jIMMY Harris - LAURIE poses
This images works very well as an existing light portrait. Good eyes, with excellent highlights both looking directly into the camera. Well cropped, not too tight to the top of the head. But I think the photographer also understood that the thumb really does a disservice to the overall image quality. The placement of hands in a portrait is no mean feat, but the shot still works. The only other issue I have are the hot spots on the chin, cheeks and eyebrows. A slightly lower contrast or perhaps a minimal burn in those area are called for just to even out the contrast some.
Jeff Spirer - Accordian Player
Wow, that is some glove! I can't tell if it is really sharp or not (laptop screen) but the image really does have an impact. I would like to see it perhaps 15-20% lighter if only to brighten the glove and the keys.
Steve Shapiro -
I think this image suffers from too much dead sky. Even though there is some detail in the clouds it appears to me to be blown out. Usually when I judge an image like this I suggest to the photographer to use a grad filter to increase the contrast in the upper areas of the sky. I really don't like grad filters too much but this image could use a slight increase in detail. I really like the detail in the field and the river itself. On of my guidelines is, would I Iike to visit this area. Yes I would.
Christopher Strevens - Remembering
I am not a big fan of this filter in PS. This image was weak to start with. The boy is in a weird pose as well as the man beside him. I would much have preferred a more symbolic subject in relation to the location and time the images was shot. Wating for someone to light a candle or offer a prayer would have been preferable.
Gary M. Thomas - Atomium 5
Living in the SF bay area we have a few cool bridges too. But this one has real style. It probably has shutter marks on it. The photographer did a good job allowing the cars to be in the shot adding scale. I really like the different type of elements surfaces. Perhaps a wide or even superwide shot could look cool as well.
Richard Wrigley - Clifton Suspension Bridge
Interesting view of the bridge and river below. Most would have moved camera left to capture more water and less of the dark bank. But in this case the photographer used negative space to add shape to the bank on the right. Although I do think he could have safely cropped some of it away.
Marilyn Dalrymple - Sheep Grazing in High Desert
This shot almost works but It really needs to be a vertical. First the horizon cuts right down the middle and that to me is a rookie mistake. The sheep are behind some sort of vegatation fence. The sheep are not grazing but at rest. Moving forward to crop out the fence, getting closer to the sheep, and including more or less sky would drastically improve the images impact.
WRGill - Dew Drops
This image has excellent impact. I really like the color, sharpness, and the lack of color in the drops themselves. The scene is the replayed behind the main subject as well. This would look really cool as a vertical as well but this the best format perhaps.
Achal Pashine - Spring
I like the color of this image but it suffers from a lack of detail on the top of the leaf. Also the graduated artifacting behind the subject draws my eye away from the main subject.
David Small - New York flood
This shot has lots of creativity. I really do like the kid in the lower left of the image, but I do wish she was lower in the frame.
Howard Leigh -
I am not a fan of straight down shots of food. It could just as easily be a petrie dish with some sort of spores inside. This shadow is too strong on left and the dark place on upper left does not add anything either. Also I do not like the hot spot off of the spoon.
Guy Glorieux - The first day of a new life...
Great shot for an informal portrait. I often like to try and find out what the subjects are thinking about when the image was recorded. Mom is clearly happy. Dad seems to be thinking about the future and the worries that come with his new responsibility. Two issues from photographic standpoint, Her hospital bracelet needs to be PS'd out. And Dads nose looks too big for his face because of the way it breaks the plane of the right side of his face. But those issues are small considering the overall impact and meaning of the shot.
Overall a nice group of images to look at.
Les Baldwin
