Please Critique

[yusia]

I tried to play with light and shadows today, and that's the result. I thought it's pretty cool, but my friend said it's messy and the idea is totally unclear.
Is it right? If yes, what could I do better?
Thnx!

 

[mysteryscribe]

To me it seems a confusion of lines and a bit flat. If that is what you were after then it is a success. In the words of Ricky Nelson, you can't please everyone so you gotta please yourself.

That said, if you wanted to make a point with the flower in the container as your subject, the background is distracting. If that was the case then you want to make sure nothing completes with your subject or subjects if there are more than one. That might be the mess they speak of.

Also I find the light and the image rather flat but that can be effective as well so it's really just whatever you intended for it to be. As an image there are plenty of good lines and shadows and you said you were working toward that.

 

[yusia]

Thanks!

 

[Pirate]

The background is quite busy, the item just to the left and in the rear are very distracting. And I think that I would try using a snoot to light the subject a bit. You could keep the background as is if your subject was more prominant.

 

[jacull]

Great experimentation!

I would have to agree with your friend. It doesn't seem to have a clear subject since everything is the same, flat tone. What was the goal of this photo?

In playing with light and shadow, it is helpful to remember that the viewer of your photo will first see the brightest objects: They will be the main subject. You can really use this principle to draw the viewer's eye through the frame and communicate the message that you want to get across.

Keep shooting,
JC