Best Of Week 1
Sign for the London Underground
Austin with his Camera Obscura
Making Cyanotypes
Salisbury Cathedral
In The Greenhouse at Kew Garden
Green House Roof - Kew Gardens
Lily Pad Green House - Kew Garden
Green House Roof - Kew Gardens
Bailey, your images are very straight forward, and I believe the most successful are the last two. The extreme angle of the cathedral image draws the viewers eye into the sky, which creates a nice parallel with heaven like imagery. Also, for that image, the exposure is well balanced between the building and the sky, well done. The image taken in the gardens is also a nice one with the staircase hidden among the various foliage. There are two aspects I do not care for, however, within the image, and the first has to do with composition. The image alone is composed nicely. Using the rule of thirds it is nicely balanced. However, the power lines, or whatever they may be, cutting through the frame immediately detract my attention from the scene. In the future, looking out for small details (like those lines, which interrupt the composition) may make the difference between an okay image and a great image (I know it does for me). The other note on the image is to be aware of blowout in the highlights. The light is coming through pretty strongly, so it may be difficult to get an even exposure, but maybe considering lowering your highlights in a post production process. Other than that, I look forward to seeing what direction your images will continue to follow in the future. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThanks Austin!
DeleteHi Bailey! I agree with Austin about the portfolio pieces. The last two photos are the best ones. The first photo about the underground sign has a lot of negative space. I would suggest filling the frame with your focal point like you do in the last two photos. In addition, the light seems to be coming in fairly strong.
ReplyDeleteI really like the photo of Kew Gardens and think it came out well, but I also agree that those black diagonal lines in the photo are incredibly distracting. Other than that, I think the angles, contrast, and focal point look great.
As a side note, I really like the photo of Austin. I am sure we all looked ridiculous as we were trying to use the camera obscuras.
I look forward to seeing what you shoot next! :)
Bailey,
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the variety of your camera angles! Up, down, eye-level. You are definitely looking all around you! Continue to show your curiosity in your work!
The main technical issue I am noticing is lighting. I would definitely suggest to make note of where light is coming from so you know where to best place you and your camera. For example, in the photo of the Underground sign, if you had been one or two steps to the left there, you could have avoided the image being a little over exposed. Post processing in Lightroom/Photoshop also could have helped to be an easier fix for this particular photo.
My favorite photo out of this set is definitely the one at Salisbury Cathedral. The sky was perfect that day for taking architectural photos!
And to answer the question you had above, we were asked to post 5 possible portfolio pictures and then 3 class photos. This coming to a total of 8 images!
Bailey,
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty much in agreement with the rest of the group in saying that your Kew Gardens images are your strongest. My favorite is the final image. It’s beautifully composed and I love the reflection which actually kinda references the preceding image. Super rad.
On a slightly different note I don’t mind the over exposed underground image. I love playing with light in my photographs and I would encourage you to do the same as long as it is intentional. I think if it had been framed differently the light could have been as much a subject as the sign was and they could have complimented one another!
Ready to see what comes next!
Hi Bailey. Nice shooting!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that the underground sign photo is impacted by flare, light coming directly into the camera lens, rather than incorrect metering. This can create interesting patterns or simply result in a photo that looks a bit washed out. Some people love this; some people don't. For those who don't like it, a lens hood may help prevent it. I can understand why some folks would like a tighter shot of the sign with less negative space. However, I think your rule-of-thirds composition is well balanced.
Love the snapshot of Austin. In the next weeks remember to please submit 3 images like this from class. I see 2 here: Austin and the cyanotype exposing.
The cathedral is nicely framed and crafted.
I love the juxtaposition of natural and architectural elements in the glasshouse stairs image. I understand why some might find the cables a bit distracting, but I think this is one of your more complex compositions, and I encourage you to continue to experiment photographing scenes like this. There's a strong rule-of-thirds foundation, as well as depth, a broad value range, lots of texture, great color and an overall appealing visual density - lots to look at, with a lovely sense of light.
You're capturing some of these elements in the lily pond as well, in which the reflection adds depth, though it looks like the flower is a bit over-exposed. Since we have limited access to post-production software here, I would recommend bracketing your favorite exposures. Let's talk Monday if you need any assistance with this.
If I were to encourage you to move in any direction it would be to keep shooting the more straight forward, planar scenes you're already capturing with strong formalism (the sign, cathedral and glasshouse ceiling) while really pushing experimentation with more complex layering of space that we're seeing with the stairs and lilies.
Looking forward to seeing more!