Friday Photo Critique #6
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.
After a few days, I’ll update the post to feature the most helpful and insightful comments. You will also be credited with a link to your website or portfolio, so be sure to enter it correctly when submitting a comment!
Quick Ground Rules
- Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen photographs that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
- Feel free to offer any type of advice – composition, lighting, post-processing etc.
- 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
Photographer: Jens Skoug Obel
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 post has now been updated with some of the most insightful comments
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!.
Feedback and Comments
Here is a selection of the most useful and insightful pieces of feedback given on this photo, taken from the comments:
Garfields
I like the tone and the atmosphere of the photo. However I think that the upper part of the image is too confused, and the top right corner is burned. I would have focused more on the bottom part of the composition, in the dualism between the snow and the wall.
Tyrone Avnit
My first impressions were cloning out the snow to make it more white. However I think that adds to the story of the photo, and without all the footprints the photo would lack character.
I love the way the photographer broke the rules and put the tree in the center of the image. I think this works tremendously with this photo.
I also like the contrast between each 1/3 of the image. This comes together very nicely in the end.
I do think cropping out of the sky would work better for the image. However I think the image has soul. In my opinion great take.
Bryan
Great tone and atmosphere in this shot. However, I think there’s a conflict in focus. Obviously, the foreground tree and trodden snow would make excellent subjects, but the background building kind of confuses things. I think I would tilt shift the building (while maintaining the branches in focus), in order to create a new sense of depth, rendering the building as mainly background.
Again, great shot, nice and sharp, and like others have said it tells an interesting story.
OilyCoyote
This is absolutely a great photo. It has a story to tell, and from my point of view, thats what photography is about. The main subject here is definitely the tree (also the bench), so you can’t cut off the high part of the tree. That would make a completely different shot, that’s another photograph. We want to work with this one, right?
1. Tilt Up the camera a bit. Just to cut off a little of snow and include the rest of the tree.
2. We can either get rid of the building, or get rid of the sky, to minimize distractions; and since we cant get rid from the building, lets think about the sky. Move the camera a bit to the left, just to get rid of the white triangle formed by the sky. I find that to be a distracting point for the viewers eyes. I mean, we want to focus on the trees and the bench- The Story.
3. This looks as post-processed. If it is, I would increase the contrast a bit between the “whites” and “blacks”. The nice things of winter trees is to see, their black nude structure against the pure white snow. Just enhance a little, trying to find a sweet spot. Keep it real.
Nice work.
Janae
I love this piece. Excellent color palette and the linework is definitely interesting. I may have adjusted the composition a little more – maybe making the tree off-center rather than right smack in the middle. Another option to play with too would be a different perspective, maybe a shot from the ground looking slightly up or something of that nature. Excellent piece – you’re on your way to stardom!
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I really like this foto. The working with lines makes it very interesting. And the grayscale fits to the snow and the paths on the ground.
i personally would have stood further to the right side tilt the camera higher, if that makes any sense. Also a bit further away to frame the whole tree incl. a bit more or the building in the background.
I like the colours a lot though.
just my 2 cent
Hi,
I like the tone and the atmosphere of the photo. However I think that the upper part of the image is too confused, and the top right corner is burned. I would have focused more on the bottom part of the composition, in the dualism between the snow and the wall.
But it’s only my opinion. As I said, I like the photo
O Agree
I would crop it from the top until there is nothing left of the building in the background. Just wall, bench, stam and snowy ground.
I thing then it’s a real good shot!
Very atmospheric and winterly.
I love this piece. Excellent color palette and the linework is definitely interesting. I may have adjusted the composition a little more – maybe making the tree off-center rather than right smack in the middle. Another option to play with too would be a different perspective, maybe a shot from the ground looking slightly up or something of that nature. Excellent piece – you’re on your way to stardom!
I think a crop from the right can make the photo even better (so that there is no sky visible). Maybe just a little bit of contrast enhancement can add more drama.
