October 30, 2007
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Opinions Please
I am entering my first advanced contest.
The topic is cemeteries, one that is dear to my heart.
The problem is I’m not sure if I am quite ready for advanced yet.
These are the pictures I am thinking about entering…
I’d appreciate your true opinions of them.
Critiques are welcome so bring it on!
Remember I asked for it.
I wish that I had noticed the flag was behind the rod,
I would have moved it in front of it. These are things I’m learning,
the question is… is it good enough?
I would title it
For God and Country
This is my favorite I think.
can you see the marker in the foreground?
It says Love too.
I’m not sure that will show up under compression though.
Opinions please!
Oh! Seedsower…
Who I told about the site…
Who shares my love for a good picture…
Has taken her first metal! A silver!
Second place out of 52 photos!
I knew she would kick my butt all over.
Ahhh well something to strive for!
Comments (38)
Those are great!! I’m with you the pole needs to be on the other side!! Good Luck!
The blurry background in the first picture just doesn’t seem right to me. It makes the statue seem so “attacky” for a picture that seems to try for solemn subtly.
I really liked the third picture though. It says a lot.
RYC: Dammit, I wanna use supple though. Seems more appealing. You leave me alone :p
RYC: I’ve seen the first and second pictures done many-a-times by photographers. The third is new to me; and I say go for that one. Personal opinion based on personal observations and likings. Don’t base your judgement on mine alone, I suggest.
I didn’t vote on the second one. But it does feel a little off kilter. I really really like the last one. Love.
Also, you’re welcome. I personally didn’t want to ask if the story I wrote was good because I knew many people would be saying the damn thing- “oooo, it’s good”. So, I didn’t; and peoples opinions came through anyway…but it seemed a little less sympathetic though.
I love all of them. You know I love love love all of your pics
I thought about you every time I passed a barn on my way to and from ChiTown.
I don’t think you should write the flag pic off. I find myself missing details like that sometimes. I get so caught up in the image I see in my mind that I miss stuff. But, I think those little things can give the picture character sometimes.
I really like the picture with the flag. What makes the third picture so cool, as you well know, is that the stone says Love. That’s pretty darn cool!
Good luck in your photo contest!
the third picture is GREAT.
I really like the angel…..I like that the background isn’t in focus, The second one is O.K., and the third is a great photo, you get a real sense of there being a “cemetery” there. but I like the angel best.. What’s was wrong with the Woodsman Marker? Why didn’t you use that one?
IF I ever sat down to take pictures like I should I would help and participate…
……..I like all the photos………
All candy is awesome thank you……….
..mary janes are the best.
The diet starts tomorrow
for some reason, my favorite is the first one. there is just something about that face… for an inanimate stone object, it screams emotion to me. the blurred background just makes her face pop for me.. not sure why.
I would enter all of them. I love’em.
I like the first two,the flag one is good ,it needs to be tweaked,So say I whose pic of my mom is 55/60 LOL!!
YOU HAVE MORE JUROR PICS THAN I DO!!!
If only we knew what they were looking for!!!!
the third I think I like cause; it says death with the fall leaves-this is the autmn of your life and it’s almost over and your name is on the tomb.
I like the third one the best. It looks dreamy and surreal. The fallen leaves and the shadows are all wonderful.
I have to admit my favourite is the angel, then the Loves marker. The other is good, but the pole detracts I think. Honestly, they are all wonderful. but then so are you-how can you go wrong?
Don’t listen to my opinion. After 5 1/2 years in art school and one of them at the world renowned Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester = Eastman Kodak = photography) I have no clue what people are thinking when it comes to images and icons. I like the first one most because the graininess of the statue represents for me the uncertainty of the afterlife. Though clearly defined by myths and religion, there is still an element of uncertainty and fear. The black and white perspective echoes that sentiment. The blurred background reinforces this again. Perhaps most people are turned off by this kind of in your face truth… the other two are more subtle and therefore probably will be more well received by the general public.
Again… do not listen to my opinion… Art school destroyed any sense of my aesthetic reasoning ability by cramming my tiny little head with an over abundance of BS (that’s Bellus Sarcasmous)
OK, here goes…
The first pic is nice, though I’m not that hooked on the subject matter. I like the bokeh behind the… angel? cherub? Whatever. Anyway, it gives a sort of floating-in-dreaminess transcendental quality which is good. A little more straigh-on shot of the face might have worked better, compositionally, because as it is you’ve got almost the whole boob sticking in the viewer’s face, which might be amusing if she weren’t looking the other way.
