I'm kinda liking how quickly you have improved just by being intentional about a few things.
1. Flip Flops: I kinda like this one. It's simple and clear, which we know I like! The rule of thirds with the flip flops balances well with the simple ground. Something to consider is the lighting - the direction of the light (the sun?) at the moment creates some distinct shadows. These are not necessarily bad - it's just important to be paying attention to where the shadows fall, especially with hard light like this. Or to minimize the shadows, you should have placed the flip flops in a shaded place. As with the previous post, there's lots of room for artist preference here.
2. Flip flops again: Not as good as the first one. First, always be careful of your of your focus; the ground is in focus here, while the flip flops are a little blurry. Second, you centered the subject while not really focusing on anything too interesting or different. I just come away from it thinking "Hey, flip flops. Meh." As opposed to the first shot, where the positioning makes it more interesting, even with the same subject.
3. Shoe: Heading a good direction on this one, but I'm not quite sold. I like the you were a bit adventurous and did more of a close-up of the shoe, and let it fill the whole image. It makes it more interesting, because it leaves you having to picture the rest in your mind. Personally, I have a little bit of a question about the subject of the picture. If you were focusing on the star, I think I would have liked an even closer-up shot of it, so it wasn't as lost amidst the rest of the shoe. If you weren't focusing on the star, then I have trouble telling what the specific subject actually was. Although, this is certainly up for some debate - I'm sure there are others who would really like this shot and not be as concerned about pointing to a specific focal point.
4. Yay Dave! Three things here. First, I like this as a shot. It's well framed, it's a nice clear headshot, and Dave looks good and tough. Those two bars could have been distracting if they were cutting behind his head, but instead you did a good job of using them to frame his face. Me gusta. Second, the sunglasses. Sometimes you can control this, sometimes you can't. But when you get a close-up shot of a person's sunglasses, it's always a cool technique to get a good clear reflection on the glasses. There's nothing really distinct here. It's not always possible to do this, but it's always something to look for. And third, the sunlight. Because of the time of day you were out, you have bright, harsh sunlight coming from above, which is a terrible angle for a portrait. As such, you have some awkward shadows on Dave's face. You can control that by just looking for where the shadows fall before taking the picture; usually during this time of day, I just turn them (or move around them) so that their whole face is in shadow, then I expose for the face. Another option is to use fill flash (which maybe you did here? It's hard to tell) - this will help balance out the bad shadows, though it usually can't overpower the sun.
5. I like this shot. You face the some trouble with the shadows as you did with Dave's picture, but they are a bit less noticeable because you're not zoomed as close. This is one of those shots where you could have gotten closer, further away, or shot just like it is, and all of them could have been fine. I personally like the composition you used here. This is an example of a picture that does NOT need the rule of thirds; you placed your subject in the middle, but her hand going one way, her hair flying the other, and her expression looking back at you all provide enough visual interest that the composition works here. You might have considered having her move her right arm, perhaps going back in front of her so it didn't look as big... but this isn't a huge concern for me. You also did a great job here of getting to the right height; not only did you get to her level, but you put the trees behind her in the perfect position! If the row of threes were any higher, they would have been a distinct distraction; lower, and they still might have been an issue. Anyway, this is a good shot.
I'm kinda liking how quickly you have improved just by being intentional about a few things.
ReplyDelete1. Flip Flops: I kinda like this one. It's simple and clear, which we know I like! The rule of thirds with the flip flops balances well with the simple ground. Something to consider is the lighting - the direction of the light (the sun?) at the moment creates some distinct shadows. These are not necessarily bad - it's just important to be paying attention to where the shadows fall, especially with hard light like this. Or to minimize the shadows, you should have placed the flip flops in a shaded place. As with the previous post, there's lots of room for artist preference here.
2. Flip flops again: Not as good as the first one. First, always be careful of your of your focus; the ground is in focus here, while the flip flops are a little blurry. Second, you centered the subject while not really focusing on anything too interesting or different. I just come away from it thinking "Hey, flip flops. Meh." As opposed to the first shot, where the positioning makes it more interesting, even with the same subject.
3. Shoe: Heading a good direction on this one, but I'm not quite sold. I like the you were a bit adventurous and did more of a close-up of the shoe, and let it fill the whole image. It makes it more interesting, because it leaves you having to picture the rest in your mind. Personally, I have a little bit of a question about the subject of the picture. If you were focusing on the star, I think I would have liked an even closer-up shot of it, so it wasn't as lost amidst the rest of the shoe. If you weren't focusing on the star, then I have trouble telling what the specific subject actually was. Although, this is certainly up for some debate - I'm sure there are others who would really like this shot and not be as concerned about pointing to a specific focal point.
ReplyDelete4. Yay Dave! Three things here. First, I like this as a shot. It's well framed, it's a nice clear headshot, and Dave looks good and tough. Those two bars could have been distracting if they were cutting behind his head, but instead you did a good job of using them to frame his face. Me gusta. Second, the sunglasses. Sometimes you can control this, sometimes you can't. But when you get a close-up shot of a person's sunglasses, it's always a cool technique to get a good clear reflection on the glasses. There's nothing really distinct here. It's not always possible to do this, but it's always something to look for. And third, the sunlight. Because of the time of day you were out, you have bright, harsh sunlight coming from above, which is a terrible angle for a portrait. As such, you have some awkward shadows on Dave's face. You can control that by just looking for where the shadows fall before taking the picture; usually during this time of day, I just turn them (or move around them) so that their whole face is in shadow, then I expose for the face. Another option is to use fill flash (which maybe you did here? It's hard to tell) - this will help balance out the bad shadows, though it usually can't overpower the sun.
5. I like this shot. You face the some trouble with the shadows as you did with Dave's picture, but they are a bit less noticeable because you're not zoomed as close. This is one of those shots where you could have gotten closer, further away, or shot just like it is, and all of them could have been fine. I personally like the composition you used here. This is an example of a picture that does NOT need the rule of thirds; you placed your subject in the middle, but her hand going one way, her hair flying the other, and her expression looking back at you all provide enough visual interest that the composition works here. You might have considered having her move her right arm, perhaps going back in front of her so it didn't look as big... but this isn't a huge concern for me. You also did a great job here of getting to the right height; not only did you get to her level, but you put the trees behind her in the perfect position! If the row of threes were any higher, they would have been a distinct distraction; lower, and they still might have been an issue. Anyway, this is a good shot.
Very nice!
Really? Yay for the first three, but I think you take pleasure in posting the worst pictures of me on the internet. Just sayin'
ReplyDelete