Photo Critique #123

Photo Critique #123

on Feb 10th 2012 with 13 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 Details & Inspiration

  • Yashica FX-2
  • 35mm
  • f/6.7
  • 1/1000
  • ISO 200

I love to take pictures against the sun. In this particular case, I like the position of the shadows and the subtle sun glare. Anyways, I think that maybe if I had closed the diaphragm a little more (let’s say f/11) it would look better. What do you think?

Photographer: Paul M Dorr

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!

 
Enjoyed this Post?

Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!

By

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.  

Plus Premium
 
 
  • Halle

    Really nice picture. I loved the composition and the vintage look given by the old camera.

    Where was it taken? It’d be cool to know the author’s name at least.

    • Rick

      Photographer: Paul M Dorr (just under the narrative above)

  • http://www.brandonpettersenphoto.com Brandon Pettersen

    My favorite part of this photo is the use of the sun and the shadows captured. I also like the grainy look to it and the overall composition.

  • Hughesy

    I feel that being a newcomer to photography, I wouldn’t feel insulted if my comments were disregarded. However… I think your main subject matter is interesting and creates curiosity in the beholder, because it’s not immediately apparent what we are looking at.

    It would be preferable not to have the distractions of the plants in the bottom right, and the surrounding buildings however I can see that cropping in would lose a sense of perspective. I like the long shadows from the low lying sun but the glare from it distracts from the photo.

    In answer to your question I think f/11 would have improved it by sharpening up the bottom of the pic – as long as the plant was removed making the most of the dark square at the bottom right of the image.

    Overall I think the composition is good and I like the image. One question, is it just me or does there seem to be a lot of noise in the image? Being nowhere near an expert, would using ISO100 made any difference?

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbthedoc/ Paul M Dorr

      Hi Hughesy, thanks for the comment! This photo was taken with a 100 ASA (ISO) film, so it shouldn’t be so noisy. Maybe I should try with another brand =P

  • Red

    Nice photo. Very architecturally strong.
    Here is what I would change:
    1.Move focal point higher to remove more of the sky. (Bring the focus to the upper third)
    2.Remove the bush in the lower right. (Not important to image)
    3.Touch up the buildings on the outsides. Make them less detailed. (They are part of the scene, as they define the location, but they don’t need to be distracting. Only give them enough detail to set the scene. Remove the antennas, smoke stacks, etc.)
    4.Add some contrast to really make the shadows pop.

    Red

  • Thad

    Hughesy and Red pretty much said it all. One thing I would add to the commentary is the shadow in the lower right (by the distracting plant) does not fit. Since the light is from the upper left I can’t figure out what’s causing the shadow. It does distract from the overall effect.
    Thad

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbthedoc/ Paul M Dorr

      Hey Thad, thanks for the comment! That’s not a shadow, it’s a hole in the structure =P

  • Lukasz

    I really like your subject and the sun is really adding to the feel of the whole composition. Very gritty.

    The only thing I would do different is moving the whole composition to the right just to crop off the buildings. And crop off the buildings on the left and the empty space in the foreground.

  • Tiberman Sajiwan Ramyead

    My comments as a DSLR beginner (2 years):

    The photographer has succeeded with his essential obectives – “against the sun; the shadows and subtle sun glare”; I would have taken at least 3 shots at f/8, f/9 and f/10 with under exposures from -0.3 to around -1.0.
    Of course there is room for improvement in the composition; but I find that shooting against the sun with successful exposure and compostion demands going back there again a couple of times.

    Just now here in Mauritius we are in the midst of a tropical cyclone. I am looking forward to a few dramatic shots tomorrow when the cyclone will be closest to the island.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/gbthedoc/ Paul M Dorr

    Thank you all for your comments! =)

  • http://www.digitalwhims.com Denny Weigand

    Paul, I work as a professional retoucher and in restoration of old or damaged photographs…so my comments are made with this in mind. There are so many distractions in your image that take away from your message….the houses, buildings, blurred bushes, etc. do nothing for the image. Compositionally my eye goes directly to the bright areas and not to where you want me to go I think. Shooting into the sun created distracting sun spots and flares that are distracting. I think you lost the color of the image that was available in the golden light. I would shoot this over from a different angle to see what effect you might have on the image. Perhaps a title would help me see what you are trying to show.

  • http://me.zing.vn/apps/sv2012 SV 2012

    I love it. I like the position of the shadows and the subtle sun glare.
    it’s so beautiful !