem to angle it out and still get the shot I was looking for.

I think I'd have tried to keep exactly the same angle and setup, but bring the board closer until it could all fit.

The board says it all for this challenge, and I think you could get away with a lot less background showing around it. Great idea -- I have access to one of those boards, and I never even thought of it for this ... (but I might now!)

Lights, Camera, ACTION!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by DrAchoo:
I think you found the weakest point yourself. The blur of the clapboard (nicely done BTW in hold the rest still) is lost in the white background. Therefore the best effect of the shot is lost. :(

Otherwise the composition is nice (if not a bit centered). The lighting is good (except those white background highlights). The focus is great. The blur is also great. Since we were looking for "action" and since it was lost in the background, I can see why you got voted lower, but with a nicely color background I bet this would have done much better.

Mangia!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by Skip:
ok, you've stopped some motion, and i know this took some work. i just wish you had gone a little more overboard and 1) made MORE stuff be flying out, and 2) shot a bit tighter--as is, there's so much clutter that the flying noodles are somewhat lost.

Once upon a time...
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by mad_max:
Great photo

reminds me of this song.

San Francisco Mabel Joy

His Daddy was a simple man, just a red dirt Georgia farmer
And his Momma spent her young life havin’ kids and balin’ hay
He had fifteen years and an ache inside to wander
So he hopped a freight in Waycross and wound up in L.A.

Lord, the cold nights had no pity on a Waycross, Georgia farm boy
Most days he went hungry, then the summer came
He met a girl known on the strip as San Francisco’s Mabel Joy
Destitutions child born of an L.A. street called “Shame”

Growin’ up came quietly in the arms of Mabel Joy
Laughter found their mornings brought meaning to his life
Yes, the night before she left sleep came and left that Waycross, Georgia boy
With dreams of Georgia cotton and a California wife

Sunday morning found him standin’ neath the red light at her door
When a right cross sent him reelin’, put him face down on the floor
In place of Mabel Joy he found a merchant mad marine
Who growled, “Your Georgia neck is red but sonny, you’re still green”

He turned twenty-one in a gray rock fed’ral prison
The old judge had no mercy for a Waycross, Georgia boy
Starin’ at those four gray walls in silence he would listen
To that midnight freight he knew would take him back to Mabel Joy

Sunday mornin’ found him standin’ ’neath the red light at her door
With a bullet in his side, he cried, “Have you seen Mabel Joy?”
Stunned and shaken someone said, “Why, she’s not here no more
She left this house four years today, they say she’s lookin’ for some Gergia farm boy”

Words and Music by Mickey Newbury

Charlottes Web
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by pineapple:
That is a classic web for the Argiope aurantia (garden spider). No one has really explained why they reinforce their webs with the zig zag lines.

Charlottes Web
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by sherpet:
"WOW" this is great.....

Mangia!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by jah_luv:
"Great Job" from the "Great Job Baggie"! A very well executed shot. I enjoy looking at this, it makes me want to head to the kitchen to get the sauce going. The lighting and use of color in this is very nice. It is very clear and sharp. The little props around the window and sink add lots of interest. I wish there was a little more tossing of the pasta here. There's a whole bowl of the pasta to throw in the air, but this only has a few pieces. Anyway, I can see this shot hanging in a kitchen, of course, but also could be in a restaraunt, or department store in their kitchenware section! Upping my original 7 after taking a second, longer look. Giving you a 9. It would be a 10, except for the lack of pasta in the air. Next time, just give it a good toss!

Lights, Camera, ACTION!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by ericwoo:
Hey Crystal,
I gave this one a 5, so I'll approach your critique request as I do any others on here.

Camera Work/Technical: Excellent. This is what pulled all five points in my opinion. I like the colors you set up, as they all work well to make the image pop. I like the slower shutter speed to get movement in the clapboard, and the clapboard itself is tack sharp. Your chosen depth of field works nicely to isolate most of your subject off of the background. The only exception is the white stripes in the clapboard.

Lighting: The umbrella and softbox are difficult to make out, thus they just look overexposed without studying the image closely for a period of time.. In turn, these really compete for the eye's attention and work as a large distraction. Keep in mind that the voter only spends a few seconds on each image, especially when there are so many images in a challenge. In addition, the white lines of the clapboard itself just fade into the white of the lighting, and you lose more of the needed detail.

Composition/Content: I got a real fell of movement from the clapboard, but it just wasn't the "action" I had in mind. I do think that it is creative, but it came across more as a cute snapshot than a strong technical photograph. It also feels a little cramped into the frame. Perhaps just a bit wider view would have also helped out, but it already looks like you were losing the backdrop on the right side, as I see a doorway or something bright.

My Opinion: I do like the idea, but it just wasn't what my mind had imagined for an action shot. Even still, turning that softbox, using a dark umbrella and pulling back a hair would have probably pulled a 6 from me. I hope that this helps.

Lights, Camera, ACTION!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by Melethia:
Sometimes there's just no good explanation for a score - I didn't vote in this challenge but it would have been at least a 6 from me, probably a 7 for the creativity. Nice color in the background with the red/white/blue theme, and I really like the action of the board. You did indeed keep the board itself is sharp focus while moving the top and using a 1/8 sec shutter speed! Composition is fine, exposure is very good. I think the only thing I find somewhat detracting (and I'm not sure why) is the sleeve of the sweater and maybe the white part on the left that's "growing" out of the sleeve. Really a clever, well executed shot.

Mangia!
by Jaded_Housewife

Comment by Djabordjabor:
Mmmm, pasta! I'm hungry.