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Photo Critique #126

Photo Critique #126

on Mar 2nd 2012 with 6 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

  • Canon 500D
  • 105mm
  • f/22
  • 1 second
  • ISO 100
  • Natural window light

I have had this piece of slate for a while, and wanted to try to do justice to its natural beauty.

Photographer: Paul Measor

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!8

 
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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.  

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  • srhoar

    I like the composition. I think that the de-saturated color of the rock against the black background makes the photo look like a B&W. Then the color of the petals really pops. Almost like a Jack Cardiff Technicolor look. But… The mark in the lower right needs to be removed. The lack of sharpness in the focus is distracting.

    Otherwise, a nice photo.

    Red

  • http://www.philcrean.com Phil Crean

    The lack of sharpness is probably down to the fact that it was shot at f22 and diffraction causing a general softness. Would have been better to shoot at f11 ish.
    I like what you have done here, however I would probably have shot from a lower angle and tried to create more of a landscape with the slate and the effect of the coloured petals would be even more striking with regards to scale as well as colour contrast.

    With a subject like this there are many different ways to approach it so have fun!

    Phil

  • earthrokk

    To me, this is boring and the lack of sharpness is a significant problem. If you used a 105 macro or the like and opened up to f2.8, you could have composed the image really tightly and created a more interesting image with the natural light. If you use the reflector, use a white or silver reflector as the gold seems distracting and does not add any value.

  • moe

    This is a really intresting picture. The softeness does take away a bit from it though. If you were to redo it and sharpen it I think it would have a greater impact. I also agree that maybe a little lower angle would increase some of the texture and could possibly produce some leading lines for the viewer to the beautiful flower petals. Overall, I love the shot. It could be a stunning photo with a little tweaking.

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

    I feel like a photoshop overkill :D
    not too like ^^!

  • http://frymanfoto.com Bill Fryman

    Interesting photo. I didn’t have a problem with the softness until others mentioned it and still don’t find it overly problematic. My initial concern was confusion over the primary subject — was it the rock or was it the flower petals? Letting my imagination run slightly amok here, when I look at the upper right third of the rock, I see what appears to be an abstract profile of a face. I wonder if your photo could have been improved by cropping to this area and placing the petals on what would be the cheek area of the face. This might eliminate some of the distraction, let you bring a bit more sharpness to the image, and minimizing the black background.