Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
The first three parts of this critique are written based purely on examination of your photo. "Final thoughts" is written after reviewing your score, photographer's comments, and voter comments.
TECHNIQUE
Though you want to have shadows in this image for texture and relief, it seems to me you've under-lit the scene rather badly, losing all detail in the bowl and cup. This low key effect can work in some images but I think your white surface works against you. If the surface had been black, and the dark cup and bowl just blended in with the background, leaving only the cream and eggs as white, it may have worked better. As shot, it just feels like an inadequately lit scene. There's some odd texture in the negative space at top right and elsewhere as well.
COMPOSITION
I like the placement of the subjects, forming a nice diagonal arrangement. Good crop too.ยท BALANCE: Is the image aligned correctly or is it crooked? Your shallow depth of field leaves the cup of cream slightly defocused. I'm not sure this is a good thing since your title seems to give them both equal weight in the composition. It's a nice still life arrangement, very clean and simple, but the technicals leave it feeling deficient.
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Had you supplied more detail for the eye to feast upon (textures in the eggs and bowl/cup, or alternatively, gone with the low key effect, I think the image would have been more impactful. As shot, I don't think it grabs at the imagination or draws the viewer in to its world.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Your commenters pretty much stayed with the lighting and liked the comp, as did I. I think your final score of 5.7 is about right for this shot, though I have to say I didn't participate in this challenge, nor did I do much voting, so I don't know how others interpreted the theme. I like your image, but think it could have been much stronger with a more thought out lighting strategy. |
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