contributed by E Allen
I took this picture at Wald Park earlier in the year. We had an assignment to take pictures of children, and these kids were just looking at me like i was crazy. There are a few things I like about it, for instance, how the horizontal lines on his shirt contrast the vertical ones from the fence behind him. It was kind of a difficult shot because I was like hanging halfway out of the tunnel, but I think it turned out good. It was just the perfect timing for the shot and the boy has an interesting look on his face. Kinda like, "dude, get out of my tunnel, I'm trying to play here". I titled it "i'm looking through you" after the amazing Beatles song.
Monday, December 19
I'm Looking Through You"
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5 comments:
For an assignment dealing with children, IMHO, you could have done wayyy better. Children just provide so much potential for fun and interesting shots. Don't just try to get a photo of kids, but try to capture something child-like (big difference). Here are some examples of what I mean:
http://tinyurl.com/9ev52
I'd say next time, hold out a little longer for that defining moment. And when you find that moment, here are seven more tips that I think you should consider.
http://tinyurl.com/6hauz
I can totally respect some constructive criticism, but honestly, you cant find one positive aspect about this piece? I mean, it has to be somewhat of a good picture, considering I did receive recognition for it in the art show. But like I said before, thank you for the opinion and critism. And if you don't mind me saying, I frankly don't care for the picture link you gave me. I don't see anything interesting or captivating about it.
-Liz
Liz, firstly I apologize if I offended you, and am glad that you can appreciate at least some of my constructive criticism. As for your questions…
> you cant find one positive aspect about this piece?
Well, here’s the thing. It’s not always about finding something positive in it. If I looked hard enough and wanted to make you feel good, then yes, I’m sure I could find *something*. However, the purpose of my comments were to simply provide an opinion. As you take more photos you will discover one simple recurring truth: some people will like your photos, and some will not even give it a second look. Your mention of “recognition at the art show” means that you found at least one other person that liked it, and that’s often encouraging. But you know what… compliments will rarely make your photography better. It’s the criticism that (despite making us uncomfortable) will eventually stretch us past mediocrity. Anyhow, keep in mind that I took the time to respond extensively to your photo, not just to rip you for no good reason and to waste my own time… but to sincerely make an attempt to help you improve your photography. With that in mind, I hope that you can revisit the link I gave you… but perhaps even better surf the web for your own child photos… and maybe look at those kid photos again with a more objective eye. I’ve removed the snapshots, as I agree with you that most of those were pretty lackluster. However, check out some other photos and see what you think. Perhaps you honestly will see no difference between some of those photos and your own. But perhaps you will see something captured in just a couple of those photos that put a few of them above the “boring snapshot” category… maybe a key moment captured, a memorable expression, a worthwhile / different perspective (like the girl and dog photo)… etc. Not just, “hey look! horizontal stripes on top of vertical ones!”…
Most importantly, keep in mind that this is just one persons opinion. I have to be honest and say that I *personally* did not find your photo interesting. But that’s just me. I’m still an amateur myself and by no means do I pretend to know much more than your average photo joe. Just another guy with an opinion… so don’t be discouraged. what do *I* know?! :o)
As the instructor let me weigh in... First off let me thank you again Jerome for taking the time to offer constructive criticism to my students. I hope they will use your criticism and advise to motivate them to improve their artwork. We all have room for that. As far as this image goes, there are some things I like such as the framing of the tunnel and the view point from behind a crawling child. However I think the shot would be better if the upright boy was engaged with the other youth instead of the camera. I also think that the exposure on the two boys is too dark. Liz you could fix this in Photoshop. I do agree with Jerome that when photographing children your objective should be to capture the child acting in a child like way, one that reminds us the viewer of that innocent time of life.
Mr. Myers, are you gonna hold me back while I'm attempting to leap at this guy? Haha, kidding, kidding. I can see where ya'll are coming from. Thank you for the suggestions! It made more sense coming from mr. myers, but now i see where you were going with it jreyes. Thanks for taking the time to comment. :)
-Liz
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