Embrace.

[Sid]

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sid-williams/351845895/" title="Ash &amp; Matt by sid_123184, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/61/351845895_59d636f196.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Ash &amp; Matt" /></a>

Camera: Nikon D1X
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/13
Focal Length: 48 mm
Exposure Bias: -5/2 EV

[jdepould]

Thanks for including exif in your post, did you have any specific questions or thoughts to help guide the critique?

[Sid]

Ammm well i just like to hear what people think, opinions, what they would do different, if there's anything wrong with it. Even good critiques are nice too, maybe the positives of what I did so I can make sure to keep up the good work =).

[deck]

Thats a nice picture, you got the exposure right, the skintones are present even in black and white, but what I would like to know is the story for the picture...
what's behind the embrace?
You know why im asking? there's something about the embrace, it seems a bit detached, for an embrace like that it should be passionate right? :)

[Sandie]

I have no technical comments, it has beautiful tones and shapes. Excellent work there!

Now the parts I don't like, it is so technical it is cold. It is not sexy, it looks like a bad underwear, album cover, or engagement ring ad. The toe being cut off really bugs me, almost seeing her eye keeps taking my eye away from the neat abstrat lines the hands and legs make with the muscles on the back.

When I crop all the way down to the top of his shoulders the image really works much better for me. I still want to see that toe though!

[Sid]

Thats a nice picture, you got the exposure right, the skintones are present even in black and white, but what I would like to know is the story for the picture...
what's behind the embrace?
You know why im asking? there's something about the embrace, it seems a bit detached, for an embrace like that it should be passionate right? :)

Well perhaps that is the story, obviously thats for you to decide. If you think that because there's no passion it means that there's no story I think your mistaken, I think its makes the story more interesting. In a pose like this, passion is supposed to be there, when its not it makes you question why, and when you question it makes you think and therefore I've done what I set out to do. =)

I have no technical comments, it has beautiful tones and shapes. Excellent work there!

Now the parts I don't like, it is so technical it is cold. It is not sexy, it looks like a bad underwear, album cover, or engagement ring ad. The toe being cut off really bugs me, almost seeing her eye keeps taking my eye away from the neat abstrat lines the hands and legs make with the muscles on the back.

When I crop all the way down to the top of his shoulders the image really works much better for me. I still want to see that toe though!


Haha I'm sorry about the toe =) My goal for this photo was to make it cold, I wanted there to be a distance between them even though they're in this position, as I said above I believe it makes you wonder why there is no passion in what should be such a passionate embrace. As for her face, I'm glad you keep going back there because its her face that tells the story for me. She looks like she's somewhere else and that makes me think about what she might be thinking or why she needs to distance herself from the situation.

I never did see the bad Ad's that it could be used for, though I suppose you're right there. haha.



Thanks for your feedback guys/girls!

[deck]

Well perhaps that is the story, obviously thats for you to decide. If you think that because there's no passion it means that there's no story I think your mistaken, I think its makes the story more interesting. In a pose like this, passion is supposed to be there, when its not it makes you question why, and when you question it makes you think and therefore I've done what I set out to do. =)

If your intention was to have a sort of "detached" embrace then I think you did the shot well, the lack of expression and the body language says it.
Composition wise, the "detached" toe (hehe) is quite noticable, generally its not advisable to crop at the joints. Other than that, I think its a nicely done photo.
Hope its taken constructively ;)
Deck

[Digidave]

Ammm well i just like to hear what people think, opinions, what they would do different, if there's anything wrong with it. Even good critiques are nice too, maybe the positives of what I did so I can make sure to keep up the good work =).

Sid, I think if you would have explained what your intentions were from the beginning. What you were trying to achieve with this shot. You would have gotten more positive feedback. It just took a couple of posts to get it out of you. I know I'm not critiquing your photo, I'm critiquing the way you set this post up. But it's just something to keep in mind the next time. The more people know about your intentions, the better the critiques will be. They will be about color, cropping, composition, lighting, & all that stuff, but it would be more in the context of what your ultimate goal for the shot is.

I kind of rambled there. Hope it makes sense!!:o Keep up the good work!!:)

[Sid]

your absolutely right, I'll keep that in mind for my next post! In the meantime with everything explained now, what do you think of the photo =)

[peeperita]

nice image......the model's skin is wonderfully exposed and i actually like the poses.....that man has a beautifully cut back.....:)

my only critique is on the framing.....like others, i want to see all of the woman's foot in the frame and i would like to have seen all of their heads as well.....negative space is not a bad thing at all in my book....

thanks for posting...

peeper

[jiminyClickit]

Sid,

There was a guy some months back who just put up his photo in a CritiqueThis sort of post. After the first few comments about too much this and not enough that, he answered that he had successfully reached his goal, because he had "intended to get negative comments," because it showed his art was powerful. After that and a few others, interest dwindled to nothing.

