Beginner please C&C this photo

jpgreenwood

jpgreenwood

Messages
1,703
Name
jason
Edit My Images
Yes
I wasn't trying to capture anything in particular. I just liked the boat in its raw state. I'm not out to win any awards, just practicing as a beginner. Its had a minor boost in Picasa.
What would you have done differently?
 
jpgreenwood said:
What would you have done differently?
Click to expand...
•
DRL + WB + structure details and saturation =

DSC_0124-001pp.jpg
​
 
Get back there and take some more detailed shots :)

Interesting.
 
I do like Kodiaks rendition of the shot though.(y) I think the horizon is off slightly, a couple of degrees counter-clockwise me thinks. The bottom right hand side of the shots detracts my eyes from the boat though. I do like the OOF area, (Out of focus Area) which leads the eye into the bow of the boat nicely. Although I think this point should be more off center than it is now. I think you have done very well Jason, the remaining blue paint on the boat matches with the beautiful blue sky.
 
The two sides of the prow seem to have similar lighting and so - for me - the image does not have a strong sense of 3D. You could adjust this with software, or retake the image when the lighting is from one side.

You could probably then have a square crop focussing on just the prow and so remove other distracting stuff on the right.

?might then also work well in B&W
 
I think you answered your own question "I wasn't trying to capture anything in particular". Its nicely seen, nice colours, textures, but I think this images misses being anything more than a snapshot. The blur in the foreground distracts. The jumble on the RHS doesn't add anything to the shot. What I like is the texture, color, etc of the old wooden boat and that is the bit to concentrate on. May be not easy to get that 'perfect' shot, but this sort of thing is worth 'exploring' by looking and taking shots at different angles, close ups etc. Then you will end up with a picture that YOU wanted rather than something that the camera "just saw".
 
jpgreenwood said:
I wasn't trying to capture anything in particular. I just liked the boat in its raw state. I'm not out to win any awards, just practicing as a beginner. Its had a minor boost in Picasa.
What would you have done differently?
Click to expand...
Would you print and frame it for your wall? If not, why not?

These are the questions you should always ask yourself before asking for c&c.

You say "I wasn't trying to capture anything in particular" and "I just liked the boat in its raw state". They can't both be true, can they?
 
Photodiva said:
I think you answered your own question "I wasn't trying to capture anything in particular". Its nicely seen, nice colours, textures, but I think this images misses being anything more than a snapshot. The blur in the foreground distracts. The jumble on the RHS doesn't add anything to the shot. What I like is the texture, color, etc of the old wooden boat and that is the bit to concentrate on. May be not easy to get that 'perfect' shot, but this sort of thing is worth 'exploring' by looking and taking shots at different angles, close ups etc. Then you will end up with a picture that YOU wanted rather than something that the camera "just saw".
Click to expand...

I think calling it a snapshot is being unfair. I get the point you are making but I think the OP has seen something he likes and make a good attempt at framing and composition. Not perfect, but much better than a snapshot in my opinion.

I agree with sbowler's comments on composition and (to an extent) Kodiak's comments on processing - the light is a bit flat on the boat and everything is a bit blue. I don't know what Kodiak means by DRL but personally I would certainly look at white balance (wb) and try to enhance the detail although I think Kodiak has gone just a little over the top here (just my taste....).

Someone mentioned B&W. Here is a quick and dirty b&w with a heavy crop to remove the destracting elements.
DSC_0124-001-2.jpg

A different viewpoint would have helped as I think this is cropped too much but it might give you some ideas at least.
One thing I noticed when doing this is that you have a very shallow depth of field (f1.8 irrc) and that the prow of the boat is not in focus which is distracting because it is the focal point of the image. I suspect you were focusing on the writing but just a little more depth of field would have been good.
 
The small oof area of blue at the bottom, centre of the boat is very off putting. My eye is drawn to it.
I don't mind the image as an image, but the blues are too stark for me.
@Kodiak Qc version is works better, maybe a different angle, to get just the boat in.
 
brman said:
I don't know what Kodiak means by DRL
Click to expand...
When he's said it in the past I've interpreted it as meaning adjusting the contrast by setting the white and black points to prevent a washed out look.

As someone who occasionally intends a washed out look, it's not something I could say so persistently and with quite the same regularity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
 
Wow I dint realise there was so much to do in photography!! Points to distract the eye, colours not right, focus not in the right place?? Looks like ive got a long way to go. Im slowly understanding some of the terminology and ive joined a local group. Ive seen entries for a "Silver Salver" competition and the judges talked about photos keeping the viewers interest etc. I think I thought that if I cropped all of the surroundings out of the photo, I would be left with a bow of a boat taking up the whole shot and where's the interest in that?? Confused I am!:confused:
 
Remember, it's about the image you want to hang on your wall.. whether you agree with anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter ;)
 
Alastair said:
As someone who occasionally intends a washed out look…
Click to expand...
•
When I can clearly recognize the artistic intent, see that it could be done
differently while the proposed way contains no mistake as such, I would /
will not propose any alteration to a mature rendition and, for sure, enjoy it
as it is!
Alastair said:
whether you agree with anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter
Click to expand...
+1
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•
DRL + WB + structure details and saturation =

DSC_0124-001pp.jpg
​
Click to expand...
Too far, too far. Rein it in!
Elines said:
The two sides of the prow seem to have similar lighting and so - for me - the image does not have a strong sense of 3D.
Click to expand...
The 3-dimensionality of the image is a gentle one & is provided by the focal differentiation, and I find that wholly satisfactory. It isn't necessary with photographs to aim for maximum drama all the time - it seems to me that there's too much of that about already (see many of the photos on these forums) ...
 
droj said:
Too far, too far. Rein it in!

The 3-dimensionality of the image is a gentle one & is provided by the focal differentiation, and I find that wholly satisfactory. It isn't necessary with photographs to aim for maximum drama all the time - it seems to me that there's too much of that about already (see many of the photos on these forums) ...
Click to expand...

I wholly agree that it isn't necessary to aim for maximum drama all the time but I find the original quite flat and Kodiak's rendition has much more depth to the boat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top