Spontaneous Portrait critique

ognistik · May 1, 2007

I took this picture at a park, spontaneously. No posing, no smiling, no nothing but just how it happened to be when I clicked the shutter. I like it much but help me see what's wrong with it with your critiques.

Thanks

Alpha · May 1, 2007

Comp and tone range are very good. But it does look like you just took a snapshot of an old lady.

BoblyBill · May 1, 2007

Did you ask her afterwards if you could post her picture online? I would be very careful on pictures you post online without the permission of the person in the picture. I say that because of the fact this looks like she might have known that you have taken a picture of her or not. As far as the picture is conserned, I don't really like the square crop. A vertical (portrait) would look better in this instance. The picture seems a little out of focus, which in my opinion hurts the picture quite a bit. I like the pose and the fact that she looks like she is concentrating on something. That makes me curious and want to know more. So it does cause me to think and not just glance over the picture and take it as just a snapshot.

ognistik · May 1, 2007

I know her, there's no problem in posting this online. But just wondering, does anybody know what kind of legal problems could I be involved in posting an image of somebody with or without permission?

thanks for both comments, the one that says it's a snapshot and the one that says it is not. Perhaps I can work on saturating photographs with interesting details or deffined message. Here I just thought that the character was interesting in her own being.

Thanks for the critiques!

photonoir · May 1, 2007

ognistik said:
I know her, there's no problem in posting this online. But just wondering, does anybody know what kind of legal problems could I be involved in posting an image of somebody with or without permission?

thanks for both comments, the one that says it's a snapshot and the one that says it is not. Perhaps I can work on saturating photographs with interesting details or deffined message. Here I just thought that the character was interesting in her own being.

Thanks for the critiques!

You don't need permission if someone is in a public space. The only problem that could arise is if you sold the photo to advertise something... like say herpes medicine.

But if you're in public space in the US no permission or release is needed.

In fact, quite recently Philip di-lorcia-corsca (I'm sure i spelled that wrong) was recently sued for doing exactly this, except he sold prints for many many copies and the case did not even make it to trial.

So you can shoot anyone in a public space and even sell the images, as long as its not product endorsement. I'm sure someone will tell u I'm wrong, but check out the actual law and court cases versus photographer hysteria

photonoir · May 1, 2007

ognistik said:
I took this picture at a park, spontaneously. No posing, no smiling, no nothing but just how it happened to be when I clicked the shutter. I like it much but help me see what's wrong with it with your critiques.

Thanks

I think it's the angle, because the angle makes it look like a snapshot, if you were a little more in front of her, it might not look that way. Your contrast and composition are very nice.

cosmonaut · May 1, 2007

I think the composition is spot on. But the exposure seems a stop off. Your camera exposed for the brighter background and you lack detail in her clothes. If you shot in Raw this could probably be balanced out. You also seem a touch soft. Did you sharpen it? Digital images out of camera need sharpening some.
Cosmo

motcon · May 3, 2007

ognistik said:
I know her, there's no problem in posting this online. But just wondering, does anybody know what kind of legal problems could I be involved in posting an image of somebody with or without permission?

absolutely zero legal ramifications unless you are using it explicitly for promoting a business. any photographs taken in public are, indeed, public domain (with caveats regarding government property).

motcon · May 3, 2007

your original photograph is here:

applying a basic composition overlay we find that the true center of focus is a bit off:

i simply discarded the border and cropped in order that the composition is weighted properly and provides proper center of focus:

given that i am a film photographer and work solely in the darkroom, i do very often create unsharp masks, so i haven't a problem doing it digitally:

i think you have a knack of capturing a moment; the critical moment that exists between moments. a little cropping and adjusting is all that is needed.

comparatively:

panocho · May 3, 2007

well.... so I particularly don't really like the new composition better...

motcon · May 3, 2007

panocho said:
well.... so I particularly don't really like the new composition better...

this is a serious critique forum. please enlighten us as to why not.

ognistik · May 4, 2007

awesome! thanks a lot for the feedback. Perhaps I didn't get the perfect composition and it needs the crop for getting it "perfect". Still, I feel a little bit unsure about cropping out half of the head and details. I know everything could have been fixed thinking about the perfect composition at the moment of shooting it (I didn't get much time to think about it) so I am sure this thread will help me improve in future photography. Thanks.

motcon · May 4, 2007

ognistik said:
Still, I feel a little bit unsure about cropping out half of the head and details.

that's your call. as it stands, the hat draws a lot of the attention and is somewhat irrelevant to the overall photo, methinks. there are concrete composition guides and there are the rules that are really personal preference. if cropping out part of a head isn't acceptable to you, so be it. in my opinion, i'll take the fixating focus on those eyes over that hat anyday.