OK C&C, a few fall pics

paulanton · Nov 17, 2011

Actually these were taken a couple years ago, I was useing film this year and haven't had any of it scanned yet. It'll be about a month or so before my new ones are ready.

defiance by bigblock572, on Flickr

Gourds for sale (1 of 1) by bigblock572, on Flickr

Cerulean Fall (1 of 1) by bigblock572, on Flickr

bazooka · Nov 17, 2011

Not bad at all.

#1 The juxtaposition is excellent. However, the subject is sooo strong I would have taken it a little more off center to make the image more dynamic, and perhaps made it smaller in the frame. Bright yellow against dark red is a very strong contrast and can hold it's own. The center of the image is the strongest, so if you place a a strong subject there, there is little draw for the eye to explore the rest of the scene which may contain interesting surprises. This is the reasoning behind the rule of thirds. While I don't think there is anything magical about those 4 specific points in the image that the RoT creates, the general idea is to create an image that isn't static.

#2 I really like the scene, there is plenty of interest and you did a good job of filling the frame with relating subjects. The light is soft and directional. However, I do not like the position of the camera. I would like to see the camera down level with the gourds, or the sign. If you do this, you must be even more careful of your background though, as the sky or buildings or people are more likely to intrude. Also, the white balance is a bit on the blue side. Especially for a fall subject, I'd like to see it warmed up a bit.

#3 This is the weakest of the 3. To me, the strongest thing in the image is the unnaturally deep blue sky. It could be the barn, and it could be the tall tree, but both of those are cut off by the frame, so maybe it's the sky? You see, I'm not sure what you want me to see here.

photo guy · Nov 17, 2011

1 & 3 are nice 2 looks a little too dark

paulanton · Nov 17, 2011

Thanks for your observations bazooka. In response; #1 I actually found this while walking in the woods. There was a rotten stump just an inch or so out of the picture to the lower left, maybe I can Crop it a bit differently to get it closer to that ROT. #2 and #3 were taken within min of each other, the colors are pretty much as they came out of the camera. All I did for #3 is have a polarizing filter on the lens. I wish I could have baked up some more but I couldn't, It was a 9mm lens. The pumpkins I will try and adjust WB and see how it looks.

thereyougo! · Nov 17, 2011

photo guy said:
1 & 3 are nice 2 looks a little too dark

Have you calibrated your monitor? Mine is, and it looks perfectly bright to me. I agree with bazooka that the angle could be a little better, but exposure wise it looks ok