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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Please rip this shot to pieces:
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 06/22/2004 01:27:10 PM · #1


I got 5 comments complimenting the lighting and look of my shot in the Planes Trains & Automobiles challenge, but only a 5 score. Since none of the comments said what was wrong with it I was wondering if anyone in the forums could tell me. I know it's not one of my best shots, and it was a last minute entry. Some possible explainations I can think of are:

Boring, just another car.
Boring, just another light trail.
Looks too manipulated, bad editing.

I don't like the amount of editing I had to do to remove the dreadful orange glows from the streetlamps, as I think it makes the shot look a bit unnatural, but it's better than it was. I think the editing is poor in places and quite obviously so. It was a last minute "1am with school the next morning" job :P

Anyway, please tear the shot up as much as you can. I'm a big boy, I can take it :)

Message edited by author 2004-06-22 13:27:50.
 06/22/2004 01:32:41 PM · #2
Looks OK to me except maybe the steering wheel is on the wrong side :)
 06/22/2004 01:34:33 PM · #3
As you've already suggested, to me this shot is "just another car" or "just another light trail." There's nothing here to really grab my attention and keep me interested in the shot.

Perhaps having the individual reading the map more prominent in the shot would've added more interest. If the map was layed out on the hood, maybe with the the individual scratching his head, I think it might have been a nice picture showing a scene we're all familiar with. As it stands, it's just not clear what we should be looking at.

I do like the lighting on the grille of the vehicle...a tighter crop on the front of the car without anything but the light trails might be interesting.

Message edited by author 2004-06-22 13:35:40.
 06/22/2004 01:34:39 PM · #4
I know you are looking for opinions from some of the good photographers here, but I can at least give you my reaction. First, I admit that I like classic cars, and that ordinary modern cars just don't ususally do anything for me. So it is an "uninteresting" subject for me. However, I think the grain of the foreground terrain is interesting, and the tunnel/light trail certainly adds to it. The car seems a bit large in proportion to me, and I really don't know how I feel about the woman in the car. I am at work, and my monitor here is very dark compared to my others that I use -- so I will just say that here it is appearing too dark. Hopefully you will get some more, better enabled responses posted.
 06/22/2004 01:35:43 PM · #5
I had trouble to determine what the main subject of your photo was. Is it the guy in the car (high up in a corner, partly hidden by the frame, not clear what he is doing -reading, looking at a map-)?
Is it the car itself (no so well lit, big empty hood occupying a lot of space in the center, tight crop at the top)? The cars passing by (not so interesting streak of light wit a lot of diagonal jaggies)?

The reds are a bit dominant and do not have an interesting tone.
I don't think that the border helps the photo.
Not that it matters for the way I voted, but the photo looks slightly oversharpened.

That's my view.
 06/22/2004 01:36:23 PM · #6
I gave you a 5.(if you are wondering, or if you care, 5 is what I give as long as it meets the challenge. I figure the challenge is worth half of the score, just my opinion. It is the wow factor past the challenge that I go up) I did not like the way the colors looked on the car. It does look like the image has been "worked" too much. I like the idea and the composition. On another note, I think I would also like to see it from a lower angle. Just wondering, could I see the original?
 06/22/2004 01:37:04 PM · #7
first of all its not a very interesting Car.
Second the colors are a bit funky.
and third but not least the composition is rather uninteresting ....
06/22/2004 01:41:04 PM · #8
Thanks :) I can see a lot more of whats wrong now :)

Here's the original G4Ds



Message edited by author 2004-06-22 13:41:22.
 06/22/2004 01:42:24 PM · #9
The paintwork looks dull and flat, rather than bright and shiny (yeah I know it's at night so I dunno how much better it could have been really). In fact the bottom of the drivers door looks positively grimey.

I don't like the rough the surface it's parked on - the specs of white just clutter the photo up for me. The background is good though, it makes me wonder what it is and where it leads, and I do like the composition.

HTH!

Update: Ooh, I can see more of the b/g in the original : ) but are those stairs? I wonder where they could lead ... aaargh!

Message edited by author 2004-06-22 13:45:19.
 06/22/2004 01:44:28 PM · #10
I thought it was a good photo, I voted it a 7. I like the lighting and different things happening in the shot. Some still subjects with the suggestion of movement with the light trails from a passing car. I also like the ground around the car on how it is lit up from an off screen light source.

The front of the car looks a little weird, not sure if it was due to processing or just the way it came out, expecially the bumper and the lower spoiler below the license plate.

