I have enjoyed viewing the forum gallery week after week and have picked up some useful tips and even had some inspiration for shots! I watch my husband (Darin Heinz) spend hours meticulously studying and critiquing each wonderful piece. He has inspired me to write my first critique.... remember this is an amateur critique!!!
Rene M Hales - A Walk on Cannons Beach, Oregon, USA
This is a beautiful surreal looking image. It could easily have been taken in 1940, it has a very nostalgic feeling. It reminds me a little of the Irish beaches I grew up on.... I would love to see it as a panoramic, omitting a lot of the top and bottom of the image. Great opening image for this weeks gallery!
Trevor Cunningham - Idul Fitri Pause
The baseball cap is a nice touch! This is an interesting angle that works very well. Seeing only his foot, I can imagine the taxi "driver" on his break, tired arms behind his head, dozing off to the sounds and smells of the busy city street.... I love it when a photo evokes the senses and takes me to new places!
Jim Snarski - Point Arena Light
When I opened this image, my first impression was "Wow". There is so much here to see and I want to see more of the coastline... The water looks so powerfully blue against the jagged cliffs. I would love to see how this would look with a close vertical crop with more emphasis on the lighthouse and immediate surrounding cliff. The horizontal composition works well but my eye is drawn to the dramatic coastline rather than the lighthouse.
Dan Mitchell - End of the line
Having lived in Ireland for 18 years, I know how exciting it is to come across these broken down houses; former homes and lives. I miss those fantastic glimpses of history. As I look at this image, I can imagine the fire burning and the pot of water on the boil! I wonder how many people lived here...
The composition works well but I would like to see the lower corner of the fireplace, as this seems to lead the viewer on a path to the back room.
My husband (Darin) will shiver reading this as he is a "chrome guy" but here goes - pumping up the saturation a little in Photoshop would help pop this image a bit or converting to a Black and White image and creating a rough edged, faded vignette would further enhance the image. In saying that either enhancement could be done in camera using Velvia or TMax film. The vignette could be added in the darkroom.
Emily L. Ferguson - Waiting for rain
This image reminds me of Christmas! It seems to be out of focus which is distracting, I would love to have seen this with the red cranberries bursting out of the photo. The sunlight and shadows create a nice sunny afternoon feel.
Marilyn Dalrymple -
Beautiful work with the lighting, shadows, contrast and choice of props. The red flowers really compliment the colors of the vase. Although the backdrop is very nice (and fitting) I feel like the vase blends too much with it., in the same breath, I'm not sure what color I would want it! Sorry - no help there I know! I would love to see the original photo without the artistic effects added.
For the record, in my opinion - still life can be beautiful, intriguing, complex and only if not executed well - boring! Not in this case, very nice piece of work.
Christopher Strevens - Lines and Lines and Lines
This is more of a drawing to me than a photo. I am a big advocate of Photoshop and use it daily. I would love to see the original photo as I think it would have great contrast and be a lot more interesting. Is the brick red?
Roy Miller - Bird Of Prey
Hmm, a very stern looking owl! It would be cool seeing this with a natural backdrop of trees and maybe a little moonlight.
All for now, I hope my critique was of some help. I will try to contribute more often as I find both the photos and critiques very interesting.
Regards,
Cathy
