Photography competition round 4-critique

S

Steve

Guest
It has been a few weeks since the last round of the competition has closed and unfortunately nobody has offered any critique or comments on the entries :( My main reason for setting up the competition was to help people improve and add an element of a challenge at the same time, nobody will improve without feedback so below are my humble opinions on the entries.

These are just the first few, I’ll continue with the rest during tonight. If anyone else feels like they could also add some comments on the photos, I would be very appreciative.


Pic 1 – PeteMC
This is a simple idea that obviously relies on some competent post processing to make the final image seamless. For me it could have been improved by having the escalator more central and the subjects at thirds on each, a third up on one and a third down on the other. I think that the idea works better than the final image overall.

Pic 2 – Steve – I’ll leave the critique for this to you guys ;)

Pic 3 – Feeson
A strange one this, are we going for shock value, innuendo or maybe some other deep meaning? What ever it was, I am afraid it was wasted on me and as such I can only critique on the picture from a purely photographical point of view. Technically it is ok but the horizontal shadows running across the picture coupled with the almost grey uniform of the whole picture inc. subject just add to the confusion. Sure I had to look twice but only to try to see the subject. Sorry, I just can’t see this shot at all. :(

Pic 4 – PhaseK
I liked the idea of this shot very much but think it misses the mark as it has many more reflections than the two that would say to me double take. I would have cropped the half framed original girl completely out of frame and also cropped the remainder of the picture just to show both the front and back of here either once (to make me double take as to how I can see both the front and back of her) or done a different crop to show all of her twice, thus giving a better theme relevance. Having her hat almost covering her eyes has also not helped here, by lowering your camera position you could have drawn us more into the subject.

Pic 5 – Dave
Interesting subject with lovely subtle colours, the use of the very popular Lomo effect once more said to me that this picture belonged to either you or Pete. Although technically nothing much wrong with the shot I failed to see the double take theme relevance.
 
Pic 6 – EosD
It’s a nice bunny, a symbol that we mainly associate with cute, cuddly subjects but here it is portrayed begging, only the young lad is looking, the couple with him are shown ignoring him completely. We don’t know what the cause is but it certainly made me look and think twice. Technically the picture is not that strong though, shot at above the main subjects height and including much clutter in the background plus a snippet of grass in the foreground, all of which say more of a snap rather than a show of the real skill that you have demonstrated more recently. Overall a good subject to fit the theme but not captured well enough to make it stand out.

Pic 7 – DigitalSPG
One of my favourite shots from this round, simple and very effective!!! Who wouldn’t double take in this situation? ;) Good framing, good exposure, not much more to add other than I am surprised it didn’t win.

Pic 8 – Stewart
This is one of those spare of the minute shots. The subjects have allowed much confusion with the intermingling of the legs and the strange angle of the head on the one in the foreground. Again to have done better and made it that bit more effective the bodies of the two would have to be at the same level but animals and children are a photographers nightmare, neither do as we expect or hope.

Pic 9 – Silkstone
This one definitely made me look twice. The water ripples running outward towards the bottom of the frame seem natural but hang on one second, how come they carry on through the swan itself and upwards toward the top of the frame? Very clever and that coupled with the reflection offering a second subject relevance made this a strong entry for me.

Pic 10 – MyPix
This one is another that had me searching for the theme relevance. I can see a picture of a film crew taking a picture maybe, but then the main actor has a strange expression and is looking at the lady who is dressed out of scene from everything else? It was just too confusing and had no main direction for me. There are couple of other distractions as well which I notice through searching for the theme, the two public members walking out of the back of frame and the red coat/jacket that is visible in the left of the picture. This was just too confusing for me, sorry.
 
Pic 11 – Simon F
This is a classic wedding shot that is seen more frequently from the modern type wedding shoots. This works in either guise of the bride in focus or with the reflection in focus instead of the main subject. What is more common though and would have probably been better in this case is for the front of the bride to be in focus. For the competition this is another play on reflections to give us the double take theme reference. The chair in the right of frame doesn’t add anything to the picture though and could have quickly been removed prior to the shot being taken.

Pic 13 – DLH
This is quite a disturbing picture showing the cruel and often brutal side of nature. Again this is not an image that I feel fits the theme for this round though. Technically the picture would have benefited from a small amount of “gardening” to remove the grass crossing the foreground.

