Photo Critique #177

Photo Critique #177

on Feb 22nd 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

montauk11

Photo Details & Inspiration

  • Canon 70D
  • 100mm
  • 1/500
  • f/9
  • ISO 640

This was taken in Montauk, New York as the sun rose over the water. This fisherman was just doing his daily routine and served as a good subject to shoot. I was trying to capture the early morning mood and make it dramatic by silhouetting the subject. To me this photo evokes the feeling of adventure, of uncertainty.

Photographer: Daniel Fried

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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  • Siavash

    Hi Daniel,

    It’s a great picture, and I really like the light. Good job on picking the right moment to shoot the photo, the fisherman’s pose looks really great. As far as critiquing goes, the water at the bottom half of the image (under the stone) seems extra to me, maybe some cropping would help that. I also feel that the photo would be more dramatic (assuming that’s something you’d want) if it was wider (16:9).
    Good job!

  • Franck

    Hey,
    nice picture. You should crop it to play with thirds. Two thirds of sky, one third of water and the fisherman at bottom right looking to the left side.

  • Sean Y.

    First off, nice job! You even got the fisherman’s side facial profile. With that said, I think a horizontal shot could have worked as well, but your choice of vertical composition was just as good as it emphasizes the long vertical silhouette of the fisherman in your photo. I like how you positioned the subject more above the horizon than below. It makes for a stronger image. The real composition issue comes down to the rule of thirds…this, luckily, is very easy to learn. Well done.

  • Anthony McLin

    Looks great, rule of 3rds as others mentioned. But your horizon is just a tiny bit off of level, which is disconcerting Use a grid line and adjust image rotation or skewing to correct the horizon.

  • Bill

    I agree with what others have said. Great capture of beautiful light and the fisherman. I would probably crop just below the rock leaving a very thin strip of water visible and just to the right of the sun. That would bring the fisherman closer to the thirds intersection on the lower right. I might also try to clone out the red lens flare on the rock. I can’t decide whether I would leave the boat on the horizon or clone it out.

  • CLCoker

    Great photo! The silhouette of the fisherman against those rich morning colors is fantastic! I think you could have cropped it so he was in the lower right of the photo. The boats in the far background are a little distracting, I would probably clone them out as well as the lens flare down by the rock. Nice work!

  • Rob

    Personally, I’m okay with the cropping – I think it’s a very strong image and “breaking the rule” can sometimes be a good thing. I do agree, however, that the horizon needs to be perfectly level and you should lose the lens flare. I can go either way with the boats. Great image!

  • Cheryl

    Impressive photo. I wouldn’t crop it … it has more impact this way.

  • Prateek

    Nice shot!
    My two cents:

    1. The horizon is a bit tilted towards the right. This can be easily corrected by rotating it counter clockwise slightly.

    2. Since the focus of the photo is the silhouette of the fisherman standing on the rock, you could crop out the extended sea to a little below the rock.

    3. There appears to be some lens flare on the rock surface. This should be removed as it could be distracting when looked at.

  • pashminu

    Good shot, but I think why not use ISO 100?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002262073258 Quinton Hurst

    Crop some of the water at the bottom out (preferably the darker part which takes up about a fifth or sixth of the image in heighth) and level the horizon. Very nice and iconic image even without those fixes!

  • Daniel Fried

    Hey guys, I appreciate all the critique and feedback you’ve all given me. your words have not fallen on deaf ears! Thanks!

  • http://www.wix.com/simonabarbu1/simonabarbuphotography Simona Dumitru

    I like pictures taken at sunset. Because the colors are so intense and dramatic. But I believe you enhanced the colors in this picture too much. They do not look natural anymore, especially the yellow. There is also a color cast on the rock that the man is standing. If you add a new blank layer in Photoshop, pick the color of the rock and paint over the color cast, you can get rid of it. Also, the man’s attention is drawn to the left side of the picture but there is no details of what could be there that the man is so interested in. Capturing what made him got interested in could lead to a more interesting composition.