Critique A man sitting

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Name
Barry Robinson
Edit My Images
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I'm not sure if I can post images yet, bur I'll give it a go?
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It's very cool but would have been awesome if you'd got closer and shot in landscape.

+1

When the story telling is weak, an image should count on its
colour and graphic attributes even more.
 
In seeing the picture for the first time, I thought 'fantastic shot, love the portrait format, but maybe a little closer...'
Love the steps leading up, with the horizontals holding him in position, changing to the vertical pillars to secure him.
The complimentary hair and flowers are an added bonus.
If the crop can take it, I'd try portrait but closer in to the focal point.
Sacrifice a little of the sky to keep those lead in lines.
 
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It's very cool but would have been awesome if you'd got closer and shot in landscape.
It's deliberately shot in portrait to accommodate the stairs and the architecture. I like the lines in everything :) but I see how it could work that way. The far away this is also on purpose. He's meant to be alone, it's kind of the whole point of the shot really [that and the fact that his hair is the same color as the flowers ;-) ], bur maybe I'll take abother look [if I can find it again ;-) ]
 
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In seeing the picture for the first time, I thought 'fantastic shot, love the portrait format, but maybe a little closer...'
Love the steps leading up, with the horizontals holding him in position, changing to the vertical pillars to secure him.
The complimentary hair and flowers are an added bonus.
If the crop can take it, I'd try portrait but closer in to the focal point.
Sacrifice a little of the sky to keep those lead in lines.
I'm not sure, I really try hard not to crop things too much. I find it can be a bad habit, but then I suppose so can limiting yourself. I've spent so much time getting it in camera that maybe I've forgotten about processing. I don't know, I just know that when I saw him, this was the shot I saw in my head...
 
I feel he's too central - I'm all for Paul's comments - if he was on a third or an intersection I think it would "work better", perhaps cropping some off the bottom and left.

Love the matching flowers and hair colour - that makes this shot.
 
really what they all said. I wonder what it would of been like it you'd lost the obelisk thingy and used more of the red flowers as leading lines and lots of negative space rather then the central composition
 
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I'm not actually sure that it's an improvement [I think I prefer the origional crop], but there you go..
 
It's deliberately shot in portrait to accommodate the stairs and the architecture. I like the lines in everything :) but I see how it could work that way. The far away this is also on purpose. He's meant to be alone, it's kind of the whole point of the shot really [that and the fact that his hair is the same color as the flowers ;-) ], bur maybe I'll take abother look [if I can find it again ;-) ]

For enough, but for me the interesting aspect is the fact that his hair matches the flowers. If you'd found an angle which put his hair in the middle of the top row of flowers that'd have been special.
If you'd gone further and asked him to pose you could have produced something reminiscent of Niall McDiarmid's work - but that's clearly not what you were after.
 
I hate asking people to pose, it kind of goes against everything I work towards as a photographer. Event when I'm working with a model I basically try to engage them in some way rather than telling them hos I want them to pose. I'd rather waste three hours of studio time to get one great shot than hustle someone into somethig unnatural and not like the results. Yeah I get what your saying, and I read picture perfect posseing and loved it, and I want everything to be great and perfect, but I strive to reflect rather than make. It's just who I am..
 
I do know what you mean though, the hair does kind of separate from the geometric aspect of the image. I suppose I just saw one, then the other, and took the shot for better or worse...
 
Thank's it won a gold [highly commented] from the SWPP, November 2014. I'm not entirely sure how that works because it was upgraded or somwthing, but they sent me a certificate. I'd really love to do their mentoring program, but I just don't have the money!
 
Red structure by Birmingham photographer Barry Robinson.jpg
view


Hopefully this worked. I'm only really used to using TapTalk so this might just be nothing but blank space! Anyway, gave editing the original photo another go, tell me what you thing?
 
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So that's my go at editing it anyway, not sure if it's improved it or anything :) he's definitely closer.

I've looked at this edit, and this one works better than the first one. The subject is the central figure in the image, but the leading lines and structural aspects still work. Thanks! Sometimes I find it a little difficult to deal with criticism...
 
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Hopefull you'll like this a little better :) anyway, thanks for the advice :)
Thank's it won a gold [highly commented] from the SWPP, November 2014. I'm not entirely sure how that works because it was upgraded or somwthing, but they sent me a certificate. I'd really love to do their mentoring program, but I just don't have the money!
This photo won gold from the society of wedding and portrait photography?

Wow, well I guess congratulations and it demonstrates I just don't know anything about photography.
 
For enough, but for me the interesting aspect is the fact that his hair matches the flowers. If you'd found an angle which put his hair in the middle of the top row of flowers that'd have been special.

Exactly that. To me that is the only feature that lifts this above yet another "man sitting on a bench" photo. It adds a bit of a sparkle, as in a bit of fun and interest.

