Ok, these are the last ones. Thanks for your patience. :)
" In or Out " by Gerardo Pesantez
Hmmmm... In this case, I'm afraid the midtones don't really do much for
me. I'm not sure if it's partly because of the lighting or not, but the
image just comes across as tonally flat on my monitor. OTOH, I don't mind
the composition, the idea was definitely a good one, and the black behind
the door is very deep. Focusing on the doorknob might have improved it,
or even bouncing the flash to introduce some shadows. Not that it's
necessarily a bad photo; it just doesn't appeal to me.
" Morning mist " by Naomi van der Lippe
Now *here's* an image that I'd love to see at a larger size. I don't
think the PUG really does justice to this one, and I imagine the subtle
tones are breathtaking in the origninal. I hope you've enlarged this one
to at least 11x14 just to appreciate the effect. The mist makes the trees
in the background look very ethereal. I would have tried to find an angle
that had fewer branches to block the background trees, but if you want a
lot of stuff in the foreground you've chosen a good angle for that. If
you're trying to convey a sense of the tranquility of the scene, having a
less-busy / simpler foreground might help.
" Pipe Organ " by Sid Barras, South Lousiana, USA
Ah, low-res artifacting strikes again. I'd love to see this photo either
shown at a higher resolution or as a print, without those small square
blocks of colours. That being said, I'm very partial to tinted
monochromes or any photos that play with one colour or shade, so I really
like the colour and lighting on this one. The composition is good, and I
hope you took some more shots that emphasized the pipes alone. Even just
moving to the left would have made for an interesting shot. Congrats on
this one! I don't think I've seen an HIE photo in this PUG that I didn't
like. :)
" Sign of the Times " by Shel Belinkoff, USA
Nice shot and title, Shel. :) The straight-on, documentary style calls
to mind what little I've seen of some early American socially-conscious
photographers, and works well with the subject. Otherwise, if you wanted
to get fancy with the angles, I wouldn't mind seeing more of the street
and surroundings on the left and less of the open space on the
right. Hey, is that a Darwin fish on the camper? *LOL* It comes across
as a pretty low-contrast shot on my monitor, so I'm not sure whether
that's my monitor, the scan, or the printing (if you scanned it from a
print). This is one of the few shots I've seen that still works well even
at low contrast. Were you using a filter? I'm guessing not. Good job at
capturing this moment.
" Old Muse " by Matt McCarter, USA
Hi, Matt. Great idea, but I think the angle and lighting could use a
little tweaking. Showing less of the table and more of the guitar might
make for a stronger effect, and watch out for hotspots like the one near
the top and the one in the bottom right. If you're partial to this angle,
try focusing closer to eliminate the hotspots and the space beyond the
table in the upper right corner. The bottom part of the strings would
make a gorgeous close-up or macro shot. I *love* the warm, mellow
lighting you've used for this photo, and the black areas at the top and
bottom on the left work perfectly. Very well done!
" Genesis " by Alin Flaider
This is certainly an interesting effect. I haven't decided yet if I like
the red blurs or not, but there's no denying that it's eye-catching and a
little eerie. I really like the spotlight on the lone performer peeking
out from behind the curtain, though his face could probably be burned in a
little, unless you're trying for an exaggerated-glare feeling. Why does
it look like the audience is looking away from the stage? :) If you want
to print this in an 8x10 proportion, try cropping off the red figure on
the left so that the performer is at the left of the image... that works
well, too, and I might even prefer that cropping. The lighting on the
curtains is great.
" Snooze " by Tom Wannenburg, USA
I like this one. I like the angle of the lighting across his face, the
expression on both of their faces, and the square framing, which works so
well here. The shirt looks a little unnatural, but I think the decision
to desaturate to B&W was a good one, and helps to evoke a feeling of
tranquility. I wonder how it would look if the top was cropped just
slightly to remove that tuft of hair, and if that would be more in keeping
with the relatively tight crops on the other sides. In any case, an
exceptional candid.
At the door " by Luis Pinar, Argentina
Great shot! I *love* the painterly style and mood of the photo, the soft
colours and beautiful textures. The girl is giving you an excellent pose,
and I like her facial expression, the way she is holding her food, and the
ripples in the glass where her arm is. A great shot; I can't think of
anything that jumps out at me that you could improve. Congrats!
" Inside Out " by Paul Stenquist, USA
A nice effect, and a good idea. Your blacks are rich and beautiful, but I
find them to be a bit too overpowering, especially at the bottom of the
frame. I don't think the framing works too well if you're trying to
convey a sense of the haves and the have nots. Apart from the fact that
the man inside and the woman outside don't appear to be dressed radically
different, I'm not seeing enough of the building (restaurant?) to know
that it's a "haves" type of place. Maybe a horizontal shot would convey a
bit more context. Though the amount of black makes the photo seem
crowded, or busy, I do like the way that the woman and child seem
overpowered by the structure and are looking up at it. Hmmmm... maybe it
works better than I first thought. You did a great job of printing for
the people and the signs. Thanks!
Ok, that's it for the March PUG comments. As always, please feel free to
disagree with anything I've said, as it's always a nice change to talk
about our photos instead of our equipment once in a while. :) I'll be
posting an e-mail soon asking people to become PUG commentators, so please
watch out for that. Thanks very much to everyone who participated in this
month's PUG, and especially to Bill and his team who put in a lot of work
and made a beautiful gallery out of our individual efforts yet again. We
appreciate it!
chris
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