What''s Wrong with this Photo? - DPChallenge Forums

07/19/2002 08:48:09 AM · #1

Here is a photo I took yesterday:

Cruisin'

What is wrong with it? Critiques please....

MrsKro

07/19/2002 08:54:10 AM · #2

is there supposed to be something wrong with it? I can't see it.

BigSmiles

Canon EOS-10D

07/19/2002 08:57:13 AM · #3

It looks a little dark... the only thing that I might have done was use a polarizer (and I dont know if u did or not) it might help to get the reflections off the man's visor so you can see more of his expression.

If you used a polarizer then I have no suggestions :)

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

07/19/2002 09:02:19 AM · #4

The guy kinda looks like he's frowning...and I might like to see a little more space around him to the left, and then to balance that out a little to the right too. Not a huge amount though. Actually, I'd like to see this in a more rectilinear crop, I think having a wider image would give more of a sense of movement. But that's probably just a personal preference.

The lighting is very nice...it gives it a nice "summer late afternoon" feel. It does produce a little bit of glare on his visor, but that's minor and probably unavoidable.

Other than that, "the road isn't level" might be a potential criticism, but I assume that was intentional...and I like how it looks like he's going down a hill.

The panning job is wicked awesome...

07/19/2002 09:23:50 AM · #5

the biggest problem i see ..

.. is that there is no scantily clad biker mama on the back ;)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

07/19/2002 09:26:12 AM · #6

Originally posted by BigSmiles:
It looks a little dark... the only thing that I might have done was use a polarizer (and I dont know if u did or not) it might help to get the reflections off the man's visor so you can see more of his expression.

If you used a polarizer then I have no suggestions :)

Interesting... using a polarizer would make the entire image even darker... is the darkness worse than the sun glare?

hokie

Nikon D2X

07/19/2002 09:27:20 AM · #7

John..we all know you have absolute control over your camera and compostional stuff so little things that I may CHANGE may not necessarily be WRONG :-)

Like the Downhill slope. You being you I know you gotta see this as well so I am assuming you did this on purpose because you wanted to the effect or becasue you wanted to see if we think this effects us negatively.

I would prefere a straight horizon UNLESS you can support the downward angle with perspective clues or other clues to support the down slope..like maybe a verticle background element.

The headlight is a bit overblown as are a few highlights..but the color is very well done on motorcylce so I get the impression you did have some light correction..maybe not.

And the crop on the back of the bike is a little tight for me. I agree with Kim..a wider horizontal frame with a slightly looser crop on the back would be a little less tense for me but these are all modifications and you know my stand by now....If the photographer intended to do it I go with it :-)

* This message has been edited by the author on 7/19/2002 9:27:33 AM.

07/19/2002 09:28:37 AM · #8

I agree with Kimbly.. I am a little too close to the edge of the frame on the left. I wanted to leave room on the right for 'movement space' but slightly wider angle view would have allowed me to do this...

This would probably have been better with a non-slanted road as well... not sure though...

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

07/19/2002 09:31:13 AM · #9

Originally posted by hokie:
John..we all know you have absolute control over your camera and compostional stuff so little things that I may CHANGE may not necessarily be WRONG :-)

Like the Downhill slope. You being you I know you gotta see this as well so I am assuming you did this on purpose because you wanted to the effect or becasue you wanted to see if we think this effects us negatively.

I would prefere a straight horizon UNLESS you can support the downward angle with perspective clues or other clues to support the down slope..like maybe a verticle background element.

The headlight is a bit overblown as are a few highlights..but the color is very well done on motorcylce so I get the impression you did have some light correction..maybe not.

And the crop on the back of the bike is a little tight for me. I agree with Kim..a wider horizontal frame with a slightly looser crop on the back would be a little less tense for me but these are all modifications and you know my stand by now....If the photographer intended to do it I go with it :-)

Controlling the composition on a panned image is a pain in the arse. I have a helluva time composing anything while the camera is moving. The only composition that I tried for was to keep the biker in the left side of the frame with some open space on the right. As for lighting control, I had none.. this image has been sharpened twice, but no light adjustment.

hokie

Nikon D2X

07/19/2002 09:36:27 AM · #10

You know John..if you look at that photo.. a straighened angle on the road would create an interesting stripe effect across the bottom. Did you try a crop with the road flat? Leaving all the grass at the bottom that you can but eliminate any brown dirt.

Add that wider horizontal and a very intigueing poster starts to develope. Plus..a polarizer would probably allow you to go completely black on the background and really highlight the bike and road surface.

Give me the original man..I want this photo!!!! :-)

Do you still have my address from sending me that clock photo?

07/19/2002 09:38:31 AM · #11

using a polarizer wouldnt make the image 'darker' because your exposure would change to compensate.

all you would do would be to remove light reflecting on a particular angle, thereby reducing the glare.

polarizers are amazing.

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Originally posted by BigSmiles:
[i]It looks a little dark... the only thing that I might have done was use a polarizer (and I dont know if u did or not) it might help to get the reflections off the man's visor so you can see more of his expression.

If you used a polarizer then I have no suggestions :)

Interesting... using a polarizer would make the entire image even darker... is the darkness worse than the sun glare?

[/i]

07/19/2002 09:40:59 AM · #12

Originally posted by hokie:
You know John..if you look at that photo.. a straighened angle on the road would create an interesting stripe effect across the bottom. Did you try a crop with the road flat? Leaving all the grass at the bottom that you can but eliminate any brown dirt.

