Composition and all that Arty stuff - discussion thread.

Oh OK...

Thanks for the comments.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #16614634

A variety of responses from the same viewer. Who loves ya baby?

This is a lovely shot of an open courtyard and an engaging exchange between mother and child. The juxtaposition of subject in the upper right frame and abundant leading lines create motion which offers the viewer a visual reward for making the journey.

And

This image features the use of leading lines. A sea of leading line, which take the viewer to the upper right hand corner where we see a nice exchange between mother and child who are heading out of the frame by leading lines, not facing us, and truncation, and with no visible return path to the frame. We can retrace the area of interest but there is little value in reversing direction to the rest of the frame. The subject is stronger than the leading lines.

And

This image doesn't have enough visual appeal to hang on my wall. The style feels a bit dated. That of course is purely subjective having nothing to do with the actual quality of the piece or style of expression.

And

No comment.

And

Good job!

OhLook wrote in post #16614721
I'll be perfecting my art independently of where your attention might go.

I like your chutzpah. I would like to say that I am not out to hurt anyone. My words can incite riot or start a dialog but the bottom line is honesty without shame, remorse, or retaliation. One voice in trillions.

icebat wrote in post #16613596
Grabbed this shot on my first day of vacation in Cancun. What caught my eye was the repeating pattern of the beach huts going down the beach and the bird sitting on the far left. What do you guys think?

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/seanfarrell/11​811029014/
Freedom by Sean Farrell23, on Flickr

I love the composition of this image. We have a perched gull in the lower left corner, and a gull in flight in the upper right corner - how cool is that?!! I really like that the flying gull is sharp, despite the fact that it is so much further from the camera than the other foreground elements.

That is one heck of an interesting sky! Lots of character, form, and texture in it. What helps the composition a lot is that the sky at the top of the frame is darker than most of the rest of the sky. That dark top edge combines very nicely with the silhouetted beach huts at the bottom of the frame. Speaking if those huts, my eye would like to see a bit more of them. The way they are cut off so short makes them look a bit awkwardly truncated to my eye. But "fixing" that would be simple - just add a bit of canvas along the bottom edge and make it black like the huts. That's the beauty of silhouettes!

The blue color of the sky is a bit over-powering. I even wonder if it might be "fake". By this I mean that it looks like it may not be the natural color of the sky at that time, but instead may be the product of over-processing - like cranking up he saturation slider, of some other such editing action. I think the natural color of the sky might be very pleasing to see here, especially if it wasn't so vivid.

Overall just a real interesting image that I like a lot!

[Allen's latest image]

What caught my attention was the reference to the US flag in the woman's clothing - you see the stripes of the shirt and then the stars (that may actually spots but they work visually as white spots on a dark background, aligned with the stripes) of her backpack. That's the interesting bit to me and if that's what you've seen then ... well ...

This one, I'm not sure if I might crop it - I think the diagonals are working here, but to a less critical extent than in the bicycle image and that this one might benefit from tightening up a little.

Here's an image to critique from several years ago. Whatever you feel like contributing. I am also interested in feedback on the different print tones and which you like best. While the grass was lush in the original I find the middle and then black and white to be my favorites.

Owain Shaw wrote in post #16614960
[Allen's latest image]

What caught my attention was the reference to the US flag in the woman's clothing - you see the stripes of the shirt and then the stars (that may actually spots but they work visually as white spots on a dark background, aligned with the stripes) of her backpack. That's the interesting bit to me and if that's what you've seen then ... well ...

Thanks and yes I was wondering if anyone would see that.

Maybe I left that a little to subtle. Maybe I'll bring that area up some? I haven't got around to printing it yet. Maybe I'll do that soon and decide after seeing it printed.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #16614896
I love the composition of this image. We have a perched gull in the lower left corner, and a gull in flight in the upper right corner - how cool is that?!! I really like that the flying gull is sharp, despite the fact that it is so much further from the camera than the other foreground elements.

That is one heck of an interesting sky! Lots of character, form, and texture in it. What helps the composition a lot is that the sky at the top of the frame is darker than most of the rest of the sky. That dark top edge combines very nicely with the silhouetted beach huts at the bottom of the frame. Speaking if those huts, my eye would like to see a bit more of them. The way they are cut off so short makes them look a bit awkwardly truncated to my eye. But "fixing" that would be simple - just add a bit of canvas along the bottom edge and make it black like the huts. That's the beauty of silhouettes!

The blue color of the sky is a bit over-powering. I even wonder if it might be "fake". By this I mean that it looks like it may not be the natural color of the sky at that time, but instead may be the product of over-processing - like cranking up he saturation slider, of some other such editing action. I think the natural color of the sky might be very pleasing to see here, especially if it wasn't so vivid.

