Split (C & C)

[jjphotos]

Found this abandoned axe in a walk in the forest. Not sure if my PP or angles work... please let me know what you think!

#1

#2

#3

 

[Braineack]

Using spoiler to display your images is annoying

 

[jjphotos]

Do you have any critique comments on the actual the photos?

 

[Braineack]

the first two seem too close and in your face to me, while not being quite macro shots.

I like the DOF and leading line on the last shot.

 

[waday]

Agree with Braineack. I like number 3.

 

[jjphotos]

the first two seem too close and in your face to me, while not being quite macro shots.

I like the DOF and leading line on the last shot.

Thank you! I see what you mean about the first two. I'll keep that in mind when trying to do close-up shots.

Agree with Braineack. I like number 3.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[sm4him]

First of all--what a very cool find!! I can certainly see what attracted you. Like someone just got tired of all the chopping and LEFT.

I like #3 as well, in terms of showing both the axe and the stump.
But I kinda like the first two as well, though I think I might do something a little different. I'd show you, but your info says photos not ok to edit.
On the first, what if you cropped in and made it almost an abstract? Crop in to just above the three bits of fungi on the left, and then up from the bottom to just a bit below where the axe ends. Then crop the sides so that the wood fills the entire frame. Might be kind neat.
On the second, while I don't like it as much as the first, that incredible old axe IS interesting, and I think I'd really crop in on that, leaving just a bit of the wood that it's cutting into.

 

[limr]

First of all--what a very cool find!! I can certainly see what attracted you. Like someone just got tired of all the chopping and LEFT.

I like #3 as well, in terms of showing both the axe and the stump.
But I kinda like the first two as well, though I think I might do something a little different. I'd show you, but your info says photos not ok to edit.
On the first, what if you cropped in and made it almost an abstract? Crop in to just above the three bits of fungi on the left, and then up from the bottom to just a bit below where the axe ends. Then crop the sides so that the wood fills the entire frame. Might be kind neat.
On the second, while I don't like it as much as the first, that incredible old axe IS interesting, and I think I'd really crop in on that, leaving just a bit of the wood that it's cutting into.

Dang Sharon, you said exactly what I was going to say! I like the first one if cropped to draw attention the the V of the cut wood filled with the inverted V of the ax - more of an abstract study of shape and texture.

Though I do like #2 and 3 the way they are.

 

[C. Brian Kerr]

Agree with sm4him. If you left it like you found it, it may be interesting to get down below the head and shoot up

 

[jjphotos]

First of all--what a very cool find!! I can certainly see what attracted you. Like someone just got tired of all the chopping and LEFT.

I like #3 as well, in terms of showing both the axe and the stump.
But I kinda like the first two as well, though I think I might do something a little different. I'd show you, but your info says photos not ok to edit.
On the first, what if you cropped in and made it almost an abstract? Crop in to just above the three bits of fungi on the left, and then up from the bottom to just a bit below where the axe ends. Then crop the sides so that the wood fills the entire frame. Might be kind neat.
On the second, while I don't like it as much as the first, that incredible old axe IS interesting, and I think I'd really crop in on that, leaving just a bit of the wood that it's cutting into.

Wow thanks for the really in-depth feedback sm4him!
Really appreciate it !
I've changed the settings. I didn't really notice I had it on do not edit.
I can see what you're saying though. I'm not quite sure how to execute it so I'm hoping you come back to show me.

Agree with sm4him. If you left it like you found it, it may be interesting to get down below the head and shoot up

Thanks Brian. I'll definitely try next time I pass by. Would you have the angle be directly frontal (facing the cutline) or the side profile (the larger horizontal side so the cut isn't visible)?

 

[sm4him]

Okay, well, this is a super quickie, because I don't have time to play with it just now. I'm not very pleased with it, but it gives you the idea. Just crop way in then start playing with it--leave the axe tip in the frame maybe. Rotate it a bit. Just play around with it and see if anything works for you.

I did also desaturate it a good bit, to *almost* a black-and-white, but not quite. My goal was to really try to pull out the textures instead of just the colors. I did want to leave the red bits in the axe, but not have it be so harsh that it draws all the attention.
As I said, I don't actually like this version that much; it's just the basic idea that you can then play around with more.


On the second one, all I'd do is just crop a teeny bit off the top and a bit more off the bottom. On that one, I did also actually ADD a little bit of saturation, only to the reds, to really pull out all the character in that axe.

 

[Braineack]

i prefer those crops.

 

[annamaria]

Really like number three!

 

[vintagesnaps]

I like the first one pretty well as is, although I might try some cropping. What I notice is the whitish vertical lines in the wood that are below the axe, those lines to me are somewhat a distraction. Then if I crop a bottom portion I usually crop the sides to get back to a similar balance of the original composition.

The third one to me has more space than needed to the left, I feel like my eyes follow the handle of the axe and keep going and there's nothing there. So I'd probably make copies and try some different crops of the left side with that one.

Great subject with probably a lot of ways it could be photographed.

 

[C. Brian Kerr]

Agree with sm4him. If you left it like you found it, it may be interesting to get down below the head and shoot up

Thanks Brian. I'll definitely try next time I pass by. Would you have the angle be directly frontal (facing the cutline) or the side profile (the larger horizontal side so the cut isn't visible)?[/QUOTE]

I would shoot including as much of the split in the log as you can. I would also use a shallow DOF