Ellis Island C&C

[t_hayat]

Here are a few photos that I'd like some C&C on. there's no theme bringing them together other than the fact that I took them on a recent trip to Ellis Island (hence the thread title) thanks in advance
1.

immigration by t_hayat, on Flickr


2.

ocean mist by t_hayat, on Flickr


3.

seafaring by t_hayat, on Flickr

4.

young man by t_hayat, on Flickr

 

[t_hayat]

bump

 

[Trever1t]

the grain on the first shot with the title gives some effect but the others don't do anything for me.

 

[t_hayat]

Thanks. Is there anything in particular that you would change with the other photos?

 

[Jlatigo]

The first pic is my fav of the three but it needs a little light on her face i dig the feeling of it but just a bit of light would help draw your eyes in to her, and straiten the horizon

The second one the high lights are blown out

The third and fourth are underexposed

I'm sure there are other things that will help as well but these are the first things that come to mind, hope this helps

Sent from my iPad using PhotoForum

 

[WesternGuy]

If you post more than one or two, please number them - you can edit your post and add that - it makes it a lot easier for a reviewer to refer to a number than to have to scroll back and forth and remember - which one was that... (maybe that was why you didn't get any response the first time?)

Having said that, you have my comments on the ship, and the other three do nothing for me. The first one is a nice try at an "age" effect, but for me it is just too dark and too grainy, so not sure what your goal was here. The second one - the blown out sun kills this one for me and where is the "mist". The last one - again, what were you going for here - I am not a fan of heavily cropped images, but then that is just me, I guess.

I think that you might benefit from doing some reading on composition and I would encourage you to surf the web, but you could start with - Advanced Composition -- Part I - there are two following web sites with the links at the end of the site. As well, have a look at this one - PhotographyComposition Articles Library as there are a number of links to sites on composition. There are a number of books that have been written on composition - you might want to look at one by Bryan Peterson called Learning to See Creatively - Amazon.com: Learning to See Creatively: Design, Color& Composition in Photography (Updated Edition) (9780817441814): BryanPeterson: Books. There are lots of others. HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[jaicatalano]

Frankly they are just photos. The first one has the most appeal with the grainy effect because it appears that the young lady is looking to NY or the Statue with the great hope for the future. I would have aged it more than grain it but to each his own. The others are nothing but photos you took.

 

[t_hayat]

Thanks for the critique. If I might ask, how else would you have aged it besides the grain?

 

[Natalie]

Why does it have to look aged? Simple B&W should be enough without having to rely on Photoshop effects. They just tend to make a photo look cheap/gimmicky, IMO.

 

[PhotoTish]

I think the grain on the first photograph is too much. Do you have the original of the first one which you can convert to b/w without the grain?

 

[t_hayat]

Yes I do, I'm uploading it to Flickr right now, will link when it's finished

 

[t_hayat]

Immigration 2.0 by t_hayat, on Flickr

Here it is only converted to black and white, without the grain.

 

[PhotoTish]

Much, much better without the grain. I like this photo - the wistful expression on her face as she looks out to sea is very nice. :thumbup:

 

[t_hayat]

Thanks!

 

[Natalie]

I agree, without grain looks much, much better. Some things to keep in mind for the future are to keep the horizon horizontal (in this case, make sure the water isn't tilted), and watch the sky. The right side of the sky is pretty overexposed, but that can be fixed to a certain extent in a program like Lightroom.