What do you think?
I was recently sent this photo to comment on. As usual I like to share what the photography said. Several of my fellow photographers may have a similar question or may have encountered a similar situation. In this case Joe was right to the point when asking what I thought about this image. He merely asked me what I thought.
As I have been doing lately, I’m responding with a video critique so everyone can understand right away and not try to understand my text. What I talk about in this video is what I teach both in my online class with the PPSOP, and in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around the planet.
Take a look: http://www.screencast.com/t/MyRARzOUtX
Here’s what I mean by “light is everything”
It’s all about the light.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2014 workshop schedule at the top of this blog. On July 27th I’ll be back at the Maine Media Workshop for the 26th year. It’s the granddaddy of all the workshops and a great place to immerse yourself in photography for a week. I still have three spots left for my coordinated trip with Epic Photo tours to Myanmar. It’s a fabulous country rich in photo opportunities and memories.
Don’t forget to send me a photo and question to: askjoeb@gmail.com.
JoeB
I don’t agree with the critique. To me the photo just lacks in contrast. It looks like it was shot on a cloudy/overcast day; if this is the case the person made a good choice about doing this kind of photography (motion filled).
Perhaps it just lacks a bit of post-processing, it looks like a flat RAW image.
Valeriano,
The difference between you and I is that before I clicked the shutter I ask myself if this is going to be a shot i’ll always remember. If I can’t answer yes, then I don’t click the shutter until it ‘IS’ a photo I’ll remember. How would I do that in this situation?
First of all I would find a location where the background had more contrast…as in a darker area. Since I’m always looking for ways to generate Visual Tension, I would not have placed her in the middle of the frame. Where’s the drama? The viewer is not going to stick around, mainly because the photographer didn’t give him enough reasons to want to. Place her close to the right hand edge of the frame so the viewer will wonder where’s she going…you’re implying content outside of the frame.
Remember that unless you’re street shooting where ‘the moment’ is critical, light is always going to be everything. If I can’t find the light, then I’m going to look for contrast.
In the theory of Gestalt, what’s important is how we manage what the viewer perceives and processes when looking at the visual information we lay out to him in the form of a photo. It’s our prime objective to present this information in such a way as to take control of what the viewer sees when looking at our imagery. I just don’t see that in this photo. That said, I also like the motion, but i would have included all of the tires (circles) and created Negative Space between where the tire ended and the edge of the frame began.
Btw, my goal is to help people become better photographers by getting as much “in the camera” as possible….not better computer artists and digital technicians by post processing after the fact.
That’s not to say I don’t use it, because I do.
JoeB
I don’t agree with the critique. To me the photo just lacks in contrast. It looks like it was shot on a cloudy/overcast day; if this is the case the person made a good choice about doing this kind of photography (motion filled). Perhaps it just lacks a bit of post-processing, it looks like a flat RAW image.
On another hand, I would have added something into the scene too: the front basket of the bike is empty; to me some flowers, or a little dog facing the biker would have improved the shot and given it something else. Of course I don’t think I would have come up with this idea right away when shooting it, but maybe I would have re-done the photo again with this new concept.