Friday Photo Critique #33

Friday Photo Critique #33

on May 21st 2010 with 31 comments

Friday Photo Critique is our weekly community project, where we publish a photograph submitted by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the image. It’s a great way to learn more about photography, express your viewpoint, and have your own image critiqued!

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
  3. You can also link to photographs that you feel offer a great example of this type of image shot exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for Friday Photo Critique!

The Photograph

Photo Critique

Photographer: Aaron Parker

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached the scene or taken the photo differently? A massive thank you to everyone who commented last week.

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site, and you’ll also be given priority to feature your own work in a future Friday Photo Critique!.

David Appleyard is davidappleyard on Themeforest
 
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David Appleyard is a designer and writer based in the UK. He manages Tuts+, along with having founded several design websites including Design Shack and PixelsDaily.  

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  • Martijn

    Awesome photograph, nice colours, but I would have liked to see a little bit more of the rope. I also think that the arpenture could be one stop larger.

  • http://www.umbraprojekt.pl mingos

    The part that’s in focus is at the bottom of the pic – it actually took me a few seconds to find it. I was looking for it near the centre or top-centre. Instead, the expected “most important” part of the photo shows a bright (attracts the eye) and probably beatiful sunrise… which, disappointingly, is blurred. All in all, I found the photo nice, but a bit confusing.

  • http://prodigalconcepts.com/ rod rodriguez

    Yeah, I agree cool perspective but makes you feel like somethings missing, but still a very nice shot.

  • http://www.eyyad.net Eyad
  • http://photographyforsoul.com Can Berkol

    I agree with Martijn. Good photo but the area of focus is too small. Changing the aperture setting and having a slightly different angle would “perfectionize” the end result.

  • matiss

    I do like the idea what the author had in mind, but looking for some time at the photo I’m kind of lost.

    4/5 of the picture are out of focus, what I understand is the main idea, but the 1/5 of the picture that has in the focus is not capable of keeping my attention thus I’m getting a little bit fuzzy from losing attention.

    My willing is that picture would have some central object in focus that keeps my attention, in the right side there is the peace of rope that could have the potential of central object – even is on the side, but its too small, also water drops doesn’t do the trick for me.

  • http://www.flickr.com/danistarck Dani Starck

    I think the shot is amazing. I would probably give a little more depth of field, so that the boat would be clearer in the image. I really like the colors, though, it feels like the sun is just coming up.

  • http://www.twitter.com/clubn1ka ClubN1ka

    Why the focus is in front? Most interesting is blured I think..

  • http://www.treehousephotos.biz Dean Morgan

    I like the narrow depth of field, but it looks like there are some interesting features & colours in the centre of the boat,and in the distance, but they are lost from if being too out of focus in those areas.

    I love the photo, but I would have focused more on the centre of the boat. That would have the kept the close foregrand a littly blurry, and the sky in distance not as blurry as it is now, and show all the detail inside the boat.

    As it is, I love the detail in the foreground, but the middle & background are a little too blurry for me.

  • http://andrew-turner.com Andrew Turner

    Aaron,

    This is a visually intriguing image – The use of the selective focal point and short depth of field draws your mind to imagine beyond the photo.

    From a photographical critique perspective, I really like as above the selective focal point and short depth of field. The lighting gives a nice golden glow over some of the image, although You could try playing around with the tone in Photoshop, Lightroom or your tool of choice and see what you get when you lower/raise the tone levels – I’d be aiming for a selection which aims to just increase the depth of the photo.

    Also, In regards to light, I feel the sky is a little over-exposed and at second look it tended to draw my eyes away from your focal point.

    Hopefully it makes sense :)

    Cheers

  • Diego

    The colors are beautiful. The feeling is great, but I think it lacks on the concept. I took a little while to realize it is a boat… And once I know what it is, it’s a little uncomfortable to keep looking only to the tip…
    The sharp texture is very beautiful, though.

  • http://designwoop.com Stu Greenham

    First of all.. WOW I love this photo, well done :)

    Just out of interest what settings did you have for this shot?

    My only downside and this is been mega picky is the rope that appears bottom right, although this doesn’t drastically affect the image, I find myself looking at that as it kind of looks out of place, but as I said that’s me been super picky!

  • Craig Adendorff

    I feel your eye is drawn towards the sky, yet it is the foreground which is in focus. I think it may have been better if you had a smaller f-stop. Great photo tho. : )

  • Harry Abernathy

    I like what you are doing with this shot. The eye is naturally drawn to the area of focus and the unfocused area has enough information to place the shot. My reaction is that you are not clear as to what your picture is about. The water drops are lovely but the inclusion of the bight of rope is distracting, mostly due to its stark whiteness. For me, the photo lacks discipline by which I mean that I dont have the feeling that I know what Im supposed to be focused on. On the plus side, the exposure is great, the colour feels rich and appropriate. The mood is wonderful. My gut tells me that you have the right instinct for finding a pleasing subject but you may have wandered a bit when deciding what you wanted to direct me to look at.

    I hope that I have not offended you with these remarks and I apologize if I have failed to address this image correctly.

    Best of luck and keep shooting.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkeyparker Aaron Parker

    Thanks for all of the brilliant feedback. Im glad so many of you liked it. I agree with many of you that the composition of the shot is not all that great and that the 4/5 to 1/5 focus ratio is a bit off however it was a quick shot before I went home. Next time I get an opportunity like this I would love to have a tripod and more time to devote to changing the f-stop and where I am focusing on.

