Fishing and Wishing for a better Life

[4labs]

I posted this yesterday and at Sid's suggestion I am reposting. I posted a darker version which was more true to the conditions at the time which was about 40 minutes after sunset and pretty dark. This version had some exposure adustment in PS Raw. I realized too late that I still had an iso of 400 hence the noise.

http://4labs.smugmug.com/photos/31612725-L.jpg

[auraflora]

Hi Eric

I actually perfer the darker version.

The colors seem more dramatic and produce a more mysterious atmosphere.

Michal

[Higgmeister]

Hi Eric,
Sorry, but you are not going to like this. This shot does nothing for me. The contrast is low, the colors muted and I don't connect with the people in the frame. With the darker version, the people were silhouetted so they became forms against the water and not people, per se. Here, you have just enough detail to pull them out, but they aren't adding anything to the picture. I usually prefer some detail in the foreground on a darker picture, but here it actually detracts for me. Your cropping and positioning seem fine to me.

Your story on the previous post helped me relate to the photo. Without the story, and a photo shouldn't require one, I'm not relating. I do like the colors on the water but think it needs to be kicked up for some pop.

Sorry Eric, I really don't like leaving a critique like this:cry,
Chris

[Ann McRae]

I did not see the darker version, but this version does not seem to have a subject. The fishermen are not distinct enough OR silhouetted enough. The sunset is not dramatic enough. The composition doesn't lead me to any one thing.

I would like to see more drama from the sunset, silhouette the forground, perhaps.

Wish I had seen the darker version.

ann

[wxwax]

Here's my take.

I think the shot would work if the water and sky had more light and color. The people along the bottom tell a good story. It wouldn't hurt if they were mostly dark, almost silhouetted. I think what hurts is that the overall image is so dark.

For composition, I think it wouldn't hurt to eliminate the far shore, and just show the rock folks in the foreground and the water in the background. Of course, that puts even more pressure on getting interesting light and color in the water.

[4labs]

Hi Eric,
Sorry, but you are not going to like this. This shot does nothing for me. The contrast is low, the colors muted and I don't connect with the people in the frame. With the darker version, the people were silhouetted so they became forms against the water and not people, per se. Here, you have just enough detail to pull them out, but they aren't adding anything to the picture. I usually prefer some detail in the foreground on a darker picture, but here it actually detracts for me. Your cropping and positioning seem fine to me.

Your story on the previous post helped me relate to the photo. Without the story, and a photo shouldn't require one, I'm not relating. I do like the colors on the water but think it needs to be kicked up for some pop.

Sorry Eric, I really don't like leaving a critique like this:cry,
Chris
Hey Chris this forum is for brutal honesty so I have absolutely no problem with your comments. I think the reason I told the story in the first place is because the story and knowing the workers made it more interesting to me. I can totally understand how you feel. I could have easily done some PS work and made teh colors more dramatic, I am actually pretty good at that. I just wanted to show the scene as it was. There was no light and my emphasis in this case wsa telling my story. Your critiques are always excellent. You cover all the bases and I really apreciate it and have learned alot from your comments and photographs.

[gubbs]

Hey Chris this forum is for brutal honesty so I have absolutely no problem with your comments. I think the reason I told the story in the first place is because the story and knowing the workers made it more interesting to me. I can totally understand how you feel. I could have easily done some PS work and made teh colors more dramatic, I am actually pretty good at that. I just wanted to show the scene as it was. There was no light and my emphasis in this case wsa telling my story. Your critiques are always excellent. You cover all the bases and I really apreciate it and have learned alot from your comments and photographs.
That's a problem I suffer from too, because I know the story I forget the need to tell it in the picture :rolleyes

[4labs]

Hey Gubbs,
Andy once commented on a photo that I posted that I liked but got zero feedback. He asked me why I liked the photo and the light went off and I realized that while a picture may mean something to me if I don't convey the story to the viewer than well it's just not a great photograph. Maybe because I know thearea and the folks in my photograph it tells the story just fine but for people that don't live around here I can see why it is doesn't cut it...