I've been feeling guilty about submitting images for review and not taking the time to do reviews myself. I blame this partially on a lack of time, which is a pretty lame excuse. First a brief introduction. My day job is that of Regulatory Toxicologist for the US Food and Drug Administration (food safety, not drugs). I've been interested in photography for about five years, after having spent several years living in Rochester (must be something in the water). Which is where I first started subscribing to Andy's PhotoForum. I sorely miss the resources which were available in Rochester for stimulating the desire to improve one's photographic skills (especially the Community Darkroom and the George Eastman House). I hope to be able to contribute reviews in the future on a regular basis (I know, easier said then done). Maybe not as regularly as Mr. Fraser who seems to consider doing reviews a holy undertaking, which I do appreciate. One thing I have learned is that by making the effort to objectively critique the work of others you can learn a lot about your own. Please note that I haven't read the reviews on photos other than my own, since I've been out of town for the past week. 1. Greg 'Rodeo' Fraser - "End of Summer" The image is of a child's car, which appears to be carrying three pieces of rock (children do like to collect almost anything). The title is well represented by the photo, which gives the empty feeling of the passage of the season and the arrival of Fall (yellow and orange colors), Other than that, I didn't get a lot out of it. The curve effect is nice, although it's cropped too closely on the right. The focus brings my eyes to the rocks, which I feel are secondary to the overall picture. 2. D.L. shipman - "untitled" This is a picture of two Great Egrets (at least I think they're Great Egrets), which are either locked in combat or going through a mating ritual (some times the two are difficult to tell apart). The photo itself is quite beautiful, showing a lot of patience on Mr. Shipman's part. The sections of the image which out of focus give the feel of motion and intensity of action. My major problem with this photo is the deadness of the sky in the background, perhaps cropping the top would reduce that a bit. 3. Kostas Papakotas - "the amazing light conspiracy" A shot of a young singer doing a stage sound check. Not sure about the "conspiracy" part, but I do like the light. It has that warm glow of evening, and softens the overall picture. I also like the way that the you've managed to nicely isolate the singer from the musician (?) to her left. Although he almost appears attached to her. I'm somewhat disturbed by the out-of-focus stage lights which appear to be somewhat in front of the singer. Maybe a better angle would have been to take the picture a little more directly across her profile, bringing the lights more in line. 4. Gregory David Stempel - "Waiting on the Metro" A photograph of an empty gray concrete area which is broken by a whitish concrete rectangle. A person of undetermined sex is just barely visible in the upper right, apparently counting change. Even without the title I probably would have concluded that this person was waiting on the bus, or some other conveyance (in DC the subway is known as the "Metro"). The image gives the impression of emptiness, or loneliness; not sure which predominates. The shot from overhead is effective in giving that impression, although a little more space would have enhanced that feeling. 5. Andrew Fildes - "Now THIS is a kingfisher" A close up of a Kingfisher, eye-to-eye. This is a very nice image, and the poem, which I won't critique, adds a gentle touch. Good focus on the eye and beak, makes it look like a bird you wouldn't want to mess with. Your wife's "child" looks like it could be nasty. The focus on the body is a bit soft. At f2.4 I guess your depth of field is somewhat limited. 6. Dan Mitchell - "Remembrance" A photograph of an empty table in an eatery. My favorite this week. The light falling across the table and illuminating the bud vase and sugar bowl (?) is very effective. It does almost give a deja vu feeling. The highlights are well exposed and there is a nice contrast to the overall image. I originally thought the picture could be improved by cropping out the windows, but it didn't have the same feeling. 7. Achal Pashine (didn't you have another name at one time?) - Clouds Photograph of cloud formations over the ocean. Yep, those are clouds, and nice ones too. Nice level horizon, and good contrast. Looks like a shot Mike Kahn might have made, but without the sail boats. Needs some other point of interest though. 8. Fred van Sand - "Newburyport Bridge" A photograph of a raised drawbridge with a sail boat preparing to go under it. This image is a little lacking in contrast. Adding more would pop the shadow on the bridge control tower, add greater definition to the clouds and liven up the colors overall. It would have been nice to see more of the near side of the bridge, although I suspect you cropped it to remove the cars waiting to cross. The light post without the light in the foreground is distracting. I also think that cropping the right side of your image would bring the focus more to the bridge. As it stands the photo is a little too busy on the right side. I used to live in Newburyport, Mass, is this where your photo was taken? 9. Leslie Spurlock - "Boy at chorten" Photograph of a young boy standing in the doorway of a room apparently lit only by window light. Not sure where, or what, chorten is, by the look of this picture I would assume it was somewhere in Mongolia or Tibet. Anyway, I like the color rendition, good skin tone. However, my eye seems to wander away from the boy, who is supposed to be the focus, into the interior of the room. Strategic left and right cropping would eliminate other distractions and focus on the central subject (my solution for everything!). If you were attempting to show the boy with artifacts of his culture, you need to give the interior of the room greater detail. Whew, that was harder than I thought. It's taken me the better part of the morning. Oh well, I would have been working anyway. Thanks to everyone for their submissions. Scott
