Critique of the Week April 30-May 6:Post any Photo for C&C

fcortese · Apr 30, 2012, 08:08 AM

This is a thread for people who would like some constructive feedback on their photos. You may submit a photo once per week (or up to three in a single post, if you have a set of related images). If you would like feedback about something specific (exposure, cropping, processing, etc.), then be sure to include that information.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to offer comments and critiques, regardless of whether or not they have submitted their own photos.

Anyone may repost this thread after it has expired.

cupcakes2000 · May 2, 2012, 06:52 AM

I just got a 3 stop ND filter...

ISO 100
30mm
f/14
1/8
sigma 30mm f/1.4 prime
7d
Aperture + silver fx pro

kallisti · 12:08 PM

I posted a similar image in the POTD thread, but reshot it today. Initially was playing around with a new lens and captured something that kept making me go back and look at it.

D700. 300mm. f/8. 1/250. ISO 400.

I liked the horizontal lines with their tonal gradients. I liked the texture of the wood. I also liked the much lighter vertical lines noted on the right of the image--subtle but for me they added something compared to a version where they were cropped out.

Shot from a window of my house towards a next door house. Camera/lens stabilized on the window. The subject is on the north side of the house, so never receives direct light and only rarely receives side light. Almost always in diffuse light (shade).

Here is a small pic of the shooting scenario:

Didn't do much with the original image in post--basically ran it through Silver Efex Pro 2 to find a B&W version I liked and then made minor tweaks in Aperture.

Suggestions on composition (i.e. does the vertical white area on the right work? Crop to make it a larger part of the image and follow the rule-of-thirds? Leave it out altogether?). Other suggestions?

On a big scale I realize the subject itself may not be appealing for many. But for me I just kept getting drawn back to it for some reason.

Doylem · May 2, 2012, 12:15 PM

^^^

I perfectly understand the idea of being drawn back, again and again, to a particular subject... often one that's close to hand (so I get to see it in different light, etc). And I'm fine with pix that don't have a defined subject... as long as there's enough 'visual stimulus' to let my eyes wander over the surface. The traditional way of shooting this would be to have the repetition interrupted by something - a knot-hole, a resting butterfly, etc - and the eye would be drawn straight to that. But this treatment emphasises the simple enjoyment of line and tone and texture... repetitions uninterrupted...

I didn't even notice the paler 'panel' on the right; the dominant horizontal lines on the left make it kinda irrelevant... so it all but disappears. On the whole, the pic looks to be like an interesting experiment into light, and surfaces, rather than a 'finished product'. A bit too minimalistic, perhaps, for my tastes...

Alonzo84 · May 2, 2012, 10:20 PM

Flowers Along a Path by JonathanVirgiePhotography, on Flickr

Laird Knox · May 4, 2012, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupcakes2000

I just got a 3 stop ND filter...

ISO 100
30mm
f/14
1/8
sigma 30mm f/1.4 prime
7d
Aperture + silver fx pro

I really like the water but find the shadows to be too black. I would have thought that was longer than a 1/8 second photo. The water must have really been flowing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alonzo84

The lattice and flowers fight for my attention.

----------

Wednesday night I was in the studio and caught a model adjusting her hat next to a large soft box. In Photoshop I played with the light source but the silhouette is as shot.

Designer Dale · May 4, 2012, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laird Knox

////
Wednesday night I was in the studio and caught a model adjusting her hat next to a large soft box. In Photoshop I played with the light source but the silhouette is as shot.

Very nice minimalist photo. I like the colors and graphic quality to it. Well done.

Dale

TheReef · May 8, 2012, 05:42 AM

Perhaps we could make this a fortnightly thread so more submissions can be made in less threads?

Doylem · May 8, 2012, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReef

Perhaps we could make this a fortnightly thread so more submissions can be made in less threads?

Monthly?

TheReef · May 8, 2012, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doylem

Monthly?

Yeah, I like it - makes things simple.

fcortese · May 8, 2012, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReef

Yeah, I like it - makes things simple.

Sounds good to me. I am not sure how to change the title on this thread and it has already run out of time, but now that it's down the next one can run for a month? Someone pull the trigger??

----------

OK, how about this:

Critique of the Month of May: Post any Photo for C&C
This is a thread for people who would like some constructive feedback on their photos. You may submit a photo once per week (or up to three in a single post, if you have a set of related images). If you would like feedback about something specific (exposure, cropping, processing, etc.), then be sure to include that information.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to offer comments and critiques, regardless of whether or not they have submitted their own photos.

Anyone may repost this thread after it has expire

Laird Knox · May 8, 2012, 09:26 AM

You can switch the current thread to the month of May.

Phrasikleia · May 8, 2012, 10:49 AM

So if the thread runs for an entire month, does that mean that each person may submit a photo (or single set of up to three photos) for critique only once per month? I suppose it should work that way in order to keep a good balance between photos and C&C.

Edit: Just noticed Fcortese's intro text above. I think it would be more straightforward if the submission limit matches the time period of the thread: each person may submit once per thread. What does everyone else think?

