CC welcome

[amolitor]

 

[Designer]

Uh...is this a test?

 

[SCraig]

Uh...is this a test?

I wondered the same thing. One time it wasn't his shot so I'm staying far away from this one.

 

[amolitor]

If you'd been paying attention, you'd have noticed that I posted links to the photographs that were not mine. Not that I personally insist you pay attention, but I find that it's helpful in life.

 

[Derrel]

This photo lacks a clear and compelling center of interest, and it is also a failure as a "scene". The image has several things that compete for attention: the black post or whatever on the left of the frame is a strong, yet out of focus element. The multi-pane barn window with the one broken out window draws the eye to a literal "black hole" on the OOF background. The tall grassy plant that is shown in the foreground??? "Ehhh..." It is off-center and holds very little visual interest. its counterpart, the grass stalk that heads out of the frame on the right hand side? Again, "ehhhh..." The tonal values? Lots of muddy middle-gray. Very flat, dull,uninteresting rendering of the tones in the scene. I'm not trying to be obnoxious or flippant, but this is a lousy photo, unless the goal is to show how NOT to create a good photo. This photo is actually a really,really badly-composed and badly rendered shot of this scene. As a web-sized image, it holds absolutely no fascination for me; the information it shows is very small...perhaps the grass stalks are saw-toothed and fascinating at a macro-level view, but as-shown, I could not possibly care less.

This photo seems to be the kind of chain-yanking effort a smart, intellectual-type person,like yourself, might post in an effort to prove some type of disingenuous "point". Do I smell a rat??????

A second line of thought: this is what I call a "web reduction"...it is a very small image...it might look decent if printed so that it showed us at least "something", but on the web??? Frankly,well...hell... it might be some famous image I am not familiar with from some big-shot "name" shooter...but from compositional and technical points, it is what I call "very weak sauce". I actually find myself repulsed by it, but for the purposes of C&C, I've put that aside. I find my eye drawn to that big dead space in the upper third of the frame, looking at that barn's aluminum siding. How exciting,huh!!!

 

[amolitor]

Thanks for the thoughtful remarks, Derrel!

This isn't chain yanking, though. This is actually the kind of thing I like. I happen to be on the road, so my editing isn't quite where I want it, but it's close enough. I don't generally sweat the little details much.

 

[Designer]

The reason I thought my chain was being rattled is because of The_Traveler's recent post on developing a submittal model.

Frankly I did have some difficulty in following everybody's responses on that thread.

 

[Derrel]

I'm a pretty slow typist, so I didn't get to see the couple of posts that were posted before I finished doing my C&C...

I honestly cannot stop myself from looking at that big,open expanse of barn siding in the upper, sort of right hand side of the shot...my eye is just drawn to that flat expanse, over and over. At the risk of looking like a grouch, I will just be honest and say that this photo is really,really uninteresting. Just flat-out boring. I cannot imagine why C&C was requested on this photo, but I do know that the OP, amolitor, is a smart fellow. I've read his blog on occasion. He doesn't need the "kid gloves treatment" from me...my rebuke will not ruin his day...

I am familiar with amolitor's writing, but this is I think, the very first photo of his that I have seen. Not that that had any influence on my C&C--I call 'em as I see em.

 

[amolitor]

Your comments are always welcome, Derrel.

I think I need to do some work to separate the subject from the background, and to push the background more into the background. If I still like it when I get home, I'll give that a go!

 

[bentcountershaft]

Not a fan of this one. The background is more like a really obtrusive, out of focus but not in a pretty way, mid ground that's probably blocking something interesting. The stalk or whatever they're called is nice, quite sharp and perfectly placed but the light hitting it isn't at all remarkable and in an image like this I feel that's extremely important. In the right light any subject shines. The gutter is distracting as Derrel mentioned but it would really screw the composition to crop it out. Do you have any shots taken from a few feet to the left of this, maybe even with the stalk framed by the broken window opening and without the competing stalk along the right edge of the frame?