My first impressions were cloning out the snow to make it more white. However I think that adds to the story of the photo, and without all the footprints the photo would lack character.
I love the way the photographer broke the rules and put the tree in the center of the image. I think this works tremendously with this photo.
I also like the contrast between each 1/3 of the image. This comes together very nicely in the end.
I do think cropping out of the sky would work better for the image. However I think the image has soul. In my opinion great take.
Ty
Overall, I like the photo. I think that there needs to be more contrast between the wall and the tree to make the tree stand out a bit better.
I personally think this images is great, I just wonder why someone’s placed a tree right in front of a bench!
Great tone and atmosphere in this shot. However, I think there’s a conflict in focus. Obviously, the foreground tree and trodden snow would make excellent subjects, but the background building kind of confuses things. I think I would tilt shift the building (while maintaining the branches in focus), in order to create a new sense of depth, rendering the building as mainly background.
Again, great shot, nice and sharp, and like others have said it tells an interesting story.
I like the photo overall and I think the composition is almost perfect. I would have adjusted the camera angle a little to get even leg space on the bench. Don’t worry about that, just something to think of next time. Also, Cropping down on the image overall would help focus the composition. I would remove the sky (distracting) and crop out the upper most windows while matching the bottom and left sides. The contrast can be bumped up to push the impact of the light. I like the old school style of this image and think texture treatment and more tone would finish the look. Now that I think about it, more tone and more contrast in the tone would give greater impact and make me say WOW.
Thanks a lot! You guys have so many good and helpfull advice. I think I´m going to print this page and keep it for later.
Thanks again
Jens Skoug Obel (the photographer)
What an inconvenient bench. I wonder which came first, the bench or the tree… either way, some one failed at placement.
This photo reminds of cold Colorado days in my childhood. Ash gray skies, diffused light leaving no distinct shadows, everything wet and cold and soaking though your warm layers. Pretty damn good photo.
I suggest trying to make the tree stand out a bit more. I assume this was shot in a raw format. Depending on the color of the wall and building, you could adjust the white balance and the hue, saturation, and brightness of each color in Adobe’s Camera Raw.
I dig the colors. At least it looks like it has a but of a blue-yellow dual tone thing going on. Gives it a nice nostalgic feel. The composition is pretty good too. Straight on really shows this awkward relation ship between the bench, the tree, the wall. However, back to making the tree stand out, I may have gotten down on the ground in that snow, let it soak through a bit, and put the bench at the bottom of the frame and the tree in front of the sky. Maybe from one side or the other. Weird angles like that can really make an image distinctive, give it depth and push the awkwardness a few steps further. I might have had a friend or passer-by sit on the bench.
Anyway, I really like this photo. I looked at Jens Skoug Obel’s Flickr page, there are some really good shots in there and this is one of them, in my opinion. Keep it up man.
Hi,
… Oh, dont know… what about a pornstar sitting on the bench?
Lol. Just breaking the ice.
First of all, Im a passionate amateur photographer, also.
Anyway. Here is what I think, I hope it is usefull.
This is absolutely a great photo. It has a story to tell, and from my point of view, thats what photography is about. (Or should be about, lol)
The main subject here, is definitely the tree (also the bench), so you can´t cut off the high part of the tree. That would make a completely different shot, thats another photograph. We want to work with this one, right?
Said that,
1. Tilt Up the camera a bit. Just to cut off a little of snow and include the rest of the tree.
2. -We can either get rid of the building, or get rid of the sky, to minimize distractions; and since we cant get rid from the building, lets think about the sky. Move the camera a bit to the left, just to get rid of the white triangle formed by the sky. I find that to be a distracting point for the viewers eyes. I mean, we want to focus on the trees and the bench- The Story.
What else can I say…
3. This looks as post-processed. If it is, I would increase the contrast a bit between the “whites” and “blacks”. The nice things of winter trees is to see, their black nude structure against the pure white snow. Just enhance a little, trying to find a sweet spot. Keep it real.
Nice work.