Wild And Flirty Cat Population In Europeby
MonaComment by Koriyama: **critique club**
You have the makings of a very good shot here. You've managed to fill the frame well - a basic consideration of good photography.
I think that the challenge has been met, although with some reservations. I'll come to those in a minute. You said that you aimed to be funny. Well, we have different senses of humour, so I won't comment on that.
Technically, I think that the whole is underexposed and a little soft. There isn't a (natually occuring) centre point. Did you manipulate the eye in post-processing? Perhaps you were aiming for a darker feeling due to the subject matter?
To bring out your subject and to make it fit the challenge, you really needed to expand on those other elements within the frame. Without the title, the meaning is lost. IMHO, titles are to enhance meaning, not create it. If this is a stray cat, then show me the surroundings, show me the dirt and squalor, show me what that bar at the top is (a part of a derelict building?), show me what that jumble at the right it (some barbed wire, lying waste?) Give the darkness a context - just being dark doesn't help me. If it's a hidey-hole, show that in relation to the outside world.
The eye. The really strange effect you made is unsettling. I know that you tried to show a wink and a glitter in the open eye. Sorry, I find the unnaturalness too unsettling for this joke to work on me.
There we have it. If you have any comments on my critique, please feel free to contact me. I've noticed that you didn't mark as helpful any comment which was negative. That's too bad. I fully agree with many of those comments, and I feel that they could actually help you improve this shot.
Best wishes,
Jim
Photographer found comment helpful.