    I really like the foreground of this shot personally because you can see all of the intricate grain on the wood with the water droplets on top and this is just a part of the image that really appealed to me personally.

    As for more details on the shot I have copied this from the metadata on my Flickr page:
    Camera: Canon EOS 350D Digital
    Exposure: 0.025 sec (1/40)
    Aperture: f/5.6
    Focal Length: 18 mm
    ISO Speed: 100
    Exposure Bias: 0 EV
    Flash: Off, Did not fire

    The lens was the stock lens and I was on manual focus and I didnt have a tripod on me at the time unfortunately.

    Since this I have gotten my own camera and have now got a Nikon D90 and plan to get out and get more shots this summer :)

    Thanks again for all of the comments and thanks to photo tuts+ for sharing my work!

    Aaron Parker
    Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkeyparker

  • http://ronvil.tumblr.com ronvil

    Generally a good photograph. However, like the comments above, I would agree that the photo lacked a central object that the eye can focus on. I wish the rope was larger, and that could have been the photos subject. The part of the photo that was sharp was leading my eye towards the rope, but it was cropped abruptly, so my eyes wonders to the blur.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/39195806@N04/sets/ Adam Belles

    Tonally this is a beautiful pic. You captured some gorgeous colors. The photo works for me but I think it could have been improved if there was an interesting subject in the area of the picture that’s in focus. Like most of the commentors, my eye started in the bright sky and moved down the picture towards the area in focus and I expected to find something there. When there was nothing there my eye moved toward the rope but I only got a peek. In my opinion it may have worked better if, for instance, there was an old compass sitting on the edge of the boat in focus. Or lacking a suitable object, if the shot had been moved right to make the rope the subject. There are some beautiful details in the frayed threads of rope that appear almost tranlucent.

  • Niki

    I dont consider myself to be a professional by any means, but I do want to say something here…I too wasnt sure what to look at when i first saw the picture. The more I looked at it though, the more I got into it. I love that the rain drops or dew are the focus. I think however, if you cropped it down to just the boat and maybe made it a black and white, those elements (the water, the rope and such) would stand out more. Awesome and creative shot though :)

  • Kevin Campbell

    I wouldve got the entire photo in focus….you have so many interesting elements in the picture, why blur them out. You already have the perception of depth with the wide angle lens you used.

  • jf

    really nice. Light parts grab you attention but are out of focus. Strange. Would have liked a bit more depth. With actual material I Would remove most of the sky, Which brings back the attention to the part in focus.

  • http://www.henryhingst.com Henry Hingst

    Really liked the focal point my friend.
    That was really nice.

    Colors in the background mixed with the texture makes everything fit in the composition.

    Great pic!
    Best regards!

  • http://myporttownend.com/ michael

    Lovely color and exposure. And I agree with most of the comments that too much of the photo is out of focus. It does take a minute to realize what the subject is, and the sky is simply a distraction. I think that cropping the top until just a sliver of sky is visible simplifies the image and brings the eye to the boat. With it cropped, Id be happy to hang it on my wall.

  • escoN

    I would also reccomend a gradient ND filter, cause the sky is a little bit overexposed

  • dk

    I think that is a great shoot, the only think is that for maintain the current dof I crop the photo to the point where the lake touch the mountain, so in that way I dont get distracted with the colors in the sky so my main focus is in the sharpen section of the photo and in this way I feel that is more nice

  • Paul Cantea

    I think you should have included your whole boat in the shot. Looking from the bow down to the stern, that would give it better framing. Also, a wider aperture helps with getting more of the shot in focus.

  • http://www.henryalva.com Henry

    I really like the picture.

    I would have tried a few different shots with different focus pointsof the boat. Maybe using the rule of thirds for focus point. Maybe raise the aperture for more of the image to be in focus. Crop some of clouds out as they’re not the most interesting part of the image to me.

    If the photographer didn’t want to change the part of the boat currently in focus then maybe decompose the image so that the part in focus isn’t at the very bottom of the image.

  • the zen man

    I love it. The image breaks all kinds of rules. The tone is wonderful…lends to a serene mood.
    Good work…keep going….never give up.

  • http://www.nevervoidphotography.com Antony Pratap

    Yes, I agree with ya, Aaron! The foreground is superb. But, for a fresh pair of eyes, it’s little difficult or rather it takes time to process the image in one’s head.

    I understand that you did not have much time to plan this shot, so I really wouldn’t wanna comment on how to better it, I’m sure if given the time, you would have.

    Cheers,
    Keep clicking!

  • http://www.forbetterdesigns.com Ali Corov

    I would like it more if the focus was concetrated on the background, the photo still looks good but there is nothing that much to see except the nice rain drops. (because of the small are of focus)

  • http://www.chunglern.com ali

    Hmm, IMHO this shot is lack of a subject or theme to it besides it just looking nice on the composition part of it. Doesnt really leave an impression tho. Just my 2 cent views. :)

  • http://www.aprilblankenship.com April

    I like the part that is in focus toward the bottom, how it shows the texture of the rain on the boat. I just wish I didn’t have to scroll down so far to see it. A tighter crop would help this, I think. You don’t need the clouds.