Critique Dazzle ship

[Elines]

Recently went on a short holiday to Liverpool with Higher Management and had a great time. I usually do B&W at the moment but this is one image that definitely needs colour

 

[Carlh]

Definitely couldn't lose that boat chris, was it sponsored by Trebor Refreshers? Must take ages to give that a new coat of paint. Bet the crew get headaches lol

Sorry I cant offer any critique on this, tbh its not grabbing me (no offence), other than the colours, but maybe a few more shots to accompany the set, i.e. if its a party boat, some empty bottles of alcohol or something to indicate what type of boat it is, if its a fishing boat (probably scare all the fish away - or maybe attracts them, I dont know much about fish) otherwise it looks like a bit of a snapshot and I know you can take much better photographs than that as I've seen them

 

[Elines]

Thanks for your comments Carl - always of interest. And thanks for your kind comments on my other stuff.

The dazzle ship is part of the current Liverpool Biennial. It was a (re?) creation (not sure if the proposal was actually accepted) to camouflage ships (?boats) during the second world war:

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/dazzle-ship/

Getting a good shooting point was very difficult as there was no clear access and lots of 'fencing' around it - some of which I have cloned out to give a cleaner image.

The best I could come up with was to take a shot against a subdued background as the main thing was to highlight off the 'dazzle'. But I accept that apart from the interest of the actual dazzle ship itself then compositionally etc it is not a world beater

 

[Carlh]

Thanks for your comments Carl - always of interest. And thanks for your kind comments on my other stuff.

The dazzle ship is part of the current Liverpool Biennial. It was a (re?) creation (not sure if the proposal was actually accepted) to camouflage ships (?boats) during the second world war:

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/dazzle-ship/

Getting a good shooting point was very difficult as there was no clear access and lots of 'fencing' around it - some of which I have cloned out to give a cleaner image.

The best I could come up with was to take a shot against a subdued background as the main thing was to highlight off the 'dazzle'. But I accept that apart from the interest of the actual dazzle ship itself then compositionally etc it is not a world beater

That's a pain not being able to get closer, could get some unusual artistic shots, loved the sail image you posted, I like that you pick the mundane stuff and make it arty. It's great to follow your progress and see a style developing that's unique to you. Cool work Chris!

 

[Carlh]

Sorry autocorrect on name if I got it wrong. Bloody phone lol

 

[Elines]

That's a pain not being able to get closer, could get some unusual artistic shots, loved the sail image you posted, I like that you pick the mundane stuff and make it arty. It's great to follow your progress and see a style developing that's unique to you. Cool work Chris!

Thanks Carl - much appreciated.

If you have been on the B&W forum:

http://www.digitalmonochromeforum.co.uk/forum.php

in recent months you will know that I have had a lot of grief and suffering in trying to produce top end B&W images.

I eventually decided that where I was going wrong was in trying to produce landscapes similar to the fantastic ones posted on there - problem is I have never really been into landscapes so it was a struggle - I never knew what I was trying to create.

I have felt much happier and generally had more success since I just reverted to photographing what I liked, but taking images with a view to them being in B&W.

(and this one wasn't intended to be in B&W)

 

[Carlh]

Thanks Carl - much appreciated.

If you have been on the B&W forum:

http://www.digitalmonochromeforum.co.uk/forum.php

in recent months you will know that I have had a lot of grief and suffering in trying to produce top end B&W images.

I eventually decided that where I was going wrong was in trying to produce landscapes similar to the fantastic ones posted on there - problem is I have never really been into landscapes so it was a struggle - I never knew what I was trying to create.

I have felt much happier and generally had more success since I just reverted to photographing what I liked, but taking images with a view to them being in B&W.

(and this one wasn't intended to be in B&W)

I didnt know there was a forum dedicated to that.

I think you're going through natural stages of photography Chris and thats why it is so interesting to see your work.

Theres a graph out there somewhere that shows a photographers expectations and reality - everybody and I mean everybody goes through it. Its quite funny to see the graph and read it as you will instantly relate to it.

Check this out:

Dont stress about your photography - you do produce pleasing and interesting images. Just like everyone, we produce bad one's, we produce good one's. Sometimes what you think is a bad photograph is actually a great photograph.

I've gone through some of my shots that I thought wasn't worth posting, eventually when I did post them up because I hadn't had a chance to do any photography for whatever reason, ended up getting better comments than the one's I thought were good and Im scratching my head as to why.

Keep at it Chris.

 

[Blank_Canvas]

I can't open the picture due to a carp wifi connection on a beech somewhere hot but HMS Belfast is also a 'dazzler' at the moment. It was designed to make target acquisition difficult when viewed through a periscope.

 

[Elines]

Thanks Carl and Nick

Carl - Never seen the graph before and I couldn't read the graph in your post but found a larger, legible one at http://i.imgur.com/b2feF.png

Yes - do recognise a lot of the stages - problem is I keep going back through them (especially the bottom points of the blue line ('How good you think you are') so I think it needs a feedback loop somewhere - plus the addition of turning photographs into 'painted/drawn' pictures - something I am going back to all the time - probably in the hope that I can convince myself I am a 'real' artist