Texas, Galveston shots. C&C

Fleacz · Jan 28, 2012

hey guys, here are some pics i took yesterday. just wanna share them and hear what you guys think. please C&C thanks

MK3Brent · Jan 29, 2012

Lots of distractions.
#1. Truck is killing me. Her eyes are very dark, and the shadows on the right half kinda ruin it for me.
I love the golden hour look with the sun, but the overall composition is lacking.
#2. In a way I like the chaos, but on the other hand are we looking at her face or are we looking at the crazy wind hair? With the bokeh, I bet the hair not being messy would have saved the photo. Solid focus on the face, and I wouldn't even notice the car in the background.

#3. The clock tower is so large and filling the frame, that a silhouette is just a blank spot in the photo in my opinion. I don't really want to say "underexposed" as it's obviously a silhouette with the sunset, but with a longer exposure to pull detail out in the tower and maybe a different angle vs. cropping out the powerlines would make it 10 times better.
This is my favorite shot in the post.

4 and 5 are "eh" to me. I like 5 more than 4 though.
Maybe crop out the sky above to equalize the ratio of colors. It's a LOT of red.

AceCo55 · Jan 29, 2012

Tend to agree
#1 - such a beautiful woman against such an uncomplimentary background - more of a "grab" shot maybe?
#2 - similar - I do like the lighting in these two, a beautiful golden light. Perhaps did not show it off at its best.
#3 - I like the attempt to frame the clock tower (personally I would like to see some separation between tower and tree lims on the right hand side). I think I would have moved maybe left to block out the light poles in the background. (bit of distraction in that corner)
#4 & #5 - problem with sunsets is that they have to be VERY, VERY special for photographers to go "wow!" any more. It is a magical time of the day and I would have have been snapping away with you had I been there ... but these days they are probably more of a reminder about the mood I was in at the time, at the wonderful serenity and Nature's wonder. Too many sunset photos unfortunately means a dilution of their appreciation.
I think I know why uou positioned yourself where you did in #4. You have a forground element, framing and then the setting sun silhouetting the bridge and cranes as background elements. I think that sets your skills well above those that just shoot a mass of red sky. It shows (to me) that you were thinking about composition, balance and elements working together. I just don't think the foreground is really that interesting.
For #5, I think you could crop 10-20% off the bottom. Sky is a little uniform - lot of texture-less red. That's where cloud formations can really strengthen a sunset.
It looks like a wonderful evening and I hope these photos will remind you always of that magical time.
Thanks for posting.

Frequency · Jan 29, 2012

#1: is very excellent; the light and shade on her face, gives a natural lighting there. Here smile and the play of wind on her hair, all adds to the beauty of her and of the image.
If i wanna suggest something, i would ask her to move backwards in the frame and position her proper

In the next image, that much of hair on the face cannot be apologized :grumpy:

Third is lovely; 4th is not otherwise; fifth was not necessary since fourth is there

Regards

Fleacz · Jan 29, 2012

Thanks, really helpful comments! however i would like to say that i went wondering around and just went snapping away. mosquitos are seriously a problem in galveston haha. the girl in the first 2 photos is very shy so i was rushed to take a photo.