Comments on: Friday Photo Critique #5

By: BVBeckman

BVBeckman — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:33:05 +0000

Throw in my 2 cents… I found the background on the right side distracting, the main subject seems to have a circular or radial feel to it and here’s these straight lines taking away from it.
I found a good center point and then added some spinning blur and made it stronger the further I got away from that point.

I think no heads or faces is a good thing here. Rather than 5 (Did everyone see the fifth ? She’s easy to miss) I don’t know having fun, it’s now easy for my imagination to fill in the identities.

http://www.zumodrive.com/share/2v6BMTIyZm

By: Ionut Cirja

Ionut Cirja — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:47:41 +0000

I have just one problem with this photo, I can see any reason why you cut the faces of the mothers…

By: shahcloud

shahcloud — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:41:11 +0000

I’m with Noel, the main focus here is not the women’s face/expression but the relation between the women n children…its the hands that tell the story..great work…

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:57:34 +0000

I agree aswell – Don’t quite know what the focus of the photograph is.

By: Ian G. Lang

Ian G. Lang — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:03:12 +0000

Critique: The focal point looks like it should be on the hands, but the dark patch and the patterned angles treeing off the center point lead my eye up like from a fire to the sky. I agree with Jessica (above) – The moms needed to cover up a bit more. The background is busy. I all but missed the 5th person in the photo.

Opinion: I instantly thought wouldn’t that shot look awesome if posed and taken from the top down with their heads being slightly cut off around the outside of the image, but with their heads tilted up a bit so you could see them all laughing/smiling.

Praise: This image really captures the ‘fun’ and you can almost see the togetherness. It’s warm and family focused. It looks casual and natural.

By: Jay Reynolds

Jay Reynolds — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:49:54 +0000

Framing has been mentioned a couple times. I would agree. But, I would like to point out some other things.

There are some very interesting lights and darks in this image, however they seemed to be washed out. The Highlights and Shadows involved in the main focal region should have more attention towards them (this would also create a better focal point).

Darks, make them dark. Lights, make them Light.

By: Noel

Noel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:41:53 +0000

Contrary to everyone else, I thought cutting off the heads is fine. This composition emphasises the connection made between the women and the children through their hands, and cutting off the eyes eliminates the distraction of yet another subject to focus on. The jacket the woman wears on the right is quite glaring though and is distracting. Try shooting from between and behind the women. That way you could see the faces of the two girls being framed by the mothers, their hands, and the little girl poking her head through, while eliminating the glaring jacket – since the light is hitting them front on, the jacket would be darker shot from behind than in this picture.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:58:12 +0000

I pretty much agree with everyone elses comments regarding the framing. I just wanted to point everyone to the little girl being shunned out of the group behind the two women! Made me lol

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:10:12 +0000

Cutting off their heads right at their overly exposed chests probably wasn’t the best choice. Good to keep it classy but I can see what you were going for.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:54:48 +0000

I think the principal problem with this photograph is the framing. Cutting off the heads of the two women is just glaring and very distracting. My first thought is that the picture should be composed with the faces of the two women. However if the subject is meant to be the two children then perhaps cropping the women a bit lower, under their shoulders could be less distracting. Also some thought could be given to adjusting the camera to make the children more dominating.