LMSYS III - Photo discussion thread

[Todd Lambert]

Ha! I knew it!! LOL

Thanks Geno... Light pollution can actually be your friend sometimes

[Cuypers1807]

My comments for this week:

Dilorenzo - Glad to see you back. Lovely shot here. Composition, colors, DOF and exposure are right on.

JasonC- I really like this. It has me asking all sorts of questions. I agree with G that the exposure might be a bit dark but if you were to change it, I would only want you to raise the levels on the column on the right and even lower the exposure on the background to give the images more prominence.

Harleypugs - cute photo. My daughter had one of those hat but the photo I got of her was very different... mainly because she didn’t want to wear it. For me the added grain is a detractor because it doesn’t look real and it distorts your daughter’s cute face. I don’t like the way her hand is caught in the vignetting as well.

Kristy - Very colorful image. The bottom right corner hurts this image in my opinion. It competes too much with the center of the flower.

Harm - I like this. Very good control of exposure in a high contrast scene. I love the left side with the crowd in the background. I wish the crowd was visible on both sides.

TwoStroke - Very nice photo of the flower. The out of focus petals in the foreground compete too much with the rest of the flower. A slightly higher vantage point and greater DOF would have included the entire center of the flower as well.

paulccsi - Beautiful shot of the heron. My brother is a bird photographer so I know how difficult it is to get nice flying shots. It looks like it is time for you to add a 500 or 600 to your lens collection. Since the heron is the only thing in the photo I want to see more of it and less sky.

Todd Lambert - Another nice one Todd. Like the careful composition of the plant and the bright sky. The bottom seems a little tight on the plant.


Tonylong - A nice abstract. For me I would want to see a greater depth of field so I can see every little detail on that wall. I want to stare at it until I have seen every crack, scratch and texture.

patrickf117 - beautiful photo. Colors and composition are luxuriously saturated and the DOF is very nice. One of my favorites of the week. I hope you have made a print of this. The larger the better!

Timphoto - I like the colors and diagonal composition. For some reason I wish the guy was looking towards the woman but a nice candid otherwise.

[Timphoto]

Originally Posted by -g-

My comments for the week:

Timphoto:

Nice candid beach shot. Not sure if you could have got closer but it might have made for a stronger image.

Originally Posted by Cuypers1807

My comments for this week:

Timphoto - I like the colors and diagonal composition. For some reason I wish the guy was looking towards the woman but a nice candid otherwise.

Thanks for the comments. I agree, I wish I could have gotten closer, but I was up on a cliff above them at the time. Observing them for some time, I noticed that the woman stayed focused on the man near her. She never looked out over the water. The man, on the other hand, looked far out to sea most of the time, rarely nearby at her. Thus the Near & Far title. He has a military style haircut, so I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about that took his focus away from the beautiful woman near him.

It's been said that it's not a good thing if you have to explain a photograph, and that appears to be the case here, and there is certainly room for a lot of improvement, but this shot has gave me some great ideas for a future composition.

[airfrogusmc]

Originally Posted by Timphoto

Thanks for the comments. I agree, I wish I could have gotten closer, but I was up on a cliff above them at the time. Observing them for some time, I noticed that the woman stayed focused on the man near her. She never looked out over the water. The man, on the other hand, looked far out to sea most of the time, rarely nearby at her. Thus the Near & Far title. He has a military style haircut, so I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about that took his focus away from the beautiful woman near him.

It's been said that it's not a good thing if you have to explain a photograph, and that appears to be the case here, and there is certainly room for a lot of improvement, but this shot has gave me some great ideas for a future composition.

Hi Tim, I actually like your image as is. The image needs the space in my opinion. My eye goes right to the woman taking the photo of the man and it follows the line from her gaze to the man then his gaze out and then back to the woman. This image needs scale and thus its lost on the internet but if it were 20 X 30 it would have an entirely different feel. Nice use of implied line and space. I also really like the color in this image and it works perfect with the visual statement. I wouldn't change a thing and this could work in very nicely with a series of images. I can't see how tighter would be better because to me this image is about all of those things I just mentioned and tighter wouldn't help that in any way.

I love the parallel lines also. The color palate is perfect. Love the tan of the sand, the blue green of the ocean and the wonderful wide purplish band where the two meet.

[Harleypugs]

Thanks for the comments...

Here is the orginal. I wanted something a little different from the one that is very similar to this one but she is facing forward. I can tell you the B&W looks great on a canvas print...


_MG_8985 by battlefloydflyer, on Flickr

[tonylong]

Hey all!

Originally Posted by -g-

tonylong:

Very good detail from the concrete and mortar. Did you try shifting your field of view to see what that got you?

Heh! I guess I didn't stretch enough creatively, but here's another shot I took:

Originally Posted by Cuypers1807

My comments for this week:
Tonylong - A nice abstract. For me I would want to see a greater depth of field so I can see every little detail on that wall. I want to stare at it until I have seen every crack, scratch and texture.

Yeah, close up at macro distances I just left it at f/13, and went for the detail I could get!

[airfrogusmc]

Originally Posted by tonylong

Hey all!



Heh! I guess I didn't stretch enough creatively, but here's another shot I took:





Yeah, close up at macro distances I just left it at f/13, and went for the detail I could get!

This is interesting Tony!!!

[Kristy]

Congratulations to the new winners, and thanks for the HM judges.... I knew it was a tough week judging... lol...

Thanks for the feedback Joby.... On the thorns... the flowers grow out of the thorny cactus, so kinda tough to shoot it without them... it's nature... lol.. HAPPY TUESDAY!

[tonylong]

Originally Posted by airfrogusmc

This is interesting Tony!!!

Well, thanks Allen!

I was mainly interested in the play of light and shadow, but shooting with the macro lens so I could get "up close and personal"...

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by -g-

Jason C:

Maybe a tad dark.

Originally Posted by Cuypers1807

JasonC-I agree with G that the exposure might be a bit dark but if you were to change it, I would only want you to raise the levels on the column on the right and even lower the exposure on the background to give the images more prominence.

You both got me wondering, but I do have a very recent calibration that was only a hair off and by screen brightness is already low.

I get prints that are identical to what I see on display, so, like I said you both got me wondering.

I do tend to go more dark anyway, and that's my preference. So, I may need to recalibrate and if I'm off I apologize. If my calibration is still good, than I prefer my submission as it stands,

Thanks gents!


Jason C

[dilorenzo1954]

Jeez! I gotta start hangin' out a little more around here...Thanks judges for the nod (totally unexpected) and congrats to the other winners!
Only 6 entries this week. Are we letting this go for 2 weeks now? Should we?

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by dilorenzo1954

Only 6 entries this week. Are we letting this go for 2 weeks now? Should we?

I was wondering the same thing...

Ed, you're the head-honcho this week, it's your call.


Jason C

[dilorenzo1954]

Originally Posted by Jason C

I was wondering the same thing...

Ed, you're the head-honcho this week, it's your call.


Jason C

OK then,
We are going for a second week. Step right up...git yer entries in!

[dilorenzo1954]

Winners! We have winners here!

HM Matt- Waterfront
3rd Place Joby- Lily in Concert
2nd place Gail- Rufous
1st place Allen- After the Rain

Congrats winners and thanks for the fabulous entries to all the contestants!

Comments will follow soon...

[Kristy]

Congratulations winners! Great job judges.. .I really loved all of the winning entries too...