[Railroader]

Well, we derailed Jawbone's thread with some pictures and critique discussions. But I really enjoyed the posting of images and the critiquing.

Rules:
1. Post a picture. You don't post a picture, you don't get to critique someone else's picture.
2. If you write a critique, post a picture to be critiqued. Post your picture at the end of the critique.
3. Constructive criticism first. If you think a person could improve their picture, tell them how.
4. Keep personal comments and opinions cordial. Focus on the picture, not the person posting the picture.
5. ONLY post pictures you have taken.

I will start:
(click on picture for a larger version)

[climber]

In photography like this thread, I like to break the rules sometimes. The photo needs more lens flare.

[mdc]

Railroader,
I like your photo, but I am not crazy about the vignetting on the right hand side. Did you photoshop that in? If possible could we see a version without that?


My submission, click for larger.

[ghporter]

I like the image. It has direction and flow, and the bright colors help with that. I particularly like the gradual fade of the sky from light to dark, which emphasizes the angle of the Ferris wheel.

I might have moved closer to the diagonal support in front so it would line up with the direction of the shot, but maybe that makes the image more interesting.

Here's mine:

Again, click on the image for a full-sized version.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by mdc 

Railroader,
I like your photo, but I am not crazy about the vignetting on the right hand side. Did you photoshop that in? If possible could we see a version without that?

I fiddled with the levels and added a little vignetting in Adobe Bridge RAW. There was a little vignetting just from the lens and the angle of the sun. Here is the default version with only some sharpening:

Originally Posted by mdc 

[img]http://mikecosentino.com/images/photos/large/0053.jpg[img]
My submission, click for larger.

VERY nice. I like it a lot. I'd like to see a version that's isn't framed so tightly, but as it is, I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

Originally Posted by ghporter 

I like the image. It has direction and flow, and the bright colors help with that. I particularly like the gradual fade of the sky from light to dark, which emphasizes the angle of the Ferris wheel.

I might have moved closer to the diagonal support in front so it would line up with the direction of the shot, but maybe that makes the image more interesting.

I composed it as a desktop image. I keep my desktop very clean, and I framed the shot so that icons on the desktop would be lined up in that area of the sky.

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Here's mine:
[img]http://www.ghporter.com/pubpics/Galveston Sunset Small.jpg[img]
Again, click on the image for a full-sized version.

Unfortunately, the sky was a bit hazy during your shot. It is a little washed out also probably because your camera had a difficult time metering with the sun in the shot. I like the expansion of the suns reflection in the water. Perhaps cropping your image a little lower to raise the horizon line in your image would draw more focus to that reflection. [yup, I held a piece of paper up to crop out most of the sky and it improves it quite a bit]

And, since I offered critiques:

This is a lilac bush that we planted the month we moved into our house. It was given to us as a house warming gift.

[CLICK FOR A LARGER VERSION]

[Railroader]

Here's what I was talking about:

Your original image:


Cropped and levels adjusted. I may have cropped too much. I also noticed it was about half a degree off parallel, so I straightened it:

[mdc]

ghporter, I agree with Railroader and like his cropped photo.

Railroader, I like the lilac bush photo. The green and lilac work nicely together and bokeh is really nice. Thank you for the compliments regarding my photo. I do not have a version that isn't framed so tightly. I have this one that is a little further out, but portrait.

My next submission.

[ghporter]

Railroader, I think your cropping works very well-and yes, the camera didn't like metering the sun and the shadows all at the same time. I had originally liked what I saw as the intersecting directions of the clouds and the waves (low left to high right and low right to high left respectively) when I framed the picture, but the waves didn't cooperate (or the lighting, probably), so I reframed a bit and got the original picture. It's amazing what you see from the stern of a ship as you power out of a harbor...

No more critiques from me until I find another "masterpiece" to post.

[Peter]

mdc, I really like the photo theres quite a lot of noise on the lady - I wonder if thats due to the file format or the camera -- what did you shoot it with?
ghporter broke the rules!

[Troll]

Originally Posted by mdc 

OK, I'll give it a go. I really like this image. The hands on the glass are especially evocative and I feel like the woman in the photo is trying to commune with the fish in the tank. I think the blues and greens contrast well with the black and the circular frame is like a target for the eye. Very cool.

In the ideal world, I would have waited a little longer for a fish to come up to the window so that you got more of the sense of her communicating with the fish. I would also have waited for the people on the sides to move or changed the angle so that they weren't in the shot. The person on the right is particularly disturbing. One thing I would have tried (if you knew the woman) would be to go to her right and get in close trying to just get her silhouette and her hands in the frame. Obviously though, with shots like this, you very often just see something and have to capture it fast so this is all ideal world.

