Grave Yard By Deon Hamilton™

[yahgiggle]

just a grave yard photo i took that i think works better in black & white

 

[jenko]

I am seriously wondering what is up with the trademark? Can trademarks even be used on regular "birth" names?

Are you trying to protect the name "Deon Hamilton" or the image?

I'm confused.

 

[yahgiggle]

seriously dont over think it im here for photos not my name

 

[KmH]

Then why is your name (with the TM abbreviation) in the title of every post you start?

 

[yahgiggle]

Dont worry about my name and get on with looking and commenting on the photos ;-D

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well as to this particular photo, honestly it just doesn't work for me at all. Too much detail lost as a B&W shot, not enough contrast between many of the scene elements as a result. I think this shot would work much, much better in color - frankly in black and white it's simply too muddled.

As to the Deon Hamilton trade mark deal, I hope you realize I have no intention of sending you a quarter whenever I feel the need to use your name. Seriously though, you might want to rethink the trademark deal - not sure if it was meant to be witty or what not but it just really comes of badly. Its kind of like folks that insist on referring themselves in the third person.

 

[yahgiggle]

Thanks for your comment ;-)

 

[manicmike]

Great, another person that puts their name in every thread title.

 

[robbins.photo]

Great, another person that puts their name in every thread title.

Well at least he filed something with the patent office first.. rotfl

 

[jsecordphoto]

response by jsecordphoto™

this one too, not sure why you chose portrait orientation. composition is ehh

 

[weags77]

I think you really need to read some books on composition. I've looked over most of the photos you've posted here and composition is what you really need to work on in just about every one of them. From subjects dead center, to parts of subject cut off, centered horizons, etc, you have broken most every composition rule on a consistent basis. And while rules are made to be broken and should be, I don't think you are doing it intentionally for artistic purposes as much as I just don't think you know enough about composition in general.

Do yourself a favor and step back from "showing off" your work and instead learn about the fundamentals of photography.

Just my opinion though. Hope this helps.

 

[yahgiggle]

I think you really need to read some books on composition. I've looked over most of the photos you've posted here and composition is what you really need to work on in just about every one of them. From subjects dead center, to parts of subject cut off, centered horizons, etc, you have broken most every composition rule on a consistent basis. And while rules are made to be broken and should be, I don't think you are doing it intentionally for artistic purposes as much as I just don't think you know enough about composition in general.

Do yourself a favor and step back from "showing off" your work and instead learn about the fundamentals of photography.

Just my opinion though. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your comment something that will help me and is why im posting my images ;-D So could you recommend a book ?

 

[weags77]

Thanks for your comment something that will help me and is why im posting my images ;-D So could you recommend a book ?

Some of the best ones I've read, I'm sure there are many more. In no order of importance.

The Photographers Eye by Michael Freeman

The Art of Photography by Bruce Barnbaum

Digital Landscape Photography by Michael Frye

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson

Any one of these will help get you started. I've chosen these for they are more story than textbook and don't overwhelm you with technical jargon. I'd also google "rule of thirds" or "golden rule" for a basic introduction and good place to start.

 

[amolitor]

Someone might benefit from some reading on composition, but it's arguably not the OP.

This is pretty strong.

Obviously it's vertical because the main elements in it are vertical. As for the rest of the composition, there's good balance of forms, of light and dark. You could quibble about the placement of the horizon, but since this isn't about sky against land, it's not at all clear to me that one or the other needs to dominate (which is what the "don't put the horizon in the middle" is actually about). This is primarily about the forms in the graveyard, so the horizon line hardly matters.

The white stone on the left edge of the frame could usefully be given a little more room to breathe, either by stepping back slightly, or by stepping to your left a little (being careful not to choke off the tilting stone on the right's space, though).

 

[weags77]

Someone might benefit from some reading on composition, but it's arguably not the OP.

This is pretty strong.

Obviously it's vertical because the main elements in it are vertical. As for the rest of the composition, there's good balance of forms, of light and dark. You could quibble about the placement of the horizon, but since this isn't about sky against land, it's not at all clear to me that one or the other needs to dominate (which is what the "don't put the horizon in the middle" is actually about). This is primarily about the forms in the graveyard, so the horizon line hardly matters.

The white stone on the left edge of the frame could usefully be given a little more room to breathe, either by stepping back slightly, or by stepping to your left a little (being careful not to choke off the tilting stone on the right's space, though).

Well I'm guessing this was aimed at me. Feel free to browse any of my photos and critique their composition. Then look at the OP's many other offerings. If at that time you come to the same conclusion so be it. I never said I didn't need any work or knowledge of composition myself. I'm guessing you probably do to. As we all can benefit from learning as much as we can.

That being said its funny that your main critique here is focused on the OPs composition of this photo, yet still implying that it is "pretty strong".

For one, the centered horizon does in fact hurt this image. All of the subject matter is in the foreground and placing the horizon in the center muddles the graves that are close to the horizon. No separation. And using B&W did not help this.

Correct me if I'm wrong but when composing a photo that contains 90% of the subject matter in the foreground, I'd tend to want to emphasize the foreground, not cut it in half, no ? You yourself said you can't figure out which one dominates here. You don't see a problem with that ? Should the horizon or the sky still take up 50% of an image in which it plays no part in the subject matter ?

If he raised the horizon to the top third or even the bottom third it would allow the graveyard to dominate and get the separation it needs to be effective. At least that's how I look at it. There are no rules that have to be strictly followed in composition, but usually when you decide to break them, it's for a reason. And I just don't see the reasoning here. This image could be much stronger if he followed some of those rules.

I'd be willing to bet that the OP has given little thought to composition at this point in his learning process. That's just an observation based on this photo and many of his others. The images themselves show that he knows the technical side of things but these images could be made much more interesting with better composition of his subject matter.

My opinion, and that's all it is, still stands that he could use some help in the composition department. And judging by your critique as well as a few others here, I don't see anything that's gonna change my mind.