Try Tuts+ Premium, Get Cash Back!
Photo Critique #136

Photo Critique #136

on May 11th 2012 with 3 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
  • 188mm
  • f/11
  • 1/250
  • ISO 400

I wanted to capture the beautiful warm sunset setting over the sea at Lepe Beach in the South of England. I spent about two hours standing there with my tripod waiting for that perfect picture, which I eventually got. I focused on a wooden post sitting in the water and just took a series of photos as birds flew over. The small aperture combined with a medium shutter speed allowed me to create the silhouette of the bird, the post and the land in the background creating a wonderful effect. This is my favourite picture as it creates a warm and summer feeling.

Photographer: Oliver McQuitty

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
 
 
  • http://frymanfoto.com Bill

    You’ve captured a beautiful sunset Oliver. I really like the colors, the reflection, and the flying bird. I’m not sure I really like the left side of the photo though. At least on my monitor there appears to be a fairly large spot of lens flare above the post which draws the eye. I’m also not sure the post adds a lot to the photo. I think if I were working with this photo I would do three things: change the orientation from horizontal to vertical to emphasize the reflection and the background land mass; keep the bird but crop just to its left, again to change the photo orientation; and remove the small dark spot in the lower right corner that is unidentifiable and doesn’t seem to add anything. Just some ideas for your consideration.

  • anurag

    Oliver i think you have kept the lighting just perfect. The sun even at this setting point is too bright for a pic and can over expose the frame..

    I think the subtle light is complementing the shadows.. as you see there is not much detail in the entire frame but the shadows that is the outline of shapes that has been created just looks perfect.

    And yes after having a look at the entire frame i agree with Bill and would have gone for a vertical orientation or cropping that would have just included the sun and the bird in the frame.

    The frame has too many subjects and thus takes the attention away of the viewer… or makes the frame not properly focused…

    In post work i would have got rid of those 2 black objects which are on either side of the pic at the bottom… And a small amount of contrast to spice up the details…

  • contiki

    I would make a vertical format cropping left of the bird. Remove the black spot on the right. If it is in raw use the vibrance tool to pep it up. It should make a good photo.