The Ring

[NoelNTexas]

Why does this photo look so strange?

 

[JustAMom]

the composition looks off to me. an otherwise great photo.is that the original?

 

[NoelNTexas]

yes, this image has not been photoshopped or altered at all yet

 

[JustAMom]

well im still new to this but i know a little bit about composition from my husband (who refuses to teach me anything else lol) I am not really sure how I would crop that either... but im thinking that is what it needs...

 

[Trenton Romulox]

Because the ring is standing vertically, the cropping needs to be of a similar nature or you run into an issue not unlike a vertical shot of a sunset. Not necessarily wrong, but doesn't look quite right. I like the DOF, but maybe it'd look better if the entire ring was in focus and not just the part closest. I do like the soft background though, and the lighting is quite nice.

 

[gmarquez]

I think part of the problem may be that the lens seems to be focused on the far part of the ring, when my eye wants to focus on the near part of the ring. It's a nice artistic touch, but it may be against what the eye wants to focus on, giving a little bit of a "strange" sense. I think if the focus was on the front part of the ring, and if the picture was cropped vertically (more tall than wide), it would be a very nice picture.

(I'm just a beginner, so take my comments with a grain of salt).

 

[LaFoto]

Hi to all our newcomers, Noel, JustAMom and GMarquez, welcome to ThePhotoForum!

Thanks your for submitting a photo - and right into Photo Critique, that shows some courage. For although Photo Critique is part of our "Foundations of Photography"-chapter, this is the forum for the most serious critique in which both original poster as well as members who reply should go a lot more in depth about the photo in question than in our galleries below.

As to why this photo looks "not right", the correct answers have been given already, I feel: composition is not serving this photo well, focus is not serving it well, either, or depth of field, either of the two. And the white balance is also quite off, the photo is plainly too yellow since it was taken in normal lamp light, or so it seems.

In short, an upright format with the focus either on the entire ring or on the near part of it and a whitebalance set to tungsten would have helped.

 

[dbyrd]

Aperature control and knowing how to use it, is critical to any close up shot. The DOF is way off on this one. The good thing about digital is that you can do alot of practice shots to get the end results that will please you. I live by one rule in photography, Never shoot any camera in the auto or program mode! Set your camera to the Manual mode and you can self teach yourself in Photography.

 

[xfloggingkylex]

I dont think the composition is as much a problem as the focus and the white balance. It looks like it is focused on the far side of the ring only, so the part that is right up in your face is out of focus and very distracting. Also the picture needs to be cooler, it is way to warm from the tungsten lighting. Those two changes IMO would make a much more dramatic and satisfying shot. Also I can see your relection