critique and technical advice needed

[jeflon1]

was playing with macro and reflections. would appreciate technical criticism


IMG_3134 by jeflon1, on Flickr

 

[mwcfarms]

Did you crop it? Try bringing more of the pencil reflection as a mirror reflection to balance the top portion maybe next time and maybe still water with no rings. As it stands right now I don't find it very interesting as a reflection. Does that make sense lol. Poor communication skills this morning.

 

[KmH]

The primary image element (both color and direction) the unsharpened pencil is on a diagonal, and diagonals are good for conveying a sense of movement. However, we don't really expect unsharpened pencils to be moving so the composition is somewhat discordant with the obvious motion of the ripples on the water. Had there been a drop of water hanging from the end of a sharpened pencil, the whole image would make a more sensical, complete story.

 

[billy.the.kid43]

I do disagree with most of what's been said so far with the exception of cropping too much of the pencil's reflection at the bottom. I do not believe this would be better the pencil sharpened. In fact it's better to look at this from the perspective of not knowing what the object is. If you look at as simply some unknown hexagonal orange object then it becomes a wonder of angles contracting with ripples of circles. I really like the light reflections on the object itself. Fantastic capture. However, I would've liked to see that the object was cleaner without the dark specks on it.

Just my $.02

 

[KmH]

I would wonder about anyone that does not immediately recognize the yellow object in the photo, as an unsharpened pencil. :er:

 

[jeflon1]

Thanks for the feedback. The way this came about was that i was setting up for some up close water splash photographs. The pencil was used to set the focus on the point where the drops would be landing from the source. I took a few samples and for some reason liked the outcome, so I sort of ditched the splash idea and took several of the pencil instead, submerged, etc and liked this one the best. I had only builtin flash (white posterpord background), so i could not take rapid continuous shots and probably missed the water dripping from the end.
Thank you for the suggestion regarding the reflection needing to be longer to balance out the composition, I will try that, probably with another object once i can think of one that is more abstract as suggested.
unfortunately, the limitation was that since this was set up for a different type of photo (closeup splash), and the black cooking pot was only so big, i could not adjust anymore to add more reflection without inserting the edge of the cooking pan into the picture. not that I thought of this idea, but just saying, there was no cropping involved.
Thank you for the feedback and I will work with my composition more with all of this in mind.

 

[billy.the.kid43]

I would wonder about anyone that does not immediately recognize the yellow object in the photo, as an unsharpened pencil. :er:

I did not say that I didn't know it was an unsharpened pencil. I said it's better if you remove your knowledge of the object and therefore remove preconceived notions of what that object should look like. This way when you look at it again you pay more attention to the picture and techniques used in the picture. Anyway, I was mostly saying I liked the concept and really liked the light reflections on the pencil itself.

I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers here. This is just my opinion and I am sorry if it didn't align with yours.

 

[rambler]

For me there is not quite enough of the reflection. It is hard to notice that it is even a reflection. Raise the pencil a bit more to have a shot with no reflection. I like the idea, the tone and movement of the water. Try it some more!

You might enjoy reading:

http://www.ppsop.com/site_old/images/f_macr.jpg

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I would wonder about anyone that does not immediately recognize the yellow object in the photo, as an unsharpened pencil. :er:

I did not say that I didn't know it was an unsharpened pencil. I said it's better if you remove your knowledge of the object and therefore remove preconceived notions of what that object should look like. This way when you look at it again you pay more attention to the picture and techniques used in the picture. Anyway, I was mostly saying I liked the concept and really liked the light reflections on the pencil itself.

I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers here. This is just my opinion and I am sorry if it didn't align with yours.

You simply can't unknow or unsee or unhear something.
If it could be done, there would be no need for therapists.

 

[billy.the.kid43]

Way too much closed mindedness in this thread. Moving on...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]