Pic 14 - Kenco
Last but not least is Kenco’s entry. I wonder if we are looking through the glass or at a reflection, I think both ;) The girl is inside and the house is from the reflection. A interesting idea that fits the theme but unfortunately the bright area in the reflection from the flash? distracts from the main subjects. Another noble effort from one of our regulars.



Overall I believe everyone that entered deserves credit and praise, the subject for this round was not an easy one to shoot for and it somewhat distracted from the competition. I feel most of us spent longer thinking about the theme than actually doing what we all like, the photography. That I feel lowered both the number of entries and the quality compared to previous rounds. Thankfully the next round has a subject of SUMMER so should allow for everyone to get something to fit.

Again thanks and full kudos to everyone that took the time and effort to attempt this tricky subject. :thumb:
 
Thanks mate :) Originally it was more rule of thirds, but annoyingly I must have gotten distracted and accidently moved the camera.
 
Steve said:
Pic 14 - Kenco
Last but not least is Kenco’s entry. I wonder if we are looking through the glass or at a reflection, I think both ;) The girl is inside and the house is from the reflection. A interesting idea that fits the theme but unfortunately the bright area in the reflection from the flash? distracts from the main subjects. Another noble effort from one of our regulars.
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve, I asked before submitting this picture, if it would be alright to enter as my daughter (the girl in the pic) actually took this. I tried and could not come up with anything. My 12 year old daughter recently received a digital camera for her birthday and we were talking about the competition, After briefly trying to explain the theme for this round (wrongly, I had told her it was double exposure) she went away and came back with this and another very good idea. This was taken from outside the landing window, with my daughter (Kirsty) on the inside (self portrait with her arm out the window, holding the camera). Thinking double or multiple exposures, I thought it was a very good attempt, so entered it. The other shot was a mirror set up on either side of the camera and her face, giving multiple reflections of her face. The only reason I didn’t enter that one was because the mirror was covered in girls make up powder stuff.
She was a little disappointed to have not received any points but I’m sure she will be pleased with your critique.
Thanks Ken.
 
thanks steve, was a hopeful punt rather than anything else, didnt have the time to really put anything into the theme,

If i get any time tonight i will do a little right up myself
 
your lucky, ive been busy right up till now, and now BB is on, so it will be later....
 
Batten down the hatches!

No offence meant here people, just my opinion of the shots entered,

Pete
Clever shot, might have been a little better to try it dead on as the left of the frame is distracting, but it certainly does make you look twice.

Steve
Good concept, and close examination reveals lots of reapeating patterns in the balls, if you could have found a way to get the balls to reflect more of the other ball it would have worked more...

Feeson
Definately a second glance required on this, if you look closely you can see youve applied the picture to the picture, if you get what i mean. For me the most literal double take...

PhaseK
I like this one too, the continued reflection implying the look again and again, not sure if it would have worked with the original girl in the frame properly...might be interested to see if it did or not

Dave
Familiar feel to the processing on this, Virtual Photographeresque...an interesting shot, makes me wonder whats led up to it, but doesnt make me look again, maybe if the woman was laying the other way, so you travel up her body(as it were) to the head and then round the arm etc it might work differently. Not a bad shot though, not at all

DigitalSPG
A scenario that one day will haunt us all, a quick glance in the mirror, then the shocking realisation that your being followed and the lights are flashing....DOH! Good shot and a good idea
 
Stewart
Syncronised elk dancing! a snapshot feel to this one im afraid, its well taken but not really engaging me, sorry

Silkstone
I liked this, something a little different, you tend to look at this for a while trying to work it out, not a bad idea at all

MyPix
Thought this would do a little better, you got an odd scene, a bloke giving the gasha girl a second glance, or is it the film crew getting a second take, either way, a nice idea, spoilt only by the general public being in the way at the back and the left side

SimonF
Needed the reflected Bride to be better lit, would have worked much much better

DLH
Shock value was there, definately got the punter looking twice, but its not really an engaging picture at all, sorry

Kenco
I liked this, the only thing that immediately annoys is the reflection of the house, otherwise its a clever idea.

There you go, some quick thoughts from me, i hope no-one is offended, theme interpretations are always very subjective, and are only really there to get a general cohesiveness for a competition set.

Well done to all those that entered, it was a hard theme, that makes all the entries that bit more special! :banana:
 
any chance of a link to the entries for us noobs so we can look?
 
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