Monday Morning Quarterbacking #2

Just in case you don't remember or this is your first time to see "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" you may want to click here to see what it's all about.

Do you know how hard it is to critique your own work? I mean really critique it, like the meanest judge at a competition. Well it is hard. I decided today that if I was going to do another Monday Morning Quarterbacking feature I'd better bite the bullet and get after it. To try to be as objective as possible I simply went to "Edit Posts" and pulled up my last 100 posts. Then I closed my eyes and scrolled my mouse up and down several times and clicked. The post that come up was one I did just a month ago today and the photo is the one you see above. Fortunately it only took me a couple seconds to see some problems with this photo.

Before I tear into it let me say that I like this photo - obviously I like it or I would not have posted it.  This critiquing feature is not about saying how terrible something is, but about taking a second look - like Monday Morning Quarterbacking - and seeing how we could have made it better.

First thing I noticed was the frame.  When I posted this photo I was just starting to do some of the coloring and/or shading of the background frame.  I would go into the photo and find some color and then use it for the coloration of the background frame.  Do you see that bit of lichen on the rock on the right side?  That is what I used for the color for this frame.  I must have been in a hurry or something, because as I look back now I can see that it did not add to this photo it detracted from it.

One of the things that made me post this photo was the texture of the sand under the clear water and also the reflections of the rocks, trees and sky in the water.  However, I find that the brightness and texture of the sand in the bottom left corner is slightly distracting.  It would have been very easy to add just a little darkening vignette to the two bottom corners which would have helped keep the eye in the photo not out toward the edges and corners.

Finally, and maybe the worst is this photo suffers in the composition department.  Have you heard of the rule of thirds?  (If not click here.)  As you can see I jacked this one up pretty bad.  Since about the only thing that would qualify as a center of interest is where the stream disappears into the rock at the end, it should not be right smack in the middle.

Let's face it.  This photo has some very interesting elements that grabbed our attention, but with a little effort in the right places, and a little more time taken perhaps it could have been substantially improved.

The best way to make the compositional fixes would have been in the camera at the time of the shoot, but this cropped and Bridge-altered version may help you see it a little.

And there is still one more element to Monday Morning Quarterbacking - If you have a photo you would like seriously critiqued from one man's photographic/artistic viewpoint you may either put a link to it in your comment, email me a link or simply email me the photo. You'll find an email link just below or in my profile.  Please tell me if you want it critiqued publicly or privately.  You must promise not to be mad at me if I tell you something you didn't want to hear.  You do not have to agree with me - photography and art are very subjective.

Don't be shy - leave a comment or email me.  I look forward to hearing from you!F

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