As far as the exposure goes, I would have used a slightly faster shutter speed to darken the shadows more. You could also do this in levels in Photoshop. I would also go for a much tighter crop perhaps using a square. The space at the bottom isn't doing anything for the image.

Overall though a great moment that you've captured.

Here's a shot I took in Kinsale in Ireland. I worked on it quite a bit in Photoshop cloning out some unsightly cables, lomo-fying the colours and adding the vignette. This was taken with a Canon 350D (Digital Rebel) with a Canon 17-85mm IS at 17mm, aperture: f9 exposed for 1/50th of a second.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

I fiddled with the levels and added a little vignetting in Adobe Bridge RAW. There was a little vignetting just from the lens and the angle of the sun. Here is the default version with only some sharpening:

Railroader... I confess I like the original version better... although the flags add a sense of motion, I'm wondering if I would like the photo better without them.

Originally Posted by Troll 

Here's a shot I took in Kinsale in Ireland. I worked on it quite a bit in Photoshop cloning out some unsightly cables, lomo-fying the colours and adding the vignette. This was taken with a Canon 350D (Digital Rebel) with a Canon 17-85mm IS at 17mm, aperture: f9 exposed for 1/50th of a second.

Troll... I really like your photo. The contrast between the yellow and blue is awesome. Do you think the vignette might be a little to much on the right side of the photo?

Well, I guess it's my turn for some criticism. I'm not much of a photographer. I have a simple little Canon PowerShot SD550. I take my camera everywhere and needed something small. And when it comes to photo editing... well, let's just say I can spell photoshop but that's about the extent of it. My photo is straight out of the camera.. nothing has been adjusted except to make the image smaller. It's a picture I took in Tobago. I love sunsets and have a zillion photos of them. I've always been of the mind that if you take enough photos, you'll get a few good shots. I'm not sure if the leaves on the left edge of the photo add depth or are just a distraction.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Well, I guess it's my turn for some criticism. I'm not much of a photographer. I have a simple little Canon PowerShot SD550. I take my camera everywhere and needed something small. And when it comes to photo editing... well, let's just say I can spell photoshop but that's about the extent of it. My photo is straight out of the camera.. nothing has been adjusted except to make the image smaller. It's a picture I took in Tobago. I love sunsets and have a zillion photos of them. I've always been of the mind that if you take enough photos, you'll get a few good shots. I'm not sure if the leaves on the left edge of the photo add depth or are just a distraction.

[IMG]http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7470/cocoreefzr7.jpg[IMG]

I think your shot is beautiful. With the horizon line low, the focus is certainly on that sun and the rays coming in from the cloud cover. But, you are right about the leaves on the left being a distraction. I'd crop a little tighter and eliminate the shore line at the bottom of the image.

I have been thinking of buying an older Canon Elph just to have something to have with me at all times. The worst shot is the one that was never taken because you didn't have your camera with you.

This is a picture of a major historical landmark in my hometown. It's also in my sig picture (I didn't take that one).

I did all kinds of photoshopping to this one. I eliminated a radio tower, cleaned up the sky, converted to B&W, and added a sepia toning.

[CLICK FOR LARGE SIZE]

[Mastrap]

I've got say that I believe that the leaves actually help with the making of the image. Adding a framing device, such a these leaves, creates depth in an image. If anything I would have tried to make more of them. The same is true, in my opinion, about the bottom shoreline. Again, it gives definition to the image and creates a sense of space.

The sunset is near perfectly positioned, according to the law of thirds. It's one third in, one third up, which is part of what makes the image so appealing. If I'd change anything I'd move the horizon up to match the blue line, then move the sunset to the left a little.




My opinion only of course.

[- - e r i k - -]

Law of thirds is not so much a law as it is a guideline.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Sure this is a recent photo? In that case, you've done an excellent job of making this as authentic as possible. It really has that "old" feeling to it. Great job!

[ARENA]

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Sure this is a recent photo? In that case, you've done an excellent job of making this as authentic as possible. It really has that "old" feeling to it. Great job!

Thanks, I took the picture Feb. 24th this year. I thought about cloning the car out as that gives a time frame to the picture, but it is a late 80's/early 90's model so it doesn't reveal the real date... but it certainly doesn't make it look like a real old picture that I was going for.

Here's a JPG version of the RAW file:

Originally Posted by - - e r i k - - 

Excellent. Great example of a shallow depth of field and perspective. I really like the color. I can picture this framed and hanging in a bar or a game room in someone's house. Tiny suggestion: PS out the small light colored line in the upper left.

Here's a shot I took last weekend during a parade. I am not happy that the top of his hat was cut off, but I like the depth of field putting his face as the focal point, and the bokeh in the background. I saturated the colors a little bit more in Adobe Bridge RAW.

[CLICK...LARGE...YADA...YADA]