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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> Help me with a few critiques
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03/31/2003 05:10:59 PM · #1
I really want to know why this did so bad. I thought it was a decent photo.


03/31/2003 05:15:20 PM · #2
I gave it a #6 Psychephylax.
+
I loved the feeling...alone, lost, sad guy, The sky and color was very good. The focus was good the shot is clean.
-
The lamp post...?...pole on the upper right bugged me along with the trash at the bottom. Also I would of liked less of the hill and more of the lake/pond?
That was my thinking anyway. I hope it's helpful to you.
03/31/2003 05:19:10 PM · #3
To me it's very 'snapshotty'. The shot as a whole just isn't that stunning, and extra things like the walker on the beach, and the litter in the foreground take away from it. I don't really know how you could improve it. Maybe get closer to the tree. Try shooting from a lot of different angles, especially low down.

What I would try is sitting on the 'lump' above the tree, or even on the trunk, and shooting through the tree across the sea. Could produce some interesting shots, especially if you can get a sunset going off in the background.
03/31/2003 05:30:07 PM · #4
ok, this was my reasoning when I took this photo.

The lamp post annoyed me from the start but short of cutting it down (don't think I can get away with that) I really couldn't get rid of it with the lighting conditions I had. I did try to take the photo from the other side but that introduced a lot of lens flare.

The trash, I did not notice until I got home and looked at it full size. I photoshopped both, trash & lamp post out of the image (against DPC rules) though as seen on PhotoSig

As for the elderly gentleman walking the beach...I have mixed feelings on him. I chose to keep him in as it kind of went along with the title. The primary focus in my photo was that over time beach erosion took the toll on the beach & the tree. Then, the tree further in the background, it's time will also come, as well as the gentleman walking the beach. Soooo...I guess this was a bit too symbolic or did people actually catch onto that? I know I didn't have a clock in the photo but I figured there would be too many of those as is.
03/31/2003 05:43:11 PM · #5
Now the version on photosig is much better. Nice cloning work - getting rid of the litter & lamp-post really helps. I think the larger size also gives it a lot more impact, bare trees can be a b**** to keep sharp in small images.
I still don't like the bloke being in shot, but I think I would crop both him and a big chunk of the foreground out so that you are left with a shot of just the 2 trees.

Kudos for not doing a clock anyway (from someone who did do a clock).
03/31/2003 07:15:24 PM · #6
Hi Nick, I would have cropped even more. I think beginning from the upper left corner, then the right side just before the lamppost and the lower border just before the shadow of the tree. Naturally the interest is drawn to the person but there is too much unimportant space which distracts.
Also adding more contrast would help in my opinion, but that's a matter of personal taste ;-)
04/01/2003 01:08:42 PM · #7
I'm sorry I didn't get to vote on this one. My take on it? 1. Meets the topic=5...2. Tecnical good=1 3.Interest =-1=5 4. Originally/thoughtprovking=2. Total= 7. This is basically how I look at a photo and how I rate them, and this is how I would have rated this photo. Personally, I liked the photo.
Regards
sherryk471

Message edited by author 2003-04-01 13:10:57.
04/01/2003 02:13:58 PM · #8
i liked the guy on the beach and I did make the symbolic connection you were hoping for. I gave you a 5, which is slightly above average for me. I agree with bod that the shot could have been improved by a more dynamic and interesting camera angle (rather by cropping as others suggested). All in all, I think it is a fine photograph and I definetely think it deserved at least a 5 (I score lower than most and I gave you a 5 so I expected this would receive mid to high 5's overall). I would have given the photosig version a 6, btw. it's nothing to be ashamed of and I was glad to see pictures without clocks in them. :)
04/01/2003 03:24:48 PM · #9
The immediate things that struck me when I looked at this, in roughly the order that I noticed them:

The person on the beach

The tree

The post

The smaller tree

The litter in the foreground

The tilted horizon

Only after seeing these things did I start trying to figure out what the subject of the picture is - I can guess that it is the tree, but it isn't immediately obvious - there are at least 3 other things that compete for attention and detract from your subject.

If a different angle wouldn't help clean up the composition, then some times is worth accepting the fact that it isn't a good subject, or it is the wrong time of day - come back when the sun has moved, or the clouds have changed, or people aren't walking into the shot if you don't want them there.

The big thing that helps is to simplify the composition, then simplify it some more. If you think it is too simple, maybe you want to remove a few more elements anyway....
04/02/2003 04:57:13 AM · #10
Gordon, the big thing is to simplify composition?

Thought my shot was pretty simple, but a fiar few people didn't like that.

Psyche: For me, it's just a shot of a tree that's fallen over - this echoes the 'snapshot' comment, and I would also echo Gordon's compositional comments. Try looking at it without an opinion, and see where your eye is drawn: I think you'll find it wanders all over the shot.

Also, I didn't really see it as a 'time' shot - the tree doesn't look old enough, there doesn't seem to be a process of erosion around to make the tree fall - it seems more like an instant thing than an elapsed time thing (if I make myself clear). Of course, it's arguable that those processes must have happened - but the shot doesn't show that. I gave you a 5, though it might easily have been a 4 now I've rationalised it all.

On the positive side, the exposure, focus and colours are good - but that's what I'd expect from any photo anyway, without some reason for things being otherwise.

Hope that's helpful

ed

Message edited by author 2003-04-02 04:58:53.
04/03/2003 03:15:03 PM · #11
Thanks for the good comments, now if I only got some more like that during the challenge :)
04/03/2003 03:19:58 PM · #12
Originally posted by e301:

Gordon, the big thing is to simplify composition?

Thought my shot was pretty simple, but a fiar few people didn't like that.
ed


Yup - but most of the comments you got wanted it simplified further, with the removal of the wire...
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