Hi Andrea,
Round - Impressive bit of architecture / decoration. You've got the round bit looking round, rather than oval, so good positioning / placement when you took the shot. B&W suits it.
If I were being picky it's not centred in the shot, but I don't really see that as an issue.
Cooking - The DoF gives it a rustic feel, which I suspect is what you were aiming for with the choice of veg and chopping board.
Short - Landscapes aren't really my thing so hard to critique for me, however, it's good that you caught the harvesting machinery to add context to the landscape.
Thanks for all the feedback, Tim
. I have been hoping to get the shot inside the theatre for a while and positioned myself in the middle of the main aisle to make sure the rose ceiling was round, but if it's not central in the frame I'm not sure if that's because the aisle is not quite central or something I've done. Yes, rustic is what I was aiming for with that one, and the loud machinery is what caught my eye first in that third one, after hearing them working away all day. Landscapes aren't my thing either, although something I feel I should put some time into as I do appreciate a good one.
Round
That's a bit of a corker for me, I like the black and white (I wouldn't mind seeing a colour version).
Cooking
Good composition
Short
I like the way the stubble fields go from bottom left to top right. It's a good crop too, not too much sky.
Thanks for the comments, Dominic. I did start working on the image for Round in colour but the lighting created a heavy yellow cast and I didn't like the results of my attempts to minimise it, whereas witching to black and white brought the details out and seemed a much cleaner image. I will return to the colour option though and spend some time on it. Yes, I had to exclude most of the sky in that third image as it was a very plain one.
Andrea
Elegant, bang on theme, nice bright flowers highlighted against the oof background. Good focus on the bits that matter.
Derelict, to me it looks like its slanting but that must be an illusion looking at the bottom of the Image. Nice B&W conversion. Love the detail on the metal work.
Home, nice bright Image but for me a little too much sky and foreground.
Round, what a lot of detail in that Image. You did well to get the sides straight at such an awkward angle. The round bit could do with being central to the picture.
Cooking, Nice colours but have a feeling that the onion should also be in focus.
Short - Stubble works for me. The wide fields to me imply a wider crop. I would exclude the bottom, cropping just above the rocks and that little building.
Pete
Thank you for all the comments and feedback, Pete. I tried a letterbox crop of the Home image to exclude some of the sky and sea, but it seemed to lose too much of what attracted me in the first place. We were in a little boat at the time so a very low viewpoint, too. You're the second one to mention that the rose ceiling isn't central to the frame so I wonder if the theatre's central aisle isn't actually central to the ceiling. I will have to check next time I'm there! On reflection I agree that the onion should have been in focus too, but I must admit I was getting tired of trying to find an arrangement that worked for this catch-up shot and probably rushed it a bit :banghead:
Cooking, nice simple shot, like Pete I think would be better with the onion in focus, but that's got to be personal preference.
Short, really like this shot, I like the sense of scale, I find the pattern of the field walls makes you follow the picture up the hill. The little white dots of sheep also add to that sense of scale, and I like the little stone building would not crop that out.
Thanks, Roger
I think you and Pete are right about the OOF onion - I was aiming for a very narrow DOF but on reflection it probably would have looked better. Glad you like Short; I was fortunate that the sun was low and added some nice shadows, otherwise it might have been too flat.
Derelict, somehow I missed this first time around, really like it in black and white, I just wish you would not keep showing all these interesting places on the island, not going to have time for the racing next year!
I would recommend a day (or half-day) trip to the Calf of Man to anyone who can manage a short boat trip and a gentle climb up from the harbour on the Calf. It's a magical place with a real sense of being away from everything, great scenery and just birds, sheep and rabbits for company. I opted for a close-up and B&W as there was a thick sea mist on that side of the island when we arrived, and of course this was perfect for Derelict.
Short - love it. Clever take on the theme too
Thank you, Dave - I had heard the machines working all day so it was interesting to see what they had been doing when I walked along the other side of the bay, and I was fortunate that the light was so nice.