Visual Photo Critique 11

Community Assignment

Under the photo critique, in the comments section, pick at least one photo and say 1 thing you liked and 1 thing you think could use improvement. Not only will it give you a better photographic eye, it will also give the photographers another perspective aside from mine.

Photo Critique #1

(Photo by The One True Stickman)

Great work on taking a well designed shot! You were obviously thinking about what you wanted to include AND exclude from the frame. This type of conscious composition is a crucial key to improving as a photographer. In general, the shot has some nice bright parts and dark areas, but the overall contrast could pop a bit more, especially the mid-tones. Also, maybe it’s just me, but I want all the chairs to be neatly pushed in around each table all to be completely visible in the frame (if you were to re-shoot, also make sure to lose the rogue yellow chair). Since your emphasis in the shot isn’t not a particularly compelling subject but on a well designed scene, be sure to make it as “together” as you can.

Photo Critique #2

(Photo by The One True Stickman)

Having grown up in coastal Maine, this really hits a soft spot for me and I can’t help but really like it. However, I will try to cast this bias aside and give some constructive feedback. Firstly, I really want there to be an army of lobsters crawling chasing some panicky sea gulls along the dock. Aside from this, although i really like the repetition of the boats, near the top they start to get somewhat cluttered. Cropping a tighter or even zooming in on a few compelling elements would created a stronger focus and direct viewers eyes more intentionally. As in the last photo, the contrast could pop a bit more to help the “wow” factor of the shot. Finally, one picky thing is that the dock isn’t running level through the frame. Granted, with the swells of the water this shot is probably level, but as a viewer all I see is a sloping dock. Most importantly, don’t forget the lobster army next time. Thanks reminding me of home!

Photo Critique #3

(Photo by Stephen Levin)

My first impression here is “Wow, nice contrasts texture.” Even though it looks like you toned mapped this image, you didn’t sacrifice detail or get any weird halos. Props. One thing I would change, though, is the straightness of the shot. It leans slightly to the left. Also, I would dial back the exposure of the water and foliage seen through the archway. It steals attention but isn’t in focus. While we’re talking about the foliage, I would be curious to see what the image would look like if you lowered the saturation of the green channel using an HSL adjustment layer in Photoshop and then increased the vibrancy of the whole shot. As it is, the leaves look slightly too saturated and electric. One last thing to consider next time you’re shooting is to keep in mind what exactly you are hoping to show viewers and why. In this shot, I see a cool building, but I want a really interesting subject to focus on like a cat sitting on archway ledge or something. Again, really solid work with the post processing and keep shooting!