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1. •  
     CommentAuthorowlmountain
   • CommentTimeJul 28th 2009 edited

    
   OK guys, I have to say, we are building quite a comprehensive and in-depth body of photographic knowledge here. Some of your critiques contain a lot of great points and tips. This is one great photographic school and it's free !!!
   Another point I want to make here is this: it would be nice if the artist who's photograph is being critiqued, joined the discussion and let the contributors know how they feel about the critiques, was it helpful, do they agree with it or not ?...., you know, this kind of stuff.
   This would show that the effort and time people put in here, sharing their knowledge, is appreciated.
   
   Oki doki then, here is the next one.
   
   A photograph from the portfolio of the artist: Tracy Hagen
   
   As Tracy asks in the photo description: "Working on B&W, for a camera club project...Used Photomatix & CS4.
   What do you think?". Can we help her ?
   
   And as usual, tell me this:
   
   1. What can you say about the photography rules and techniques
   (composition, lighting, rule of thirds, story telling, etc., etc....) used in the image ?
   
   2. What can you learn from this image ?
   
   
   Click to see large view
2. •  
     CommentAuthorfaithphotos
   • CommentTimeJul 30th 2009

    
   A very interesting image, there is a lot going on here and I found that every time I looked at the photo there was something different to look at:
   
   Now my $0.02....
   Some positives
   - composition is very strong, with excellent balance and use of thirds
   - I love the textures in the old decaying buildings with the peeling paint, broken glass, and dried out grass
   - this works really well as a subject in b&w
   - I love the lighting and the strong shadows - they work well with the texture and add interest to the composition with the diagonal elements
   
   one suggestions
   - there appears to be a "halo" around the pole and wires on the left side of the photo - I dont know if that is part of the processing but for me it is a bit distracting
   
   If I came across this scene I think I would have tightened my view a bit more and zoomed in on some of the individual elements of this picture - I have learned by looking at this wonderful image that sometimes I should also look a bit wider.....
3. •  
     CommentAuthorowlmountain
   • CommentTimeAug 2nd 2009 edited

    
   Great observations Chris. You've zeroed in on the very points for which I've picked this photo, sort of do's and don'ts, if you will.
   So here are those do's and don'ts as I see them.
   
   First, the subject matter: old decaying buildings, very interesting with a great potential - I just love old stuff. The peeling paint, the texture of the boards, broken windows, they are all adding to the picture.
   Tracy did a good job placing the building on one side of the frame with some angles to it, but as Chris has mentioned already, there is so much going on in this picture, that compositionally, it's almost... too much. Especially the hydro pole with all those twisting wires is adding ... "busyness", and dispersing my attention. Probably, under a certain angle, this pole could be a subject of it's own interesting composition. If the focus was to show the harsh details of the decaying process, the building in the background doesn't help either and is weakening the composition, I would have tried to throw it totally out of focus.
   
   As I've mentioned already, I love the texture of the side of the building with the broken windows, and perhaps focusing the attention more on those details would've conveyed more of what the photographer wanted to show us here. And this probably is my main point and a question to Tracy: what was your main idea for this image when you looked at it through the viewfinder,what did you want to show the viewer, because it is not very clear looking at the photograph... it's too busy.
   Well, conveying an idea and invoking certain mood in the viewer is what the photography is all about... I think.... and I have to say, I'm failing miserably in this department very often... but, all we can do is try, and then try again. I guess my point is that at least we should try to remember this very point as we look through the viewfinder, just about to capture the next masterpiece.
   
   Now some technical stuff.
   It looks like the picture was taken in the mid-day, difficult task by itself, but I think it actually helps this type of subject. Harsh shadows emphasizing harsh environment and Tracy did a good job here.
   But why such a high ISO (640) ? I suspect, like I'm sure most of us at some point, forgetting to check before squeezing the shutter ???? ... yeah, we've all done that.
   It is obvious here that the dynamic range of the scene was high and, knowingly or not, Tracy chose to expose for the wall, totally blowing out the sky. But it was a right choice and personally I would've set an even faster exposure, darkening the shadows on the building and enhancing the texture a bit more.
   Black and white for this type of scenery, excellent choice !
   But here's the part I don't like. The "halo" around the pole, a very rough attempt of trying to darken the sky using a healing brush in Lightroom or a similar program or technique - doesn't work for me. Totally unnecessary here and is advertising to the viewer right away that there's something wrong. Tightening the composition on the building would've eliminated that problem altogether.