one way is in how we frame the shot. Making something bleed out of the image causes our brains to try and fill in the gaps.
Here are a few photos...let me know what you think. I've not been able to retake the photo of the train tracks yet...but I plan to. I tried this weekend in Chicago at the train station but I wasn't getting good light or the right feel to it.
Thanks for teaching me about embedding Jayne!
Happy commenting!
I really like that first one a lot--it's probably my favorite. The colors are great, and it's so true that my eyes were all over the edges, looking for more. It sounds like it captured the spirit of the assignment!
ReplyDeleteI also liked the one red letter in the pile of wooden letters. The shadow picture, I thought, showed really good technical skills. It's sharp and exposed properly, and interesting. I might have liked to see more of what the shadow is, but that might also be the point and I'm totally a "more is more" girl and have a hard time with minimalism.
I wasn't really sure about the one with the skyline at first, because everything was pretty in focus and I wasn't sure if the focal point was supposed to be the skyline or the chain. Looking at it for a few minutes, though, I've decided that I really like the way the lines curve through the picture, taking your eye from that bottom left corner through to the right side. It's a nice effect. I still wonder how it would've looked at a different aperture setting (and with some of it blurred out), but it definitely grew on me and now I can definitely say that I like it.
I do notice something that I did as a beginner in this picture, and that's that your horizon is crooked. I know sometimes that's intentional but I wasn't getting that vibe from this one, and I thought it was a tiny bit distracting. It's an easy fix in Photoshop, and so I spent a LOT of time in Photoshop straightening pictures, but one of the best pieces of advice that I heard was to learn how to see things the way your camera will see them. It's so true, and it totally helped me. Plus, I think it's just one of those things that comes more naturally the more pictures you take and the more of your pictures that you see.
Again, I really like the composition of that ferris wheel picture--the eye starts with the cars up in the top left corner and is pulled straight down to the lower right, and it uses the space so well. My one critique on that is that it looks like you shot it facing the sun, which can be really cool for a silhouette effect, but in that case, I think it needs to be a little darker to emphasize the sky more. If you wanted the ferris wheel to appear brighter and have more detail, it might have helped to shoot it from the other side. Of course, that isn't always possible, because from another perspective there might be something in your way, or it may be inaccessible. Either way, I still think it was a good shot and a good example of your assignment.
I liked that last one too--the colors and the exposure look good. I might have gone for a little more context on the clock and maybe run it off the side instead of the bottom, but that's purely preference. The colors, the reflection, all good, and the clock adds a nice amount of interest.
James, I hope you don't mind me giving you a real critique. I think you're doing so great and learning so much and growing so much as a photographer that it might be useful to you. When I was getting started, I found that it was so hard to get a good critique out of anyone. Everyone just wanted to say how nice and good things were, which I appreciated, but it was hard for me to learn that way. So please, feel free to delete this comment if it makes you uncomfortable to have it up, but I hope you know that I am just trying to treat you how I wanted to be treated as a newbie. But if you want me to shut it, just let me know. :)
Also, James, next time you come to Chicago (or whenever you come, actually), I would LOVE to go shoot around with you. We would have so much fun taking pictures of random stuff! Let me know if you're ever up for it. :)
It might be a sign ... the security word I had to type in to post my first comment/novel was "mega B".
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the feedback. I made some tweaks to the photos based on your suggestions! Keep them coming!
ReplyDeletei like the shadow shot for sure! it has contrast and balance. the curve of the wall along the lake makes feel warm and cozy for some reason!
ReplyDelete... and your pictures are big! yay!