I'm pretty new to fstoppers; I find that my photographs are being judged, but no one is leaving me any feedback or comments. I'm hoping someone on here is willing to give me some feedback on these images. I really just want to continue to get better, but could really use some constructive criticism...
Particularly, the last two - they have been rated really low and I would really like to know why.
Please don't feel like you need to walk on egg shells, I have thick skin - thanks!
Nate, I wouldn't take the ratings here (or anywhere) very seriously. The judgment of art is always subjective and arbitrary. If you haven't seen it already, check out Andreas Gursky's work entitled "Rhein II". It sold at auction for over $4 million. I think it's a great image, but that great? Not to me, but someone paid that much for it. Honestly, I've seen many photos posted by people here on fstoppers that I would just as soon spend my time viewing.
For what my opinion is worth (probably not much) I think these are nice enough, but unnecessarily busy and/or the subjects are unclear.
1. The only element of interest is the sun which is overwhelmed by the rest of the image. The sky, rocks and water aren't extremely interesting, largely the same edge to edge and don't function as negative space. Zoom in much tighter on the sun, pop the clouds a bit and I think this would be stronger. My favorite of these five.
2. Is the subject in this one the boat or the clouds? I also wonder if the boat would have moved into the center of the sun's reflection had this been taken a few seconds later (or if you would have been able to move to get this). The shadowy trees in the bottom right contribute nothing to this image. Just cropping it to get rid of them would be an improvement.
3. I'm guessing that the subject is the hotel itself. I like the colors of the flower boxes in the two lower windows, but there's so much going on with the pieces of trees, the chimney, the sign, the light, the waterfront and clouds.
4. Again I'm unsure of the subject other than the overall scene. Nice enough leading line. I think that the birds, telephone poles and road(?) add nothing but clutter and their absence would strengthen the image.
5. This one is about the tree, featuring the sun and the sky. I'm not sure that you could get into a position to isolate those three and eliminate everything else, but the other elements don't add anything.
So that's my attempt at "good critiquing". The opinions of a man who has seen and continues to see all of this in his own photos on occasion and likes several of the photos he's seen on fstoppers as much or more than he likes a photo that sold for over $4 million.
Dune, thank you so much for the objective look at my work. This is exactly what i was looking for and you delivered much more than I expected!
PS - I totally agree with your opinion of the Rheine II. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
Dune, thank you so much for the objective look at my work. This is exactly what i was looking for and you delivered much more than I expected!
PS - I totally agree with your opinion of the Rheine II. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...