Only the Brave - Honest Photography Feedback

[Speed addicted]

Craigwww said:

Speed addicted said:

I took this when the sun poked through the clouds just long enough to light up the mountains, 30 seconds later it was back to solid grey.
Do your worst!

Hello and thanks for posting up your image.

First of all, nice shot. I genuinely enjoy looking at it and you were fortunate to get such great light to illuminate the mountains in the background. It's hard for me to find something I don't like about the image. I like the fact my eye is drawn from the far right of the image all the way through to the left by following the rail cars. I also like the slightly muted colour and tone. If I was to find something to criticize, I would say that it has a bit of a commercial feel to it. Perhaps something I would see as a billboard background or advert. I couldn't see it as a framed print on someone's wall, it doesn't have a great deal of story or personality to it. If there happened to be a few rail workers or workmen somewhere in the image, it would feel more personal to me.

If I was to be picky, I would have removed the small tree that sits to the left of the image on where the railway cutting meets the bank, I find it a bit distracting and interrupts the flow slightly from right to left but that is being pedantic.

However, I do like it.

Edited by Craigwww on Wednesday 15th November 03:28

Fair enough, I did actually use it as last year xmas card to the relatives!
I considered taking out the tree, as you say it intersects the lines.

[singlecoil]

TheRainMaker said:

OK, I'll jump in.

After last months competition and the feedback being it could possibly do with some more PP, what would you change, how could it be improved?

Jersey Sunset by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Camera settings

F4, 70mm, ISO 100, 1/60, Handheld, Sony A7s

All feedback appreciated.

It's a great picture. The only thing I would change is to clone out the rocks/seaweed whatever on the sand, they catch the eye somewhat. Possibly crop out that bit of beach altogether, it is quite bright.

[Speed addicted]

singlecoil said:

TheRainMaker said:

OK, I'll jump in.

After last months competition and the feedback being it could possibly do with some more PP, what would you change, how could it be improved?

Jersey Sunset by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Camera settings

F4, 70mm, ISO 100, 1/60, Handheld, Sony A7s

All feedback appreciated.

It's a great picture. The only thing I would change is to clone out the rocks/seaweed whatever on the sand, they catch the eye somewhat. Possibly crop out that bit of beach altogether, it is quite bright.

I would probably crop it in slightly tighter, get rid of the rocks on both sides at the edge of the frame as they distract.
Stunning shot though!

[singlecoil]

I was sufficiently happy with this one to post it in the Random Photos thread but it's always interesting to hear how others see one's stuff

Mince pies and port Christmas themed by Elliott and Nolan, on Flickr

[DibblyDobbler]

Speed addicted said:

singlecoil said:

TheRainMaker said:

OK, I'll jump in.

After last months competition and the feedback being it could possibly do with some more PP, what would you change, how could it be improved?

Jersey Sunset by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Camera settings

F4, 70mm, ISO 100, 1/60, Handheld, Sony A7s

All feedback appreciated.

It's a great picture. The only thing I would change is to clone out the rocks/seaweed whatever on the sand, they catch the eye somewhat. Possibly crop out that bit of beach altogether, it is quite bright.

I would probably crop it in slightly tighter, get rid of the rocks on both sides at the edge of the frame as they distract.
Stunning shot though!

Love this shot - I actually downloaded and re-edited it slightly when it was entered in the comp last month. I whacked a bit off the bottom and also darkened the corner of the concrete wall which is bottom left as both are quite bright and a little distracting

[Craigwww]

TheRainMaker said:

OK, I'll jump in.

After last months competition and the feedback being it could possibly do with some more PP, what would you change, how could it be improved?

Jersey Sunset by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Camera settings

F4, 70mm, ISO 100, 1/60, Handheld, Sony A7s

All feedback appreciated.

Thanks for posting.

I like this image also and would echo some of the comments already made.

I would crop out the bottom of the image and lose the bright area of reflections on the wet sand. I would also try and recover some details from the shadow areas, bring out a little definition on the lighthouse and rocks. I would so this with the good old fashioned dodge and burn brushes in LR or PS. Just be careful not to overdo it and make the image unrealistic. Also I would experiment with split toning, this is a personal thing though but can really create 'mood'.. not that the image is lacking in mood though.

Personally if I was taking that image, if possible I would have clambered up onto that wall on the left to take the shot and really capture just the sky, lighthouse and turbulent sea and use the wall as a lead in line. That might be easier to say than do of course and not alot you can do about that now.

[Craigwww]

singlecoil said:

I was sufficiently happy with this one to post it in the Random Photos thread but it's always interesting to hear how others see one's stuff

Mince pies and port Christmas themed by Elliott and Nolan, on Flickr

Hi and thanks for posting.

This isn't the kind of photography I'm into, doesn't create any emotion in me but at the same time, I can appreciate it being technicaly correct and aesthetically pleasing.

