From California

[jar_e]

Hi all,

After my trip in california, I picked up some neat ones that I thought were worth critiquing. Each of them I really enjoy, mostly cause of the simplicty of all of them. The first one, of the palm tree, is somewhat a spinoff of my moon one, which involved some minimalist work (If anyone remembers, the main critique was that the moon was too small. So I tried the same technique with this tree, just having it up against the sky. Does it work, or is it too big? Or is the minimalism not working? The second one is some fireworks caught from the hotel room from disneyland. I love how crisp everything is, but the smoke is distracting. Does it look good on the black background? Anything else? Finally, the third one, is one for all you pattern lovers out there. There is 5 patterns I think in this picture (the poles, the garbage cans, the showlights, the flags, the sprinkler heads), and I just love the simplicity of it (simple in the fact that its all patterns, it is a tad busy). Well guys, hope you like them, and as always critiques and comments are always appreciated!

Enjoy,

Jared

[GB1]

Jared,

I'm sure you're having fun looking through all the pix. The first photo of the palm tree: I like the composition, it seems sharp though a very slight bit tilted (clockwise). However it suffers from the same thing my numerous shots like this does, a bland background and the interesting phenomena of natural objects that look great in life, but much less so in photos. I haven't figured that one out yet, but there's gotta be a reason. (Boats also fall into this category.) This photo might be good material for future colaiges or related. Note that the Cali sky usually looks like this, unless you're near the coast in mid to upper Cali where the fog takes over. This is pretty unflattering for photos, just not anything there to add interest.

As for the fireworks, I think the black background is excellant, and the composition is again good, but there's not enough happening in the shot to maintain my interest. Fireworks are tough: probably cause we don't shoot them enough to get good at it. Maybe a multiple exposure of several on the same frame might look neat.

The bottom shot of the architecture has a lot of interesting items for the viewer to feast on. The lighting is a little unexciting however (damn bright California sun!). The first technical thing I noticed that wasn't right is that the photo is tilted to the clockwise direction by about 2 degrees or so. You really have to be careful before you snap the photo of things with "straight lines", cause they will betray unleveled tripods.

Hope the critique wasn't too harsh! There's some good stuff happening here.

GB

[Mr Yuck]

I really like the one of the Building, the patterns and lines draw me into the photo.

And yeah it's a little bit crooked, but nothing a little photoshop cant fix (I have the same problem...I'm considering taping a level to my camera :lol:

[Eagle_Eye]

Hi Jared, photos look good. The tree is a nice subject. I like the way it tapers in toward the bottom. You’ve made it look very tall.

Fireworks shot is nice and crisp. Good timing

The 3rd shot should really make the pattern folks proud of you. Love the columns. Comp is good also.

Dudley

[jar_e]

Gb, Mr. Yuck, and Dudley,

Thanks for the comments all. Gb, thanks for the detailed critique. I understand what your saying about all of them. I kind of have a series along that lines, with just one single object, with the background as they sky, and that's it. I wasn't sure if there was enough subject or interest to make it good though. Thanks for the words, and the good eye about the leveling.

[almo]

2 and 3 are great! Living in FLA as I do, I see palm trees everyday of the week, so its pretty hard to impress me with a pic of one, but you certainly have a good eye there Jared.

[jar_e]

2 and 3 are great! Living in FLA as I do, I see palm trees everyday of the week, so its pretty hard to impress me with a pic of one, but you certainly have a good eye there Jared.

Almo,

Palm trees are amazing! Up here in Canada, all I see is maple and birch and alders and boring stuff. Maybe I can impress you with one of those Thanks for the comments though almo, I appreciate it!

Jared

[almo]

Almo,

Palm trees are amazing! Up here in Canada, all I see is maple and birch and alders and boring stuff. Maybe I can impress you with one of those Thanks for the comments though almo, I appreciate it!

Jared

HA! They are practically weeds here....

Maple, now yer talkin'!

[OldSchool]

Hey J_E,

I really like the third. It is just unique. I've seen plenty of palms and fireworks. AFAIKT, nothing wrong with theseimages. I just spent my time staring at the third one.

BR,
Tim

[jar_e]

Hey J_E,

I really like the third. It is just unique. I've seen plenty of palms and fireworks. AFAIKT, nothing wrong with theseimages. I just spent my time staring at the third one.

BR,
Tim

Tim,

Thanks for the words. The last one is full of neat patterns, and I'm glad you like it.

Thanks,

Jared

[OldSchool]

That is just an awesome critique. I learned things just reading it. Thanks for taking the time to type it up.

Tim

[jar_e]

That is just an awesome critique. I learned things just reading it. Thanks for taking the time to type it up.

Tim

I agree, I love just reading critiques (not only my own) and I seem to learn SO much about pictures. Ever since I started posting in this community, my photography skilly seriously must of ten folded.

Here's to PR.com!

[GB1]

Jared - Btw, what type of lens (make/length) did you use on the bottom shot? It has no distortion.. quite impressive.

[jar_e]

GB1,

How do I break this to you...it's a simple screw-on Wide angle (WL-FX9) Fuji lens on my Fuji S5100. I'm pretty sure it was the wide angle, or else it was just the stock lens. I'm quite impressed by the camera, not full manual mode, but it does take some suberb pics.

Thanks,

Jared

[GB1]

GB1,

How do I break this to you...it's a simple screw-on Wide angle (WL-FX9) Fuji lens on my Fuji S5100. I'm pretty sure it was the wide angle, or else it was just the stock lens. I'm quite impressed by the camera, not full manual mode, but it does take some suberb pics.

Thanks,

Jared

Ugh... My vaulted Nikon lenses all add distortion.. every last one of them! My main lens, the 24-120mm, adds distortion add all zoom ranges too and not just at the extremes.

Btw, my Mamiya lenses are 'almost' distortion free. I don't think they're as good as the pix here

GB

[jar_e]

Ugh... My vaulted Nikon lenses all add distortion.. every last one of them! My main lens, the 24-120mm, adds distortion add all zoom ranges too and not just at the extremes.

Btw, my Mamiya lenses are 'almost' distortion free. I don't think they're as good as the pix here

GB

GB,

I still think you'd want the gear you have now before you have mine

Jared