whip me!

[Foursix]

i am quite proud of this shot, however, i am always eager to learn things i can do differently to improve my skills.

that said, let me have it!

thanks,

Mike
foursixphoto.com

[Dwayne Oakes]

good

-subject is placed off center
-good exposure for such harsh light
-nice sunny, happy mood to the photo

nit

-subject placed to close to the bottom of the frame
-the sand has a green color cast to it ?
-sharpening artifacts around the subject
-photo seems a tad washed out (lacks contrast)
-subject has alot of shadows (non use of fill flash)

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[Miguel Delinquento]

Mike,
I facilitate monthly photo critique sessions. Often when a presenter (or victim as we say) says that he/she is proud of a shot, I'm more interested in knowing why than I am in the shot itself. It helps me get a sense of the artist's personal objectives and specific goals for the shot.
So yep, I'm curious about the back story of this photograph.

Being the WP, I do have to share my own perceptions, but please try to divorce these from your intentions.

Technically, shooting into a high sun is hard to pull off. Here, the colors are washed out, with the pleasant exception of the gold beach on the lower left. The surf in the center and lower part of the picture is blown out. This is prime real estate of the frame. The sky is hazed over, and there are no clouds to add visual interest or depth. The hills are hazed over too. And the picture looks out of focus.

While I like how the man and dog are entering the frame, your perspective is a bit too high. If you aimed lower you may have captured some interesting shadows and avoided all that sky. If your intention was to create some silhouette effect, the man's pink [whatever that is] offsets that idea, and his body and the dog's body are stuck together due to the lack of fill light.

For a portfolio shot (the kind of shots that matter here) those aspects are important.

Content-wise, I'm only assuming you are trying to illustrate the joy of walking with a dog on a beach. To me one effective way of communicating emotion within a photo is to show the subject's face or have intense body language. Viewers have a automatic affinity for other people in a photograph and they start the scanning process at the face. Unfortunately in this photo the man's face is obscured and his body language is totally unremarkable. Even the dog's classic Lab form is both obscured and just too far away.

Again there is nothing personal in my comments and I do hope you continue posting in the WP.

M

[Foursix]

thanks everyone for your input!

i was actually hoping for a silhouette shot here. it obviously didn't work. the shot was taken in the morning around nine, into the sun.

as far as why i am proud of the shot, i guess i just like the way the shot makes me feel. i am a beginner so the technical stuff still escapes me, but i am passionate about learning it all. i agree with all of the comments made about the shot, and absolutely take nothing personal.

a photographer once told me, "if you can correctly compose a shot, you can do well in this business." i don't know if that's true...she is, however, very successful herself. so, for now i am trying to be smart about composition, and in the meantime learn all i can about the technical side of this art.
your constructive comments are a big part in my learning. thanks again!