Designer Dale · May 8, 2012, 02:08 PM

The Fortnightly Challenge is out of steam and I plan on retiring it when the current set of topics is exhausted. That will reduce the number of photo post threads to three: Contest, POTD and Critique.

Some of the photo threads in the Picture Gallery on MR are reset after a given number of posts and the titles are numbered. Look through the Picture Gallery to see what I mean.

The deciding factor in using monthly or weekly, which is what is being discussed, is how many photos a user is allowed to post. I like weekly, but the issue seems to be that none of us have the power to close a thread and prevent users from keeping the old threads going, which creates clutter. Only a Moderator can close a thread to further comments.

I suppose the thread started could edit the title by adding [Closed] to it when it expires.

Just my 2 €/£/¢ worth

Dale

cupcakes2000 · May 8, 2012, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

The Fortnightly Challenge is out of steam and I plan on retiring it when the current set of topics is exhausted. That will reduce the number of photo post threads to three: Contest, POTD and Critique.

Some of the photo threads in the Picture Gallery on MR are reset after a given number of posts and the titles are numbered. Look through the Picture Gallery to see what I mean.

The deciding factor in using monthly or weekly, which is what is being discussed, is how many photos a user is allowed to post. I like weekly, but the issue seems to be that none of us have the power to close a thread and prevent users from keeping the old threads going, which creates clutter. Only a Moderator can close a thread to further comments.

I suppose the thread started could edit the title by adding [Closed] to it when it expires.

Just my 2 €/£/¢ worth

Dale

I think one week threads would be better too, perhaps somebody could approach a moderator to close it weekly for us..?

Designer Dale · May 8, 2012, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupcakes2000

I think one week threads would be better too, perhaps somebody could approach a moderator to close it weekly for us..?

A couple of the Mods are regulars in this part of the MR site, but they are kept busy with official duties. The better idea is to unofficially close the thread by just editing the title.

Dale

Phrasikleia · May 8, 2012, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupcakes2000

I think one week threads would be better too, perhaps somebody could approach a moderator to close it weekly for us..?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

A couple of the Mods are regulars in this part of the MR site, but they are kept busy with official duties. The better idea is to unofficially close the thread by just editing the title.

Dale

So we're back to Critique of the Week, then?

fcortese · May 8, 2012, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

So if the thread runs for an entire month, does that mean that each person may submit a photo (or single set of up to three photos) for critique only once per month? I suppose it should work that way in order to keep a good balance between photos and C&C.

Edit: Just noticed Fcortese's intro text above. I think it would be more straightforward if the submission limit matches the time period of the thread: each person may submit once per thread. What does everyone else think?

I was thinking that if we ran it for the month, then anyone could post on a weekly basis. Of course, who would keep track of that?? I had no problem with a weekly C&C. Some weeks were full and some not so full, but I guess we can give it a run of a couple of months and see how it pans out. As for the "monitoring," I think we all should do it and when we realize the week date has passed try to start a new thread and let any late posters know were on to another week or fortnight, whatever.

Designer Dale · May 8, 2012, 07:43 PM

Let's just stick with it as for now and see if it gains traction. Weekly Contest has no real set day of the week to get started, so no big deal if the next thread a few days off. Whoever starts the new one can just post a closing comment and a link to the next thread.

Dale

Phrasikleia · May 8, 2012, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fcortese

I was thinking that if we ran it for the month, then anyone could post on a weekly basis. Of course, who would keep track of that??

Yeah, it's much easier to keep track of posting if the limit is one entry per thread. That makes it very clear, at least.

Quote:

I had no problem with a weekly C&C. Some weeks were full and some not so full, but I guess we can give it a run of a couple of months and see how it pans out. As for the "monitoring," I think we all should do it and when we realize the week date has passed try to start a new thread and let any late posters know were on to another week or fortnight, whatever.

I agree. We all do a pretty good job of monitoring POTD, so I'm sure we can do it with a weekly critique thread too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

Let's just stick with it as for now and see if it gains traction. Weekly Contest has no real set day of the week to get started, so no big deal if the next thread a few days off. Whoever starts the new one can just post a closing comment and a link to the next thread.

Dale

I think that's a good idea. I also like the idea of someone changing the title to say "closed" after the week is up.

Designer Dale · May 10, 2012, 01:01 PM

This week's thread is now closed. Please post your photos in the current week.

May 10-16

Dale

Apr 30, 2012, 08:08 AM	#1
fcortese macrumors 65816 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Big Sky country	Critique of the Week April 30-May 6:Post any Photo for C&C This is a thread for people who would like some constructive feedback on their photos. You may submit a photo once per week (or up to three in a single post, if you have a set of related images). If you would like feedback about something specific (exposure, cropping, processing, etc.), then be sure to include that information. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to offer comments and critiques, regardless of whether or not they have submitted their own photos. Anyone may repost this thread after it has expired. __________________ 15"MBP 2.66 i7 8GB; iPod Classic; iPhone5; Canon 5DIII w/24-105 f4L & 4 lenses "You can observe a lot by just watching"-Yogi Berra florcortese.smugmug.com
	0

