Friday Photo Critique #83

Friday Photo Critique #83

on May 6th 2011 with 11 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

 

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • f2.8
  • 1/60

I remember taking this photo in the capital of Iran (Tehran). It was a hot sunny day and I was exhausted. Back then, I didn’t have a professional camera so I was walking there with a small Canon Powershot.

When I was looking around for some interesting subjects to photograph, I noticed this cat staring at me like he knew that I was going to take some pictures of him and he really didn’t like it. But at the same time his eyes were saying, “Please take some pictures to show how cruel this world is.”

Photographer: Rassam Haraji

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. Interested in submitting your own photo? You can do so here!

 
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Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

I was raised in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school, I left for Western Kentucky University where I obtained degrees in photojournalism and cultural anthropology. I am currently employed by CityBeat, an arts and entertainment weekly in Cincinnati. The work I am doing here is very rewarding and I suspect it will continue to be. I am available for freelance work in all areas of photography.  

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  • Seth

    The angle is very mundane. I think it would have been an interesting shot to see the path of the ditch/trench goes, so maybe if it was shot from a lower angle to show the rest of it would have been nice.

  • sina

    i love tehran :D :)

  • http://flickr.com/thefella TheFella

    You’ve captured a great expression and pose here! The first thing I’d change would be to crop in, perhaps take off the top third or almost half and maybe a little off the right.

    The eyes really capture me, so I might desaturate the rest and boost the green/yellow of the eyes, adding a 10% vignette leading you to the cat’s face.

  • James Adderley

    This is a nice image but i think the paper and hightlight on the top of the image distracts from the main subject. I’ll consider cropping just below the paper.

  • Michael Owens

    From your description:

    But at the same time his eyes were saying, “Please take some pictures to show how cruel this world is.”

    Unfortunately, this picture looks as if it could have been taken in any back alley, in any country, it really doesn’t speak to me Iran, or any other middle-easter country. To me, thats the first mistake of the photograph, as it doesnt kick you and say yes, thats definately ‘insert-country’.

    The composition is wayward, nothing is focal to my eye, and the image just seems void of any character because of this.

    For me, this image would have been better if looking straight from the floor, cats-eye level – and then having the cat looking back at you, the picture looking down the alley-thing he is in, and also maybe having some of Tehran in the horizon, for me that would give the photo a better feel of being the cat….

    But that is just me!

    Sorry for sounding so harsh!

  • http://www.michellegeoga.com Michelle Geoga

    I love it. It could be anywhere, it doesn’t say anything about cruelty, but it is a moment in time that is very lucky to catch. In particular, the cat’s right back leg is extended in a way that convinces the viewer of motion. It really feels like the cat turned around and looked at you, the photographer, and you caught it. I love the composition–the lines on the cat, the gutter, the water stream, they’re a jumble of vertical and horizontal, creating visual energy that’s quite subtle. And at 2.8! Great job!

  • http://petimorgan.co.nz Peti Morgan

    This is a beautiful image – the cat’s eyes are quite striking, and the image has a lot of depth. All I would suggest is to crop out the rubbish at the top of the picture. While you might think is crucial to the story, it’s is distracting – his eyes tell the story enough. Nice pic :)

  • http://phillipjacobs.com Phillip Jacobs

    I in Michael Owens camp. I don’t want to be harsh either but there isn’t much to like about the picture. It doesn’t appear to be post-processed in any way and the camera/lens has done nothing to help either so we are left with a top down view of a cat. Very little of interest in the photograph at all and I have never been that critical of the photos on here after having gone through this myself.

    Maybe if this was taken at a different angle and the background was blurred or bokeh’d; then you’d be on to something.

  • Iman

    Iranian Cat’s I love them. Nice photo.

  • anames

    First of all, I think that the photo would be more expressive if it were in black and white (or maybe that’s just my preference, I don’t know), cause the colours aren’t really strong point of the image, and the composition seems quite modern/minimalistic. Furthermore, I feel that this photo could benefit from shallow DOF, where cat would be your star in full glory (good thing is that you can mimic that in Photoshop, unless you are a puritan, like many out there, and consider that to be below your “photographer’s honour”). You should’ve experimented with different angle, lower angle, but it’s done now, and you have to work with what you have. Cropping would probably be wise, those soaked newspapers are truly distracting.

  • Rodney Davis

    I like the picture because it captures a moment that can be difficult. Cats don’t always stick around for photos. I agree with most of the other posts though. The picture would have made up for its lack of color or contrast if taken closer to the floor and have the gutter’s vertical lines disappear in the distance near one of the upper edges of the photo, preferably with less detail (smaller aperture). You can’t do anything about that now, so I’d just crop off as much of the alley as possible and focus on the beautiful detail captured in its pose, its eyes, and the fleetingness of the moment. Maybe just leave the water trail to compose the photo. I don’t think some of the other comments reflect appreciation for how quickly you had to get this shot off. Stray cats don’t pose, so with a point and shoot, I understand the f2.8 setting.