People who were interested in meeting a specific goal, said so in the first post, and allowed Critiquers the opportunity to agree or disagree as they chose. This guy waited to see which way the wind blew, then tailored his responses to make himself look like an accomplished photographer.

People saw through that quickly, and we are thinking that having a specific goal or question stated first will prevent that from happening again, where Critique becomes a game of semantics.

Whether this has any bearing on your thread would be up to you. Some of the responses you received and my own reaction is that it isn't very helpful to you or Critiquers to post first, and wait a while before stating a goal. Makes the Critique much harder because we could assume any number of uses, intentions, conditions during the shot, client wishes, many situations that affect the view a Critiquer could have based a comment on.

If your goal is only to look good in a Critique, that's one of the reasons the guidelines are what they are: a way to separate the serious photographer who wishes only to get better, from those who have another agenda.

I can't know what you really wanted, but I can say that your presentation is not as good as those who have a goal, state it, and face the comments from their peers with thanks.

[Sid]

Sid,

There was a guy some months back who just put up his photo in a CritiqueThis sort of post. After the first few comments about too much this and not enough that, he answered that he had successfully reached his goal, because he had "intended to get negative comments," because it showed his art was powerful. After that and a few others, interest dwindled to nothing.

People who were interested in meeting a specific goal, said so in the first post, and allowed Critiquers the opportunity to agree or disagree as they chose. This guy waited to see which way the wind blew, then tailored his responses to make himself look like an accomplished photographer.

People saw through that quickly, and we are thinking that having a specific goal or question stated first will prevent that from happening again, where Critique becomes a game of semantics.

Whether this has any bearing on your thread would be up to you. Some of the responses you received and my own reaction is that it isn't very helpful to you or Critiquers to post first, and wait a while before stating a goal. Makes the Critique much harder because we could assume any number of uses, intentions, conditions during the shot, client wishes, many situations that affect the view a Critiquer could have based a comment on.

If your goal is only to look good in a Critique, that's one of the reasons the guidelines are what they are: a way to separate the serious photographer who wishes only to get better, from those who have another agenda.

I can't know what you really wanted, but I can say that your presentation is not as good as those who have a goal, state it, and face the comments from their peers with thanks.


Ok, I am new it this and as you can see in this post someone has brought up the very thing you're talking about, I agreed with the man and therefore started doing so. I'm not here to take a comment and twist a story so that it suits my needs. I post here because I'm a fairly serious hobbyist who's only been shooting for a year and a half, maybe. I AM here to get better. Sometimes I don't have a specific question because i just want to see what a person has to say about it in general, which makes me think about the image in a different way. So far its been a great learning experience for me, I love to read about what another person sees in my photos that I might never have. Anyway I think I have posted well and learned a lot from it, not to mention I think I've helped a few people with their photos. So please don't lecture me and be constructive; critique the photo, or don't.

[jiminyClickit]

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10888

"Why" a photo is posted, is part of Critique.

[yokolok]

Sid, I think if you would have explained what your intentions were from the beginning. What you were trying to achieve with this shot. You would have gotten more positive feedback. It just took a couple of posts to get it out of you. I know I'm not critiquing your photo, I'm critiquing the way you set this post up. But it's just something to keep in mind the next time. The more people know about your intentions, the better the critiques will be. They will be about color, cropping, composition, lighting, & all that stuff, but it would be more in the context of what your ultimate goal for the shot is.

I kind of rambled there. Hope it makes sense!!:o Keep up the good work!!:)

maybe sid did not want to influence the critiques...and i think he was able to get that...

i sometimes think that the best shots are those that convey the image immediately without any need for explanation...

the girl seems to have had a hard time holding on, as if she fears she might fall...and here comes the photographer saying - now smile, smile - and starts snapping away...the pose looks too, well, posed, too unnatural...even though cold and detached was the message conveyed...the girls smile confuses also...but my personal opinion...:)

[Sid]

maybe sid did not want to influence the critiques...and i think he was able to get that...

i sometimes think that the best shots are those that convey the image immediately without any need for explanation...

the girl seems to have had a hard time holding on, as if she fears she might fall...and here comes the photographer saying - now smile, smile - and starts snapping away...the pose looks too, well, posed, too unnatural...even though cold and detached was the message conveyed...the girls smile confuses also...but my personal opinion...:)




Excellent thank you! and thanks for the critique I think your right on over -posing it.

[yokolok]

Excellent thank you! and thanks for the critique I think your right on over -posing it.

you are most welcome sid - as it is said - a picture is worth a thousand words...:)