James
 06/22/2004 01:48:14 PM · #11
It doesn't come together as a whole/ the interesting parts are over shadowed by the distracting parts. The gravel under the car is a major distraction. All those little light spots - maybe clone out each and every one. The wheel is at an odd angle and has an odd glare The car is an unattractive shade of orangy red (don't laugh, it matters to the voters) and it clashed with the brighter pinky red of the tail light streams. The person is too far off to the right to be noticed right way, remember those leading lines? they all lead to him but by the time the veiwer gets to him, the eyes have built up too much momentum heading out of the picture (mind says "all done, next) The subject guy isn't strong enough to being me back into the scene. He looks odd in sepia, maybe he should be black and white? He appears to be ill, or have a headache. The map really isn't noticieble, I didn't see it till I read the caption, it looks like part of the passenger seat.

So what is interesting? The passing cars are. The guy is and his story, lost map etc. the red car, the night. They are just out of balance. The red car dominates the image yet contributes the least to the story. The guys is lost in left field. the passing cars are weighted down by the heavy gravel foreground.

Is that enough? Oh yeah, and the steering wheel is on the wrong side so a large percentage of your viewers will not identify him as the driver but the passenger and wonder where the driver went, and whats the rest of the story.
 06/22/2004 01:48:28 PM · #12
The image is good - I would say just above average. For me, it doesn't have that much unusual or unique about it to provide the "wow" factor. It does have a "mood" to it that almost gets me there, so anything you could do to emphasize the feel of desperation would help.

Optically speaking - there are three points of high contrast - a) Where the white light streak meets the black road, b) The License plate and c) The right front tire/hubcap. So when you first look at it - you tend to go to these three spots. Having said that - you really need to search to find the subject (model). I'd bet that some of the "lightning fast" voters never even noticed the person with the map.

If there was a "spotlight" on the map or face - making it stand out, it would probably be more visually appealing.

Finally - my preference would be to remove the white in the border - or remove the border altogether.


06/22/2004 01:49:27 PM · #13
I'll bite.
I never got a chance to go back and refine my scores due to internet failure over the weekend. I'm one of the 56 5's you got--it might have been a six on the second pass. My initial voting was 4=nice snapshot, 5=better than a snap, 6=worth further consideration, 7=this is pretty nice, and so.
What I saw on first pass: An shot of a dusty car with lights streaming by taken in a difficult lighting situation. A posed shot. And, being American, a guy with a headache looking at a paper in the passenger seat parked safely on the road shoulder.
What I see when taking the time to comment: A European car, that's the driver, must be British Isle.
There's a hot-spot on the bumper and another near the rear-view mirror that draw the eye. If the headlights were on, I'd sense that he was pausing to solve a problem and not just having a bad moment. His eyes appear closed rather than reading. The paper is not obviously a map--perhaps more light on the person and map from an inside reading light (do VW's have them?) would make the point better.
I don't understand the mysterious source of light on the door--I guess he's in the meridian and it's on-coming traffic light. (Just a funny thought--maybe you could flip your car pics for those on the other side of the pond.)
I liked photos that showed the use of the transportation and its associated "care and feeding" as this one did. There was one representing washing, too. I think working drawing emotion from the viewer is important and that's what you seem to be doing here. Not just another pretty pic.
(And that's my 5-cents worth... :P )
06/22/2004 02:08:00 PM · #14
I think the insightful critique of the day is:

What were you thinking?

:P
 06/22/2004 02:15:39 PM · #15
wow - that's the way to get comments - invite cruelty. Most threads complain about 1. too few comments 2, rude comments. Maybe it takes too much time to analyze and image, find the words to describe a visual experience and make them pleasant all at once.
 06/22/2004 02:17:33 PM · #16
Okay...



I would have torn it into smaller pieces, but I was pressed for time.

--mick
06/22/2004 02:50:08 PM · #17
Thanks for the original. I see what you mean by the one you entered was better. It is tough to start with a rough image and make it look good with out overworking the image. Lesson for the day, try to take the shot the night before so you have more time to work with the image at the site in camera.(I know you already know that though :p)

Message edited by author 2004-06-22 14:50:43.
 06/22/2004 03:24:55 PM · #18
That's a frustrating situation Ben.

I would say the reason it scored lowely is because it lacks that eye-catching appeal that so many of your other shots have. It might just be the composition, but I dunno, I quite like the composition. You might have gotten a higher score by completely blacking out below the car, and around it, leaving just the car and light streaks in blackness, that might have given it the eye-catching quality it needed.

Dissapointing that such a well taken picture was scored a 5 though.

Keep up the good work!

Lee
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