What??? you've never heard of my "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" feature? Well, this is #1 so read the post above.
While I was in southern Utah a few months back I ran across this little cave and I thought that it was very interesting because of the way it was formed and the colorful stratified rock so I snapped a pic of it.
(f4.3, 1/100, 125mm, ISO 160)
Going back and looking at the photo I can clearly see that it is basically pretty boring. A real yawner. One big problem right off the bat is that the lighting is very flat. It so happened that when this photo was taken the sky was very overcast and so the lighting is very even, giving us hardy any shape. It also flattens out the colors. Everything is in midtones - very boring. It doesn't really guide your eye to anything except possibly the cave which is right smack dab in the middle of the photo - again very boring. Again, there is nothing really interesting in the shot to hold the viewer except possibly the cave itself, and that would only hold you for a very short time. It would be enhanced by a POI (Point of Interest). It could be slightly enhanced in Photoshop, Bridge or Lightroom by picking up a little contrast and perking up the colors a little, but that wouldn't help on the lack of a POI.
Fortunately I did get a chance to take it again a little later when a few friends showed up for a little hike with their dog.
(f11, 1/100, 114mm, ISO 160)
Now having a POI the photo might be worth doing a little with. First I cropped to make sure the POI was in an aesthetically pleasing location for composition. Next I punched up the colors and the contrast just a touch to give it more interest. As you remember on the first one the lighting was very flat so on this one I was able to get just a touch more lighting on the edge of the rock on the left side to enhance the visual of the shape. Also, to keep the eye in the photograph longer and lead to the POI the corners were very subtly darkened.
Most of the photos I critique in the future will not have the new and improved version, but since I had the chance to do it that way this time I did.
Please feel free to add any other critiques you may have noticed that I missed, and if you have a photo you'd seriously like critiqued let me know by link, by comment, or by email.
Don't be shy - leave a comment or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!
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8 comments:
WOW! How amazing!
Kisses.
That is quite a change in the picture.I might add,for the better.
Blessings,Ruth
Love the deeper color and the added interest of people!
A great idea for Mondays. It's always nice to hear "That's a lovely photo", but 'real' photographer blogger buddies don't just say stuff to make us feel good, especially if there is some helpful, constructive, respectful suggestions on how we can improve as photographers. At least on photoblog sites. (Maybe not on sites where the primary focus is not on the photography itself.)
Your first post is a hit. You describe perfectly all the things wrong with the first shot. The second shot is much more interesting with all the corrections you made. And even though the cave was interesting, the addition of the people made the photo much more appealing. Great post.
This is not boring . Stunning beyond words.
Thanks for joining me. Hope to learn somethings here.
Have a beautiful day.
Lisa
Well, you've critiqued it pretty good yourself - are you sure you need us? :) I'm really not trying to take the easy way out, but everything you said about the first photo, I agree with, which you changed in the second photo...so good shot!
Adding the people to the photograph adds perspective. By knowing the general size / height of a person, you are now able to judge the size of the cave.
Hi Scott, I'm new to your blog but plan to revisit often. Adding people to the photo vastly improved it because the first one was flat, boring and a "so what" photo in my opinion and it seems yours (and others) as well. I post photos on our blog and invite you also to stop by anytime...
thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com
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