KatieIMGcd_0707.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by Techo:
A pretty portrait. Has a charming playfulness to it.
Nicely posed and composed :) Just a few suggestions, the eyes are a little OOF, perhaps some sharpening can rescue that and maybe darken the light reflection on the aqua colored card.

Message edited by author 2007-05-02 19:28:39.

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by Alicia:
Sweet image with the framing in front - love those kind of bridges. What a wonderful find.

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by CapeSail:
Nice subject...I think anything older makes for a great topic for B&W. Especially older buildings. IMO though this seems slightly OOF.

"X" gets the square
by dsterner

Comment by colorcarnival:
You got two very helpful comments on this pic! I agree, this is a great idea, and i too think the flash hurt - I think because it creates shadows that do not really add to the picture. Challenge yourself to take pics without the flash and see what happens! (use table lamps, natural lighting, flashlights!)

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by Retroesque:
Great building, hope you explore it some more. Think it would have benefitted from stronger contrast in my opinion.

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by Artyste:
Some suggestions:

When photographing a subject, pay very close attention to what is, and isn't, in your view. The OOF foreground elements here (the branches), are very distracting, and easily avoidable. Take some time to wander around and find an area that provides a good, clear, unobstructed view of your subject.

MK has some very good points regarding B&W conversion. I second them.

Also, compositionally, I'll have to disagree with sherpet, partly due to the fact that you've chosen a spot with distractions in the way, but also partly because this subject doesn't really work well in a centered composition. I'll explain why IMO:

The path leading into the bridge disappears on the other side. You have brush and bramble there that abruptly cuts off your line. Because of this, I'd have tried to find a way to get more of the leading path into the shot, giving you negative space to lead into the bridge, in an off-centered composition. This way, you don't worry about having uninteresting brush, you give more dynamics to the shot, and you give a reason for the eye to follow the scene.

Lastly, sharpness is a small issue as well. A light pass with USM at or around 0.3 radius, and 150 or so amount (tweak as needed), would help that.

(EDIT: Ooops, mk beat me to the composition idea already, missed that. But I hope I've expanded on it well enough.)

Message edited by author 2007-05-02 02:59:12.

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by mk:
"then a bunch of stuff that I had to undo"
I know the feeling. :)

Two comments I'd make here - one, the b/w conversion seems a little flat. Simple desaturation can do that. If you want to go that route, you might play a little with levels or curves. But you might also consider doing your b/w conversion with the channel mixer where (imo) you have a little more control.

Regarding the composition, I think you can crop off the area to the right of the barn, making your subject a little less dead center. Neat subject, though!

Bridge in the Park.jpg
by dsterner

Comment by sherpet:
A great composition here, done very well in black and white.....

"X" gets the square
by dsterner

Comment by LalliSig:
Well this shot is hardly bad but when submitting, you got to ask yourself, what about my photo will make people want to vote more than a 5? I just get a very "snapshottish" vibe from it like it doesn´t seem to be very well thought out and was taken in a hurry to get something into the challenge, that flash lighting doesn´t help in that regard.

"X" gets the square
by dsterner

Comment by BakerBug:
This is not a very photogenic subject.