Critique Night, Tuesday 6th November 2018

Hi Folks,

Tuesday was critique night where club member’s who had images for perhaps competition, could get our own judges views on them. I think 38 images were handed in and our three judges gave their views on each and the photographer could also comment.

Unfortunately time ran out towards the end and Kathy has kindly offered to give her advice on any images sent to her afterwards that did not get displayed on the evening.

I was hoping to add at least one image on here from each person but the majority of images did not have names to identify them, so I have tried to pick out some of them. sorry if one of your pictures is not displayed.

Obviously the judges said a lot more than I could add on here  but hope it gives one a flavour of the evening.

The first was an image of a sheep that I caught scratching his / her back on a bench. There were comments about getting the shot from a different angle but unfortunately it was not possible as they are not tame and run if you are within metres of them. The lighting needed to be toned down on the bottom left and a distracting black stone removed. Alan did not think it was a winning shot but one of amusement and a chance shot.

 

The next shot was of two pillars at the bottom of the monument at Coombe Hill but the judges had not recognised them. The judges all like the colours in the sky. Kathy said the stones reminded her of a mother and baby. Alan thinking out of the box suggested that if somebody hid behind and put their arms around it it might make an interesting picture. The plane trail needs to be take out as distracting.

 

Another image with a lady and child was nicely put in monochrome and said to be a lovely photograph but the subjects need to be closer and perhaps cropping some of the background out, especially the light part on the left would make the subjects larger. Julia pointed out some tree branches appear to be coming out of the lady’s head and perhaps could be toned down.

 

Next a flower, not pin sharp but lots of detail and Alan was not sure if the subject was the hover bee or the flower. The background was nicely defused showing it was taken out doors. Kathy said it was brave to cut the flower on the right.

 

On this image Alan said it was a holiday photograph that you see in brochures and he loved the vibrant blue of the sea. Julia liked the angle taken of the white beach and perhaps taken from a balcony or cliff. The author said it was taken after doing a steep climb to get there. The shapes in the trees are good and the different boats show a mixture of local businesses there as well as tourists. Alan would remove the red boat in the top right as red and white distracts the eyes.

 

A guy in monochrome that has a great character, the person is not looking directly at the photographer. Alan loved the brickwork of the background and the monochrome works well.

A dog with a ball, not a lot of movement in this said Alan and the blue trousers in the background need toning down. The eyes on the black dog can’t be seen but fabulous image of the ball and concentration of the white dog.

 

An event showing a mock army camp scene with an image taken of the old vehicles and a soldier. A lot going on for Kathy who would crop out the post at the bottom. Unfortunately another post next to the soldier also needed looking at. Perhaps the image could be cropped closer to the soldier. Alan also pointed out the gun barrel protruding into the picture on the left.

 

A great moment captured of a red kite and heron clashing in the tree top. Needs to be taken with a fast shutter speed said Julia who liked the kite’s feather arrangement curling up.

 

Alan talked of this image as perhaps after a cricket match but the tree is taking up most of the picture and not really part of the story. Better to crop it towards the two people. Unfortunately the people don’t appear to be doing anything. If a man came across with a roller it would make the picture.

 

Lots of bright colours here, perhaps darken down the edges to centre the eyes on the heron. Alan said, ideally you need the heron to bend it’s neck to form a curve.

 

This image needs a bit more wall on the left to show the boat is tied up said Kathy. Also using the reflection of the boat Kathy thought it may be John’s but it wasn’t lol

 

This is Julia’s style said Alan however not in this case. Just like the old Pear’s soap adverts. The lighting makes this work but may have been added afterwards. The person is positioned well but perhaps would work better cropped below the waist to bring out that lovely orange lighting closer

 

A dog captured in full flight and at a low level said Julia. Plenty of space for the dog to run into which judges like and dog image is very sharp. The background is nicely out of focus and the dog just needed the foam in the mouth to add to a complete picture.

 

Four puffins looking like they are in conversation but needs the green taken out at the top and the eyes need to be more focused on.

 

There is a movement of a cyclist taken in the picture but between a bin and a post. There is a bicycle and a grave stone in the foreground which make it difficult to get a good position to take it.

 

This image by the river with October colours had Julia feeling that she had to jump a fence of foliage to see parts of the river. The photographer needed to be more elevated. The reeds give a lot of charm and would work if they came in more at an angle from the left. Just one reed spike on the left is distracting said Kathy and perhaps should be cloned out.

 

This was taken at one of our model evenings at Brill. The lighting is good but a pole needs to be removed above the hair of the model. The author needed to get the model to lower her arm as the lighting although good, does not work so well on the skin and the orange effect needs to be calmed down a touch. Unfortunately the models eyes are half closed so would not make a winning shot. Alan liked the texture of the log.

 

The photographer has taken this after a rain storm and Kathy said her eyes were drawn to the white cloud at the back. Also the green and orange lights needed to be toned down. The reflections in the foreground make the image for her.

 

Frogs have incredible eyes said Julia but you need to get down to ground level to capture them. Then there would be problems getting the background right. The right of the image could be cropped to move the frog into a better position

 

Anyway hope it gives an insight to the evening

Next week is

Post Processing Software Tutorial Night