Add that wider horizontal and a very intigueing poster starts to develope. Plus..a polarizer would probably allow you to go completely black on the background and really highlight the bike and road surface.

Give me the original man..I want this photo!!!! :-)

Do you still have my address from sending me that clock photo?

Well, this isn't a crop.. it's the original that has been resized and sharpened. I could rotate it but I would lose some of the image if I did..

I defnintely didn't want the background black... I like the extra motion from the pan in the background..

I don't know if I still have your address or not.. email me at setzler@charter.net and i'll send u the original image when i get home..

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

07/19/2002 09:43:58 AM · #13

Originally posted by magnetic9999:
using a polarizer wouldnt make the image 'darker' because your exposure would change to compensate.

all you would do would be to remove light reflecting on a particular angle, thereby reducing the glare.

polarizers are amazing.

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]Originally posted by BigSmiles:
[i]It looks a little dark... the only thing that I might have done was use a polarizer (and I dont know if u did or not) it might help to get the reflections off the man's visor so you can see more of his expression.

If you used a polarizer then I have no suggestions :)

Interesting... using a polarizer would make the entire image even darker... is the darkness worse than the sun glare?

[/i]

[/i]

I need to spend some time learning more about the polarizer. I was using shutter priority mode on this shot and working at 1/50th. At that speed, my aperture was pretty small in the lighting situation... I suppose that I could have popped it on but I didn't :( maybe i will try it again :)

hokie

Nikon D2X

07/19/2002 09:56:28 AM · #14

I agree about the background now that I look at it.

The flashes of green make for a nice backdrop effect...like highlights off a canvas. I would have seen this myself I am sure after I finished screwing around with the photo for an hour :-)

Too bad this is the maxed out original...but I still think you have room to acheive what yoou want.

E-mail is on its way :-)

07/19/2002 10:01:16 AM · #15

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
[i]
I need to spend some time learning more about the polarizer. I was using shutter priority mode on this shot and working at 1/50th. At that speed, my aperture was pretty small in the lighting situation... I suppose that I could have popped it on but I didn't :( maybe i will try it again :)

check this out for starters:

polarizer primer

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

07/19/2002 10:08:15 AM · #16

Originally posted by hokie:
I agree about the background now that I look at it.

The flashes of green make for a nice backdrop effect...like highlights off a canvas. I would have seen this myself I am sure after I finished screwing around with the photo for an hour :-)

Too bad this is the maxed out original...but I still think you have room to acheive what yoou want.

E-mail is on its way :-)

I doubt it.. if i rotate, the bike will become to large in the frame for me to leave the amount of open space on the right that I would like to have. I will redo the shot next week. I have opportunities for this shot at least once a week....

myqyl

Nikon D3100

07/19/2002 10:15:28 AM · #17

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Here is a photo I took yesterday:

Cruisin'

What is wrong with it? Critiques please....

It breaks a rule or two, but I like the breaks... The tilted horizon would get you points off here, but I think it adds an illusion of momentum, so I like it. The sun flare off the helmet will be commented as "distracting", but it gave me the impression of "riding off into the sunset".

The only thing I really saw as missing is protection from road rash :) He goes down, he'll wish he had a jacket :)

07/19/2002 10:18:15 AM · #18

The horizon is tough on a panning shot... the road here *is* a hill, so I really needed to tilt my camera to flatten that out...

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

07/19/2002 10:19:59 AM · #19

Or zoom out so you can crop later, which might help you with optimum placement too...

07/19/2002 10:23:24 AM · #20

Originally posted by Kimbly:
Or zoom out so you can crop later, which might help you with optimum placement too...

Most definitely a good idea... my cam has 5x optical and 10x digital zoom, but I keep the digital zoom turned off so i don't accidentally get into it. I was at full 5x on this photo. I will definitely retry this shot, or one like it...

From comments here, I will likely use the polarizer if the lighting requires it, I will look for a level horizon, I will leave myself some room for correction by not trying to frame the photo with the camera...

i will hopefully get a sharper subject next time too... I had to run the sharpen filter on this one twice after resizing to 640x480 to bring the subject up to snuff...

07/19/2002 01:45:22 PM · #21

Updated Version:

Cruisin' V2

I rotated the image to level out the road, but I lost some space on the left and the right to do this...

crisa58

Olympus D-510 Zoom

07/19/2002 01:56:06 PM · #22

I'm much better at editing words than pictures, yet I feel compelled to toss in my 1,000 words. I felt the tension playing across the rider's face, and felt the wind of a relaxing ride through rolling countryside better when he was cruisin' downhill. This seems more mundane. The pan is perfection in both. I agree with the others who would give it more of a picturebox, narrow but long format...the increased air on the left...the polarizing filter. You've heard that from others more qualified than I.

07/19/2002 02:02:39 PM · #23

I think i sorta like the downhill slope too.. it's not really a horizon, but the angle bothers some...

07/19/2002 02:05:55 PM · #24

i prefer the latter

the subject is more dominant. i dont think you lost too much space. i thnk you lost just enough.

the horizontal line to me seems 'faster' than the not very pronounced tilt it was on before, and allows the lines of the bike to be parallel to the frame, giving it a more harmonious visual sensation, and allowing me to really enjoy the visual lines and movement in the frame.

just my 15 bucks ..

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Updated Version:

Cruisin' V2

I rotated the image to level out the road, but I lost some space on the left and the right to do this...