May 2, 2012, 06:52 AM	#2
cupcakes2000 macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2010	I just got a 3 stop ND filter... ISO 100 30mm f/14 1/8 sigma 30mm f/1.4 prime 7d Aperture + silver fx pro __________________ website
	0

May 2, 2012, 11:46 AM	#3
kallisti macrumors 6502a Join Date: Apr 2003	I posted a similar image in the POTD thread, but reshot it today. Initially was playing around with a new lens and captured something that kept making me go back and look at it. D700. 300mm. f/8. 1/250. ISO 400. I liked the horizontal lines with their tonal gradients. I liked the texture of the wood. I also liked the much lighter vertical lines noted on the right of the image--subtle but for me they added something compared to a version where they were cropped out. Shot from a window of my house towards a next door house. Camera/lens stabilized on the window. The subject is on the north side of the house, so never receives direct light and only rarely receives side light. Almost always in diffuse light (shade). Here is a small pic of the shooting scenario: Didn't do much with the original image in post--basically ran it through Silver Efex Pro 2 to find a B&W version I liked and then made minor tweaks in Aperture. Suggestions on composition (i.e. does the vertical white area on the right work? Crop to make it a larger part of the image and follow the rule-of-thirds? Leave it out altogether?). Other suggestions? On a big scale I realize the subject itself may not be appealing for many. But for me I just kept getting drawn back to it for some reason. __________________ To the prettiest one. Last edited by kallisti; May 2, 2012 at 12:08 PM.
	0

May 2, 2012, 10:20 PM	#5
Alonzo84 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Carolina	Flowers Along a Path by JonathanVirgiePhotography, on Flickr __________________ Nikon D700 24-70mm f/2.8 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II SB700 MacBook Pro Flickr, Facebook, Jonathan Virgie Photography
	0

May 8, 2012, 05:42 AM	#8
TheReef macrumors 68000 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NSW, Australia	Perhaps we could make this a fortnightly thread so more submissions can be made in less threads? __________________ My New App for iPad - The Seascapist - Learn Seascape Photography I'd love to hear what you think, comment on it here: Macrumors Thread Link
	0

May 2, 2012, 12:15 PM	#4
Doylem macrumors 68030 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Windermere: England's longest and wettest lake...	^^^ I perfectly understand the idea of being drawn back, again and again, to a particular subject... often one that's close to hand (so I get to see it in different light, etc). And I'm fine with pix that don't have a defined subject... as long as there's enough 'visual stimulus' to let my eyes wander over the surface. The traditional way of shooting this would be to have the repetition interrupted by something - a knot-hole, a resting butterfly, etc - and the eye would be drawn straight to that. But this treatment emphasises the simple enjoyment of line and tone and texture... repetitions uninterrupted... I didn't even notice the paler 'panel' on the right; the dominant horizontal lines on the left make it kinda irrelevant... so it all but disappears. On the whole, the pic looks to be like an interesting experiment into light, and surfaces, rather than a 'finished product'. A bit too minimalistic, perhaps, for my tastes...
	0

May 8, 2012, 09:26 AM	#12
Laird Knox macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010	You can switch the current thread to the month of May.
	0

May 8, 2012, 10:49 AM	#13
Phrasikleia macrumors 68040 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Over there------->	So if the thread runs for an entire month, does that mean that each person may submit a photo (or single set of up to three photos) for critique only once per month? I suppose it should work that way in order to keep a good balance between photos and C&C. Edit: Just noticed Fcortese's intro text above. I think it would be more straightforward if the submission limit matches the time period of the thread: each person may submit once per thread. What does everyone else think? __________________ Photography by Phrasikleia
	0

May 8, 2012, 02:08 PM	#14
Designer Dale macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Folding space	The Fortnightly Challenge is out of steam and I plan on retiring it when the current set of topics is exhausted. That will reduce the number of photo post threads to three: Contest, POTD and Critique. Some of the photo threads in the Picture Gallery on MR are reset after a given number of posts and the titles are numbered. Look through the Picture Gallery to see what I mean. The deciding factor in using monthly or weekly, which is what is being discussed, is how many photos a user is allowed to post. I like weekly, but the issue seems to be that none of us have the power to close a thread and prevent users from keeping the old threads going, which creates clutter. Only a Moderator can close a thread to further comments. I suppose the thread started could edit the title by adding [Closed] to it when it expires. Just my 2 €/£/¢ worth Dale __________________ How to Post, Quote and Multi-Quote Photos - My Google Docs Folder 12/2011 I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
	0

May 8, 2012, 07:43 PM	#19
Designer Dale macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Folding space	Let's just stick with it as for now and see if it gains traction. Weekly Contest has no real set day of the week to get started, so no big deal if the next thread a few days off. Whoever starts the new one can just post a closing comment and a link to the next thread. Dale __________________ How to Post, Quote and Multi-Quote Photos - My Google Docs Folder 12/2011 I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
	0

May 10, 2012, 01:01 PM	#21
Designer Dale macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Folding space	This week's thread is now closed. Please post your photos in the current week. May 10-16 Dale __________________ How to Post, Quote and Multi-Quote Photos - My Google Docs Folder 12/2011 I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.
	0


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