Overall just a real interesting image that I like a lot!

Tom I agree my one other negative is a technical one and it's the blown sky left center. I think that area needs detail. As Joe mention cut back some on the saturation of the sky and the sharpening and try and do something about the loss of detail center left...

I really like the repeating shapes of the huts.

jetcode wrote in post #16614469
The positioning of the silhouettes works fine. What could be tweaked is what we see between the silhouettes. The background may be sparse or perhaps you could move a bit and see if you can frame more scenery in the background. For instance what if the white village was between the different silhouettes. One thing that would completely change the character of this is the silhouette shape. As is these folks are bundled up for cold but what if they were off to a costume party instead? Say 18th century English court. Just a thought.

Thanks JC for your comments and a different slant on the image, but it's not what i hope I was conveying (JC? that's Messianic? ) b

Joe I like the B&W best. There is a nature taking over and I remember when these type of bikes and their in line piston design were going to be the death of the V. But thats not important here.

I think there are some interesting things going on with texture and I think those become more of the subject in B&W. The chrome, leaves and wood are all interesting textures. I do think this image is very obvious at first. It's an old discarded motorcycle left to let nature take over. Is this part of a larger body of work?

OhLook wrote in post #16614522
The first thing that occurs to me is a question. Are all three traveling together; is the man in front with the couple in back, or does he just happen to be near them? That is, what's the relationship? Are they family? Does the title have to do with a relationship? If all three are members of one party, they don't all seem to get along too well. The general darkness of the scene, especially the upper region of the sky, suggests unhappiness, and the placement of figures suggests emotional tension.

Well fark me!...........you got it in one............did I get it right or have I just struck lucky?

I was sat on a bench on the promenade when a family apoproached (mother, father, daughter, son <assumed>........ They were arguing and the two males split from the females. I had my camera on my knee and shot a sequence as they split. I felt quite uncomfortable/threaten​ed as I don't like shooting conflict and was very close to it happening and thought they would know that i was pressing the shuutter at a "private moment". I knew it would be underexposed due to the backlighting, but that (accidently/subsequent​ly) suited my purpose.

Cropped and processed to place the Alpha male in "my space" which is threatening and also makes him dominant (Alpha)........his, I assume son, is barely visible alongside him. The females have a "subserviant" role to the rear, and although joined by the railings (family connect), are separated by a "clean area", room for negotiation? I nromally correct horizons but the angle creates dynamic/conflict/unres​olved issues?

jetcode wrote in post #16614786
I like your chutzpah. I would like to say that I am not out to hurt anyone. My words can incite riot or start a dialog but the bottom line is honesty without shame, remorse, or retaliation. One voice in trillions.

I'd like to keep enjoying your honesty, so I hope it won't lead to a ban.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #16615452
I'd like to keep enjoying your honesty, so I hope it won't lead to a ban.

As long as it doesn't get personal and stays about the work it should be just fine.

Owain Shaw wrote in post #16614960
[Allen's latest image]
What caught my attention was the reference to the US flag in the woman's clothing

I totally missed that. Enhancing the contrast wouldn't have made me think of it--and I'm American!

I'd like to know how Allen made the choice, how much of the surface to use.

jetcode wrote in post #16614974
Here's an image to critique from several years ago. Whatever you feel like contributing. I am also interested in feedback on the different print tones and which you like best.

For that subject, I prefer the slightly faded version.

bidkev wrote in post #16615336
I was sat on a bench on the promenade when a family apoproached (mother, father, daughter, son <assumed>........ They were arguing and the two males split from the females.

I missed the second male in front, and I thought the nearer figure in the rear was male. She's slim, but I should have paid attention to her hip line. My take was: in-law trouble, or father disapproves of daughter's long-haired boyfriend/husband. The older man's glasses imply that his perceptions are significant in whatever's happening here.

Yes, I think so. Also the clothing. The jackets and scarves are literally protection against cold and nothing else, but this photo has plenty of metaphorical cold.

Oh Look. Sometimes in my work you need to look into the backgrounds and shadows for things that are important that might not be obvious at first. As far as the why I cropped it this way is just looks right to me. I saw the mom and child walking and her stripes and the bag that together resembled old glory and I started walking behind them hoping that something would happen. I was prefocused and I shoot manual exposure and that was already set so I just waited until the child reached up for the ball and there it was. All I had to do was push the shutter. I thought after I saw the image it also could be a metaphor for someone reaching for the American dream or some other things also come to mind. So I think this image works on several levels.