The "architectural" elements just distract from the main story. To me it definitely doesn't say alone, I mean he clearly in a city, it just means no other people in the frame. But a bit to far away to be certain whether it is his hair or a flower.

There is also something distracting in the far right of the frame. I can't quite see what it is, but my eye is drawn to it and I want to know.
 
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Hopefull you'll like this a little better :) anyway, thanks for the advice :)

A faster shutter speed would have helped, here- I'm drawn to the blur on his right hand and the whole image is slightly soft focus wise, in my opinion
his right hand is almost a complete blur!

Les
 
This photo won gold from the society of wedding and portrait photography?

Wow, well I guess congratulations and it demonstrates I just don't know anything about photography.
LOL I wouldn't say that :) I found the criticism of the first image actually very very helpful. It's rally easy to get caught up in how you see your own work. I know art is always subjective, but there should be something strong about an image. I think you where right, I was neither one thing or the other, it just took me actually re-editing it to work that out!
 
A faster shutter speed would have helped, here- I'm drawn to the blur on his right hand and the whole image is slightly soft focus wise, in my opinion
his right hand is almost a complete blur!

Les
I know! It was very much a shot of the moment. Also I sometimes get a little chaotic with organisation so this might not be the actual shot I submitted. There's about three or four which are really similar [I should really make sure before I post things]. But, yes I do agree that I sometimes get soft focus on things which is something I've been working really hard to resolve, but I've got to the point now where I feel like I've kind if sacrificed some of the creativity in my work for technical accuracy. This shot was taken [I think] nearly two years ago now [even thought it was submitted Nov 2014 it was taken some time before then].
 
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Also the other thing was that it was quite a dull day, and the best lens I has at the time was a Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5 6 and I had to decide on low ISO, low shutter, or higher ISO, more noise, faster shutter on the spot, and the camera was alreasy set up [which at the time I still wasn't rally used to]. These days I'm a lot better with camera set up. Having grown up shooting film the idea of being able to just change the ISO took me a very long long time to get used to. That thing that ISO is set the moment you load the camera was pretty much entrained in my brain :)
 
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+1

When the story telling is weak, an image should count on its
colour and graphic attributes even more.
I wouldn't say the story telling is week in that image. I think it's fairly clear that it's a middle aged man, sitting on his own, in a large empty rocking a style that seems somewhat out of date yet oddly synergistic with his environs. Anyway that was what was iny head when I took it. It's why there's so much empty space!
 
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This is another shot that I'd really like some feedback on! It's supposed to be about loneliness, but I think I slightly missed the mark. I would have loved to get some motion blur in the crowd walking past, but again it was a shot of the moment [take around the same time] and again I was limited by having one descent lens at the time [28-135mm f/3.5-5.6]. Like I said I grew up shooting film and the whole notion of being able to change the ISO really threw me for the first couple of years shooting digital! I think I either used it way too much [creatively] or forgot about it altogether...
 
I don't think loneliness when I see that, I see someone who looks like he is waiting for his partner to do their shopping...Bored and tired perhaps, but not loneliness...

But which ever way the real story is interpreted, I see no merit in sharing a shot like this unless perhaps it is part of a series with a story. Singular like that it doesn't work for me. Sorry....
 
I don't think loneliness when I see that, I see someone who looks like he is waiting for his partner to do their shopping...Bored and tired perhaps, but not loneliness...

But which ever way the real story is interpreted, I see no merit in sharing a shot like this unless perhaps it is part of a series with a story. Singular like that it doesn't work for me. Sorry....
Cool, thanks for the feedback! I'll take that one on-board..
 
A faster shutter speed would have helped, here- I'm drawn to the blur on his right hand and the whole image is slightly soft focus wise, in my opinion
his right hand is almost a complete blur!

Les
Found it in Lightroom and taken a look at the settings. There is one thing I'd say. On the street, especially of you don't have expensive [continuous aperture] lenses then your faces with having to make very fast decision about ramping up ISO to get a better shutter speed, or sacrificing some sharpness to capture a moment. I've always gone with the moment over sharpness because an image is about the moment. Anyone can take a perfect but ultimately boring image. Today I'd have had the camera on Av rather than Manual, and I'd have used the ISO slightly to get the shutter speed over the focal length! These are the settings:

Camera: Canon 5D Mk III
Lens: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5 6 is usm
Focal length: 130mm
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure: 100/Sec [hence motion blur]
ISO: 400
Program: manual [these days I use Av]
Metering: Pattern
[everything else is irelavant co's it's RAW]
 
Walking alone by Birmingham photographer Barry Robinson.jpg

This is another image taken actually on the same day, and I've tried to re-edit this in colour, but I prefer it in B&W. It's one of the images that I really wish I could go back and re-shoot as often as I've re-edited. This one I'd really like constructive criticism on [and not camera technique] I know that the sky lack's detail! I was thinking of pushing it into a more high key image? Worth it or not? I've always liked it, but I'd like an outside perspective...
 
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