LMSYS III - Photo discussion thread

Use this thread to discuss each week's entries.

Weekly judges can offer up C&C in here as well as contestants and contest followers.

The photog can offer up discussion on set up and the though behind the his/her photo as well.

Thanks!

Jon

From the other thread:

https://photography-on-the.net …p=12295816&post​count=1854

Jason C

I have a suggestion that could help -- how about if we want to discuss a particular shot, post a link to the photo so that people can quickly bring it up without hunting?

Just a thought...

Good idea

Jason, regarding your photo:

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=12242222&pos​tcount=175

I've never been any kind of photo judge anywhere, so all I can do is guess: I'd imagine that what came across with your photo is the "story" -- the lonely isolation of the "holdout" was very much communicated...but one of the actual judges would have to chime in to let me know if I'm full of it!

This is the link to the offending submission:

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=12242222&pos​tcount=175

I here you Tony, and you to Gail. As I said prior, and to fair to the judges, I dislike just about everything I shoot. And furthermore, I wanted to get a discussion a whirling.


Jason C

Jason C wrote in post #12298405
This is the link to the offending submission:

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=12242222&pos​tcount=175

I here you Tony, and you to Gail. As I said prior, and to fair to the judges, I dislike just about everything I shoot. And furthermore, I wanted to get a discussion a whirling.

Jason C

I thought the bokeh is what made the shot. Isolating the subject and the character of the bokeh effectively made the point.

Jason C wrote in post #12298405
This is the link to the offending submission:

https://photography-on-the.net …?p=12242222&pos​tcount=175

I here you Tony, and you to Gail. As I said prior, and to fair to the judges, I dislike just about everything I shoot. And furthermore, I wanted to get a discussion a whirling.

Jason C

soleful2001 wrote in post #12299783
I thought the bokeh is what made the shot. Isolating the subject and the character of the bokeh effectively made the point.

I thought the bokeh was weird... it had strange patterns, making the shot look painted. It's not a terrible shot, and the composition is nice.

I like the highlight on the little branches, but in terms of the overall image.. it seems shaky or something. It either isn't super sharp, or maybe a heavy crop? Or .....?

You did well to communicate your title.. Maybe I'm looking for DSLR quality from the Penn?

Kristy wrote in post #12310056
I thought the bokeh was weird... it had strange patterns, making the shot look painted. It's not a terrible shot, and the composition is nice.

I like the highlight on the little branches, but in terms of the overall image.. it seems shaky or something. It either isn't super sharp, or maybe a heavy crop? Or .....?

You did well to communicate your title.. Maybe I'm looking for DSLR quality from the Penn?

Yes, big crop but not huge. It is odd background blur, can't blame the L for that. As a point of information, the Oly has a 2x crop sensor, so the 35mm exif equivalent is f/8 at 400mm.

Jason C

Here's my 2 cents worth on your shot, Jason. Overall, I liked the composition, but I agree the bokeh/grain effect was odd. It's like it was in between pure grain and a filter effect. The other out of focus leaf in the bottom was a little distracting, but as Kristy said, your title conveyed the desired mood nicely. I saw it as a top 3 shot in my eyes.

Cool idea :3

-edit- as for your photo id say the bokeh and the isolation of the leaf is what did it

When all is said and done for this week, winners announced and such, I'm going to go out on a limb and just post a short critique on all photos submitted for this week in this thread. I will NOT post scores, just C&C from my neck of the photography world.

My perspective. My likes. Dislikes. Me. A non-professional judge.

We'll see how that goes over...


Jason C

^- I'd love it personally, I like good C&C

Have at it folks:

soleful2001 - I sure wish the focus had been stronger here as the image is otherwise an appealing mix of bird, rough-cut stump and how well the small subject fits into the environment. I would have preferred a better crop as well - off with the stick-stuff on the left. Not sure if the conversion should be a B&W either since it seems the emphasis would be more on the subject rather than having it all blend together in mono.

Robuk - Wonderful capture of what I assume to be a difficult subject, particularly while engaged in aerial maneuvers. The lower bird is awesomely sharp but I do wish the other wasn't quite as "muddy," if that makes any sense? It must be well in front of the other but the lack of focus is distracting to me. The overall brightness of the sky is too, but to a lesser degree.

airfrogusmc - I like this photo for all of it's negative space, the overall vastness of the BG relative to the subject, and the slight overlap of the wall panels so the lines are not symmetrical as absolute thirds. What I also enjoy is the fact that I can either expand my POV outward from the person seated or start wide and draw into the photo. The funny thing was I knew the image was from the interior of the Art Intstitute of Chicago as soon as I saw it. My favorite image of the week.

flo - First off, the title is perfect because it immediately sets the tone for the image. You've really grabbed a family moment that will make everyone who sees it smile. Bring down the harsh highlights and this image is much stronger.

-g- - It's funny that we see so much of each others families here ~ meaning in some cases we almost get a sense of who the subjects are as people, as we do here with your granddaughter. This is a really fun shot and having all those bubbles in front is a neat touch. One of the reasons I keep my 50L is knowing someday I'll have grandkids to capture. No hurry though. Really.

Kristy - Yes, we can tell she adores her father. And as a father of two daughters I know the warmth of a smile like that when I've done something right, even if they are now 21 and 17. She has an angelic smile and really pretty eyes. While some may find the sunglasses distracting, I feel just the opposite: I think it's a cool detail. Wish the flower was intact though because for some reason, that's what I'm looking at after her eyes and smile. I like the processing of this image too.

Skrim17 - I like this portrait and I will admit that I looked at your website and saw the B&W conversion and liked that one more. Why? The funky green and gray wall in the color version. I am definitely digging the blues and the texture of the denim and even the wrinkles of the shirt, but that wall behind her does nothing for me ~ it almost seems to be pulling something out of her. Dare I say that I would prefer to see the wall in gray with Susan left as she is in blue? Would that be selective coloring? Maybe I had better stop now.

lavanut - I definitely get a sense of what your title is saying, so close and yet not quite. I like the fact that I can read into the image just through the body language without seeing his face, specifically the hands, and I really like the tension that is conveyed from your crop ~ almost as though if his hands released they would try to push out the edge of the image.

KenjiS - Welcome to our little corner of POTN. I like your use of strong, bold colors for your subject and BG. Unfortunately your flash overwhelms some of the softness of your subject. The flower is sort of soggy too. Drop another photo in for the new week!

dilorenzo1954 - Nice processing; really adds the right element of newness and softness to the image. I really like how the DOF just kisses the eye, nose and mouth before it just dissolves into the wonderful blur of f/1.4... The crop could be just a bit tighter, less space on right the so the arm and face cut more of a diagonal third across the photo (that's just me though.)

Thanks!! It was soo sunny out this day, I was torn between using the fill flash and just ignoring the exposure.i had alot of blowouts.