critique virgin

sweetlilvixen · Oct 27, 2006

Have at it. I took this picture at an Olive Garden. I loved the lamp and had to see if I could get a good shot of it. After a couple angles and a few looks from confused waitresses, this is what I got.

PS: I'm going to crop out the side of the wall on the bottom left hand side, I just haven't gotten that far yet.

Personalized Stamp · Oct 27, 2006

Looks nice!

Big Mike · Oct 27, 2006

Welcome to the forum.

Here's my critique...
While it's certainly a nice and some what interesting lamp...it's not doing anything for me...as the subject of this photo. It's in the middle of the image and the angle looking up at it...just seems ordinary. Maybe if you had a more abstract angle...it would liven things up a little. The shadow behind it...is kind of distracting. It looks like the light source was below the lens...was this done with flash (maybe an upside down camera)...or is the light coming from somewhere else?

sweetlilvixen · Oct 27, 2006

Nope. No flash. I used a small digital camera one of my friends happened to have on her. LIke I said, I was in the middle of a restaurant. I agree that the shadows are a little harsh, but I love the picture. Simplicity.

Big Mike · Oct 27, 2006

Well, it's good that you like it...that's what counts.

It does have a nice simplicity...Maybe I'd like it better if it wasn't so centred.

sweetlilvixen · Oct 27, 2006

I think you may be right.. now it's annoying me. Thanks a lot! lol jk..

LaFoto · Oct 28, 2006

Hallo sweetlilvixen and welcome to ThePhotoForum.
This photo SURE looks like the in-camera flash fired while the camera was set to tungsten light, else there is nothing to explain the blue cast and the shadows. Both of which kind of ruin the pic for me since they make it look snapshotty. Sorry 'bout that. You may have tried all angles and in its making it may have been anything but a mere snapshot, but the outcome does not show it too well.

If you find me harsh, please note that you placed your photo into our Photo Critique section which is designed for some very specific, sometimes even hard-on-the-poster critique (mostly so when the poster already declares they like their own photo very much). The General Gallery is the place where to post photos for general comments - and even within those you will find many good hints on how to improve.

The Photo Critique section is much MORE dedicated to some quite SPECIFIC, clearly outlined critique the poster wants to get. A general "C&C welcome" is not enough for this section.

sallydance · Oct 28, 2006

Almost looks like there was too much pf a filter use. NOt a great fan of the suject. Looks like a picture taken trying too hard to be artsy

rmh159 · Oct 30, 2006

I agree with the others and will throw this out there as well. If I'm just taking random shots (meaning not out to shoot a specific subject) I'll try to ask myself what exactly the subject is and why it's interesting. If you can't readily answer both questions the pic might not be worth taking. You might also not give a rats ass and just take the shot anyway but I think it's important to be conscious of the potential impact that the pic may or may not have on some random person that strolls across the shot.

That's my .02... I do like the pic though. Was it that blue at the restaurant? I think I would've been rubbing my eyes all nite after an hour in that place.

sweetlilvixen · Oct 30, 2006

ok.. I got that I shouldn't have posted it here..

EBphotography · Oct 30, 2006

As the lovely Corinna has already said, usually someone in this "Critique" area asks for a specific thing, lighting, composition etc. Are there any specific items you would like? Although a few of us may sound harsh, I promise we do want to help you! You're just getting broken in to a lovely TPF experience!

Edit: I do also see potential in the photograph, i left that out.

sweetlilvixen · Oct 30, 2006

no, it's just a random picture I took and thought turned out pretty cool.. I didn't ask for anything because it's not that deep for me. But anyway, thanks to you and those who were at least mildly nice.

mysteryscribe · Oct 30, 2006

One of the good things about being the old man here is, I get to disagree with everyone. I hope without being too disagreeable.

I think the shot was worth shooting and worth posting. I copied it just to see what it would look like with a black background and leaving the blue frame. It looked very nice. I also tossed in some tint to make the bulb an orange and the thing looks very nice indeed. You should give that a try.

Small cameras with on camera flash can be used effectively. I saw a thing on tv sunday about a graphic artist who did about 30 time magazine covers who only uses a small point and shoot camera. but of course an awful lot of photoshop.

Keep shooting and posting

sweetlilvixen · Oct 30, 2006

Thanks

I have yet to get a real photography program to use, but once I do I'm sure it'll benefit me a lot. I'm going to play with this picture some more. I basically posted it just to share.

xfloggingkylex · Oct 30, 2006

other than the shadow I like this picture, it has a melancholy feel to it.

Was the room really that blue or is that white balance pummeling the picture?:lmao:

oh and if you are looking for a good (free) picture editing program I recommend checking the GIMP. It can do a lot of the same stuff that photoshop does, and there are billions of how-to tutorials online for photoshop.