The only thing that jumps out of me is there seems to be alot of detail lost in the shadows. I would personally aim to process this kind of image and make sure the whole scene is exposed fully. I want to feel the texture in the mince pies and see the pattern in the wood on the table for example. I also would have adjusted the white balance a little and made the image a tad warmer, it should feel cosy and warm but I don't get that feeling to the extent I could do. I would also have thrown in the hint of a Christmas cracker... just to really bring out some Christmas spirit lol.

I like the composition and the use of depth of field too, makes me feel like I'm sitting at the table drooling over the pies and wine.

[TheRainMaker]

Comments all taken on board and I've done a few tweaks.

PH Updated by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

[Speed addicted]

TheRainMaker said:

Comments all taken on board and I've done a few tweaks.

PH Updated by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Yes, exactly!

[Speed addicted]

singlecoil said:

I was sufficiently happy with this one to post it in the Random Photos thread but it's always interesting to hear how others see one's stuff

Mince pies and port Christmas themed by Elliott and Nolan, on Flickr

I'm not sure about it, I like the colours and texture on the pies, however the wine glasses let it down to me. I preferred the shot from the side because you got a much better feel for the warm background and the shapes of the wine glasses set off that side of the shot nicely, while giving a good contrast to the pies.
From above the glasses don't look too special (and are a little out of focus), where a side shot with a little backlighting lets you see the richness of the port coupled with the shapes and highlights on the glass.

Also without the warm feeling background the pies look colder somehow, less inviting.

[TheRainMaker]

Next one from me, do your worst

OTB 2 by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Camera settings, f9, 34mm, 15sec, iso160, sony a7

[Nik da Greek]

On the light-house picture, I'm not sure... I like the newer version because the spray is more obvious and it makes it more of a photo about the power of nature yadayada. However, I quite liked the original with the bits of beach and rocks and stuff because it just seemed to have more of a story and context about it. To be fair, it's one of the most amazing things I've seen this year either way!

On the mince pies I actually preferred the side angle (not pictured) if only the mince pies hadn't been green. The top-down doesn't have dynamism (if that's not a stupid thing to say over a still life but I can't think of a better word) and the wine glasses are too flat and dead. I always marvel at Singlecoil's pics because they have a level of technical excellence I can only dream of, but I always wish your skill was applied to something a bit more... I dunno...interesting. I appreciate this is obviously your bread-and-butter (arf!) but the subject materiel just leaves me cold


...in the vibe of this thread, please don't take anything I say as insulting. It goes without saying that it's only (very humble) opinion and I'm totally st and in no way can approach any of this camera mastery myself

[Craigwww]

TheRainMaker said:

Comments all taken on board and I've done a few tweaks.

PH Updated by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Personally I prefer this composition, works much better in my humble eyes.

The only thing I would say is there is a bit of halo around the lighthouse and land on the horizon that needs cleaned up.

Edited by Craigwww on Thursday 16th November 11:02

[TheRainMaker]

Craigwww said:

The only thing I would say is there is a bit of halo around the lighthouse and land on the horizon that needs cleaned up.

Was thinking the same, however, it's in the original file and it's beyond my ps skill level to remove

[BobToc]

Not a patch on what I've seen above, but let's try these.

[singlecoil]

Concerning the mince pies- The task I originally set myself was to produce an image of the pies with a glass or two of port. The main problem is that the pies are quite flat and the smallest port glasses we have are a lot taller. The second shot was an attempt to address that problem but I forgot to take another shot with the glasses in focus so I could stack the images and by the time I had remembered I dismantled the set.

I had another go yesterday but it just wasn't happening so in order to prevent further wasted time I ate the pies so I wouldn't be tempted to have another go.

I bought some cheese in Waitrose this morning so the weekend's task is to produce an image of cheese and port instead. Will post the result here if it turns out ok.

[Nik da Greek]

singlecoil said:

I had another go yesterday but it just wasn't happening so in order to prevent further wasted time I ate the pies so I wouldn't be tempted to have another go.

.

[Speed addicted]

singlecoil said:

Concerning the mince pies- The task I originally set myself was to produce an image of the pies with a glass or two of port. The main problem is that the pies are quite flat and the smallest port glasses we have are a lot taller. The second shot was an attempt to address that problem but I forgot to take another shot with the glasses in focus so I could stack the images and by the time I had remembered I dismantled the set.

I had another go yesterday but it just wasn't happening so in order to prevent further wasted time I ate the pies so I wouldn't be tempted to have another go.

I bought some cheese in Waitrose this morning so the weekend's task is to produce an image of cheese and port instead. Will post the result here if it turns out ok.

I notice a theme emerging of foods that go with port...

[Speed addicted]

BobToc said:

Not a patch on what I've seen above, but let's try these.

I don't have a lot of constructive criticism about these really, wow. Where the hell were you? And how can I get there?
The top one could maybe do with a multiple shot panorama to get more in, it looks epic. Obviously that's no help after the event.

Bottom one is really nicely done too. Looks like somewhere you would find King Kong!

[BobToc]

Ha! Thank you. The top one is Crater Lake in Oregon and is relatively accessible. The second one is on Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas Islands, which required a trip from LHR - LAX - PPT - NHV and was a bit of a mission!