An afternoon at the fair, an essay at street photography, comments appreciated

[MiFleur]

This summer I have tried to improve on my portraits, worked out some candid shots and street phototgraphy
I am trying to refine my criteria to judge which photos are good or not
and I don't find it easy. Please let me know what you guys think

#1

131005_6384 Candids at the Fryeburg Fair by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

#2

131005_6201 Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

#3

131005_6185 Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr



#4

131005_6399 Seriously, at the Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

#5

131005_6391 At the Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

#6

131005_6408 At the Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr
#7

131005_6412 At the Fryeburg Fair 2013 by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

#8

131005_6379 Shoes at the Fryeburg Fair by MiFleur, Thanks for 400,000 views, on Flickr

 

[Derrel]

Oh, wow, this is some neat stuff! The little girl and the cow, and the two police officers, and the little girl coming down off the slide--all really nice photos. Even the shoes...pretty decent.

 

[DarkShadow]

I think there all nicely done. Good Job!

 

[The_Traveler]

I think #7 is by far the best.
The others are sharp and well focused, etc but without that extra something that #7 has.

 

[annamaria]

Great captures. Really good.

 

[MiFleur]

I think #7 is by far the best.
The others are sharp and well focused, etc but without that extra something that #7 has.

I see that # 7 has a context and is caught in action, the brown clothes go well with the fall colors, what are the other ones missing to make them interesting as well as technically ok?

To me #1 shows the contrast between the tatooed guy and the colorful and childish monkeys
#2 shows an interesting interaction ( is it interesting to you?)
#3 may be this one lacks a surrounding, I liked the bright red costume
# 4 They were so serious it was contrasting with the mood of the fair, I probably would have needed to show other people around them
# 5 Illustrates the interest of a kid in the products that are displayed at the fair
#6 just a pretty little girl, may be that lacks interest as well
#8 The kids shoes were just as colorful as the fair.

Thank You Lew for your input, much appreciated.

 

[tirediron]

Great series... "Fair police"... :lmao: are they the ones who failed out of Mall Cop school???

 

[MiFleur]

Great series... "Fair police"... :lmao: are they the ones who failed out of Mall Cop school???

You bet, they just won't admit it!

 

[Bo4key]

Nice set of photos

 

[amolitor]

A surprising number of these contain people looking out of frame. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't.

I think it works best when we can't easily fill in what they're looking at, as we can with the girl on the slide (a parent, a friend, someone, we don't really care) AND when it's not a complete unknowable mystery (tattooed guy is looking at.. a customer? It could be anything, and again, I don't really care).

The cops and the kid in #7 are both looking out of frame at something they are interested in, something that matters to them, but we can't easily guess at quite what it might be. This is "street", where there is enough wiggle room in the picture to let us write our own stories, but not so much wiggle room that we're just spinning any old story. We feel that there is an objective reality here, that we understand some of it, but that some of it remains opaque to us.

 

[The_Traveler]

I don't like to try to justify what I like and don't - a very subjective thing at best. Try explaining why you love your love interest and not other people with seemingly the same characteristics.
But, let me say what strikes me.

1. lots of things that hit my eye and could be important: tattoo, face, multiple monkeys. What things are in tension that I need to pair off? He doesn't look like the monkeys, he isn't looking at the monkeys, he's looking out of the frame. Is that important? It is not clear to what comparison is of interest to the photographer and what I should be looking at.

2. good shot of the placid face of the cow but not much indication what the reaction of the little girl is either in face or body language. A shot from the side might have worked better.

3. showing half of the interaction and, while it is in focus and sharp, his face is essentially neutral

4. faces with no contrast to anything

5. no idea what her face is, if we are to jump off to spin some story in our mind, we need the jumping off spot. More of her face might have helped.

6. this is a picture of a little girl with very little emotional content attached.

8. Why is only one pair of colorful shoes singled out? what are you seeing that you think is interesting and thus pointing out to us.

Yes, I could, if asked, riff on each of these to make a story but the photos don't present the elements that you see as interesting and thus I would need to provide important, originating elements.



Lew

I think #7 is by far the best.
The others are sharp and well focused, etc but without that extra something that #7 has.

I see that # 7 has a context and is caught in action, the brown clothes go well with the fall colors, what are the other ones missing to make them interesting as well as technically ok?

To me #1 shows the contrast between the tatooed guy and the colorful and childish monkeys
#2 shows an interesting interaction ( is it interesting to you?)
#3 may be this one lacks a surrounding, I liked the bright red costume
# 4 They were so serious it was contrasting with the mood of the fair, I probably would have needed to show other people around them
# 5 Illustrates the interest of a kid in the products that are displayed at the fair
#6 just a pretty little girl, may be that lacks interest as well
#8 The kids shoes were just as colorful as the fair.

Thank You Lew for your input, much appreciated.

 

[ronlane]

Nice set, I enjoyed looking at these. I liked the shoes, made me wonder what was going on.

 

[Tight Knot]

I really enjoyed all of them, with 2, 3 and 7 being my favorites.
Have you tried cropping the police photo leaving in just the cop with the sunglasses? I think it may be a stronger image that way, as the 2 police officers looking in different directions which I feel is a little distracting. May be worth a try.

 

[MiFleur]

the comments I have had so far are really helping me to pin point how I need to tell a story with my street photography.
Thanks to Amolitor, Lew and Tight knot for your input.
I will keep on working at it, will post some more when I see a progress.

 

[Tight Knot]

Looking forward to seeing more