Photo Critique #172

Photo Critique #172

on Jan 18th 2013 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

DSC_00323example

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Nikon D3100
  • 18mm
  • 1/100
  • f/3.5
  • ISO 100

Fall in black and white.

Photographer: Salmen Bejaoui

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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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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  • http://www.facebook.com/Shyrokov Denys Shyrokov

    In my opinion it lacks contrast, too much gray, and almost no real black and white.

    Nice composition, but the leaves and branches are overpowering and a bit distracting.

    Well this is my short critique.

  • torrance scott

    I agree with Denys. Also, all I can see is the triangle sign above the woman’s head — it looks like she’s being chased by a cursor :) . I immediately look there and miss the point of the shot. Maybe crop this to a landscape to remove the distracting branches above, remove the triangle, sharpen just a bit, and increase the contrast on the BW. I like the shot, and think it could be really nice if the distractions were gone and you were able to focus on the woman’s mood.

    • Abo-Malek

      Yeah the cursor felt like you are playing an online game :p

  • L XH

    I feel that the woman should take a much bigger prominence if she were to be the main subject here. However, if you are trying to portray the beautiful scenery, you should have probably left the picture colored instead of black and white.

  • http://www.audiomind.us/blog AUDIOMIND

    Photoshop out the street light and sign, crop out just a few of the branches on top and bring up the contrast a small amount. That’s what I would do, but otherwise it’s a great shot nonetheless. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

  • http://www.facebook.com/JoRodrigues Jo Rodrigues

    I don’t comment as much as I would like but I do want to make a positive statement. I really love this photograph. Yes it could do with a slight (Only SLIGHT!) bit more of contrast, one could photoshop things in and out of it, but it is still a wonderful image. I love the feeling I get looking into it. I want to walk down that path. I want to photograph that scene myself. All that trumps “perfection” in my view.

    Normally I am someone who believes in colour so I will often tend towards colour over black and white but here I think it works as well as the colour and perhaps even better.

    In terms of composition I would simply shit the camera slightly to the right (or out a bit) so that the vertical line of the tree creates the horizontal rule of thirds as the woman cycles into the left third. You already have it in place vertically. That would make it a perfect image in my view.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mark.berry.313924 Mark Berry

    I like the shot, but yes the sign needs to go, the branches/leaves do dominate, and the woman is far too insignificant in the shot. I think it could almost stand a very aggressive crop off the top; enough to move the woman to the top left thirds intersection. Maybe not quite that much, but not far off. The path becomes a very nice lead in line that way too :)

  • http://www.clippingpathcenter.com/clipping-path-service.php mamun

    Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.graphicexpertsonline.com/clippingpath.html mam_raj07

    Really fantastic!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/earthrokk David Shepherd

    I think the composition is great in this image. I like the image being filled by the tree branches and leaves around the cyclist. I would go back to reshoot this changing two things. One, increase your shutter speed to freeze the subject. Make sure they are sharp. Two, get way down on the ground to get the perspective zooming towards the camera, but stay wide in the shot.

    Small tips:

    Contrast is fine, but under expose a bit to get some texture on the surface of building.
    Add vignette to focus view towards subject.

    Remove the tree branches in the top left corner when you compose, which should happen when you get low to the ground.

  • http://jeremybeasley.com/ jeremy beasley

    Salmen, what were you trying to communicate with the image? Why did you choose to shoot it in B&W? These additional details would help in the critique of your image. As it stands, I’m having a hard time trying to tell what you were aiming to capture.

    Going off of the detail from your caption above, I agree with L XH. If the message you were trying to communicate was the “fall season”, I would have loved to see the natural colors from the leaves and the overcast skies.

    I think there are a few compositional challenges, e.g. the triangle above the cyclist’s head, but overall I think it works especially with the path as a leading line into the rest of the frame.

    Thanks for sharing, Salmen!

  • http://www.facebook.com/brent.parker.7583 Brent Parker

    The “scene” has some promise. Looks like you took this during the day, perhaps cloudy. First some positives.

    1. Nice choice of camera position and capturing the bike rider into a third of the photo. Your eye naturally gravitates towards her. I like that she is dark clothing- adds contrast

    2. The background setting adds a bit of an abandoned feel to it. The trees adds to the overall “feel” of a bike rider alone on a cold day.

    Suggestions

    1.Crop. I would have cropped the top portion of this image. I am sure you want to display the trees in their entirety, however, cropping them can add “suggestion” and it will bring the viewers eye level down to the main subject-the bike rider.

    2. Use a filter to tone down the contrast. The leaves tend to blend in with the the sky.

    3. Try this again at night to add a bit of mystery and intrigue. Perhaps you can get some background lights to accentuate. Also, do some prep work before the shot. The grate in the lower left, move those leaves off and brush off a few leaves off the path for a nice directional line.

  • http://www.facebook.com/brent.parker.7583 Brent Parker

    Also, I’m not in agreement with cropping or deleting the yield sign. The subject should move a little closer