The veteran’s memorial… You want to show up for photography at a time when the sun is on the stone itself, or else an overcast day when the lighting is completely even (and maybe even melancholy). The flag isn’t that big a deal, though it would be better in front of the pole. Also, if you could let us read the text on the stone and see the emblem on the pole as well, that’d be great. Also clean up the leaves.
‘Love.’ That’s clever. But again, it’s compositional problems because you want to convey that it’s a cemetery, and that love is dead and buried. So why is the headstone sharing the picture with the tree? And why shoot up into the sky? The tops of the far tree-line get confused with the top of the headstone, so it took me three or so times looking to see the book on top. The book of love. (Who wrote it?
) My suggestion would be straight on, looking down, so you could see the book and the word ‘love,’ with a patch of grass suggesting where love is buried.
All three suffer from blowouts, ‘love’ especially. For the angel it’s not such a big deal, because it adds to the dreamy quality. In the ‘love’ one, it’s really bad, and the purple fringing really detracts, too. So on a technical level there’s some work to do.
But other than that……..
Where is this contest site?
Happy Halloween!!
The first one is my favorite. I know it is because I would hang it in my house.
Sorry I didn’t call you back. I went right to bed. I AM SO TIRED! I am thinking about meeting over in Lansing MOmand Grandma…what are your plans????
The “Love” photo is absolutely amazing! I can’t see the tombstone in the back, but it’s still a great pic. I wish I could offer some criticism, but as you know, I’ve got no eye for these things. I stand in awe of you, my dear.
Oh, and the fallen (dead) leaves are a nice touch.
The last one is my favorite – the colors make it seem so luminscent, the background a little surreal in a way that makes the focus of the picture – the marker – really pop.
ryc: thanks so much for the encouragment and feedback. Yep, I think I’ve finally realized I need to start with the best action scene, then jump back for the novel after a good opening hook.
I totally agree with HomerTheBrave’s critique. Don’t know how much time is left but I think you may have better cemetery photos…. I have a hard time picking out the “right one” too, as you well know. I think photos speak to me on an emotional level (“I like this? Why? I don’t have a clue! But I like it!”) and for judges it’s…um…not emotioal so much as what’s the lighting / composition / subject / foucs and other technical things that go over my head. But if I were to try to pick them apart from that perspective, I’d say soemthing close to what HomerTheBrave said.
Yes, I’m known for being helpful.
I like the one of the solider with the American flag. I tend to like patriotic things because I was in the military.
Angi, I feel like I am biased, because I just LOVE every picture you take!!!!!!!!!!
See, EVERYTHING in life has learning potential – LOL!
RYC: THANK YOU, SUPER CHICK – so blessed to know you!!!!
I love the first pic….
I would love the second pic is ok….
The third I love as well…..
Happy Halloween!
Later,
Gina
hahaha..I didn’t even notice that the angel had boobs, so I went to Homers Place just to see if he was a guy…sure nuff….Happy Halloween Ang, ya’ll be careful tonight…..we want to see pics of the kids….
I think they’re all fantastic shots and are absolutely qualified for an advanced contest!
RYC: Oh, he SO ate them!! You can’t have possibly thought he didn’t, can you?
I loved the “dreamy” quality of them, the way you manipulated the depth in each of them, although I agree with Homer that the tree detracts from the impact on the last one. So funny that love is dead and buried.
I like #3 the best…I actually like the blurred background of #1, if it had been crisp, the graininess of the statue would have been lost…Rainy
I always love your pictures. I honestly don’t have the eye to offer criticism. But good luck!
1st: i love the angle of the shot, it almost seems to emphasize the smile (but that may be purely subjective on my part)…i also love the grays, but with there were less in the background so the photo seems more crisply tuned to the angel.
3rd: beautiful!! the word “LOVE” on the stone is moving, but the fact that the rest of the stone is completely unmarked with words…it suggests a mysterious story within the photo. The leaves on the ground, the green moss growing at the bottom, all those things draw an observer in with curiosity – has anyone visited? how long has this stone stood? etc etc. i think the one in the foreground is good all on its own without the other tombstone on the right side.
Angie,
You truly a genius when it comes to an eye for photography. I can’t decide which one is best; all three are good, each having different strengths.
Too bad LIFE magazine went out of business. It was probably because they did not have photographers of your caliber
I like the third one, but the first is my favorite. Actually I really like the field of focus/blurry background/crisp foreground.