newbie please critique

[BoblyBill]

since nobody has ventured into a true critique here goes:

i think that this image is compositionally challenged, they say your eye is drawn to the sharp parts of an image, and here it is the piercing and part of the eye, so i look back and forth between those two areas, which alone don't hold much, and together challenge each other for the viewers attention. also, the well defined side of the face with the black out of focus leads to a third sharp point of the photo, the strands of hair, further confusing my eye for a point of interest (not that you must always have a point of interest)

finally the whole right half of the frame is out of focus white/grey. why didn't you shoot with more of the subject in the frame and less of the nothing?

I'm not sure if I could say it any better than that. I'm sorry but my opinions of this picture are the same as most everybody else.

 

[lollypop]

Thank you, i asked to be critiqued and i certainly was, i wish i had better prepaired myself i was hoping at least one person would like it other than myself, but marjority rules and this is definetly one for the scrap heap

 

[newrmdmike]

hmmm . . . i'm going to disagree with you again, just because we say its bad doesn't always mean its bad (although in this case i would say it is) you should take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[Alex_B]

For me the balance of this image does not work. but that might be just me

 

[lollypop]

i understand what you mean when you say with a grain of salt but the fact that so many talented individuals all meet a like conclusion has led me to question my abilities, when your so invested in your work its difficult to stand back and view from anothers perspective which is probably what i need to do.

 

[Alex_B]

has led me to question my abilities,

however, keep in mind that no one on here questioned your abilities, .. we only gave critique to a particular image (or several) .. which is very different.

You could question your ability to judge which of your work is good and which is not so good ... but then, welcome to the club, this is hard for most of us! That is why we post our work here for unbiased eyes to look at it and give feedback. often some of those of my images which i like a lot, are not well recieved by others and the other way round. this is why for each of us with our own images there is so much more connected than just the things you see on them.

when your so invested in your work its difficult to stand back and view from anothers perspective which is probably what i need to do.

yes, but don't use that to question your abilities, but simply to learn and experiment, see how different approaches to a subject are received by an audience.
This helps seeing what is in the image ... and what is within yourself only, only seen by you when you look at it.


hmm... hope this does not get to philosophical for me now

 

[lollypop]

Although by work is personal i need to take it less personably i need to be able to stand back like i said.

What i m questioning is that i should be my own worst critic evidently i am not so i need to be harder on myself raise the bar- so to speak

 

[The_Traveler]

i understand what you mean when you say with a grain of salt but the fact that so many talented individuals all meet a like conclusion has led me to question my abilities, when your so invested in your work its difficult to stand back and view from anothers perspective which is probably what i need to do.

It is not your abilities that are being questioned - I'm confident that you are able to do what you want. It is just that in this case, your critical senses have just been overwhelmed by your attachments.

We all share the problem of being invested in our work.The most difficult thing for me is to be objective about my own pictures. Hell, I hear music sometimes when I look at some of my own pictures. If you didn't get invested, I'd worry about you.

Keep on. We won't lie to you. And, when it comes down to it, if we all think its crap and you still love it - stick with it. This is art, man, not an election.

Look forward to more of your pictures.

Lew

 

[The_Traveler]

Its pretty funny that AlexB and I wrote almost exactly the same thing, virtually simultaneously.

 

[Alex_B]

What i m questioning is that i should be my own worst critic evidently i am not so i need to be harder on myself raise the bar- so to speak

ok, nothing to be said against that


but always chew before you swallow ... the whole flock here might be wrong sometimes ... and don't try to please everyone at the same time.

 

[Alex_B]

Its pretty funny that AlexB and I wrote almost exactly the same thing, virtually simultaneously.

just saw this now...

.. well, then there must be some truth in it

 

[gmarquez]

i was hoping at least one person would like it other than myself, but marjority rules and this is definetly one for the scrap heap

If you like it, then you shouldn't put it on the scrap heap. It's that simple.

Some of us will critique you for your picture's content. Some will critique for methedology (good exposure, composition, etc.). Some will critique for relevance. Some will critique for emotional impact.

Use these critiques as suggestions.

However, if you have a photo that you like, but no one else in the entire world likes, well, maybe you won't be able to sell it, but at the very least you can enjoy viewing it yourself.

(And I'd be willing to bet that there is a certain subset of people that would like your "MTV style").

 

[Alex_B]

However, if you have a photo that you like, but no one else in the entire world likes, well, maybe you won't be able to sell it, but at the very least you can enjoy viewing it yourself.

This is exactly why there are so many images in my archives.... never (or rarely) to be let out

 

[nabero]

I have to agree with what was said above...but I guess what I'm more interested is why did you take this shot? I don't mean that sarcastically or with any kind of malice! What was the intent..what does it mean?


Also, even though I'm a newbie to photography, I would say to never scrap something based on someone else's opinion. I write (as my major in college and life long passion)...and I have learned that you should have faith in your abilities and passions. Maybe it won't be worth a half cent to anyone else..but if you put some of yourself into it, then there is something to be learned from your efforts.

Hope to see more from you

 

[lollypop]

I had a project on abstraction and i had to take an abstract image this could be interpretted in anyway i liked i chose body modification as my abstract subject.

I will keep the image even if its just so i can look back one day and view my work with less attatchment