Low Tide

[Don Schaeffer]

The Paddler


Fisherman



Low Tide Harbor

[Photo-John]

I think the diversity in this set makes it a little hard to critique. I think you've got a good place to shoot. I'm wondering why you need all the processing, though. Often, a lot of processing is used to compensate for less than stellar originals. And I sort of have that feeling here.

The first and last ones seem almost interesting to me - but not quite. In the first one, I think you need a different angle on the main subject - different timing might have accomplished that. I also find the enhanced noise a distraction in that image. The last image feels leaves me feeling too far away. I think a shot closer to the fisherman with the rest of the river/bay as background might have been better.

The most interesting image to me is the second one. I like the juxtaposition of the out-of-focus sunbather in the foreground and the sharp fisherman in the background. But again - I can't help wondering about the processing. It's a distraction and makes me think about image quality instead of the photo contents.

Sorry I don't have anything more positive to say. I think it will be worth the effort for you to think about your post-processing and consider why you do it. If you're doing it to make the photos more interesting, maybe it's time to re-evaluate and look into the basics of photography again - exposure, composition, etc.

Thanks for reading my humbly offered criticism. I hope it's useful to you

[Don Schaeffer]

That's fine John. Chalk it up to style. Thanks.

[Photo-John]

That's fine John. Chalk it up to style. Thanks.

You can "chalk it up to style" if you want. But I've been a photographer as well as a critic for a long, long time and it's worth thinking about. Part of the process of criticism is processing what other people offer. Quick judgements on the value of criticism are often a defensive mistake. Let what I said percolate for a while and see if there's anything you can learn from it. Or don't. Your call.

[Greg McCary]

I think you could have been a little wider on them all. I like them and the mood they create. The black and white conversions are really good. The processing is nice just work on composition.

[Liz]

Just a question regarding No. 3 - is that oil on the beach and in the water - or part of the effects of post-processing? I guess because of the Gulf problem, my mind went there.

I do like the first image.

Liz

[Don Schaeffer]

It's solarized a little. I tried an HDR type manipulations with two variations on the same exposure. Photo-John, thank you for your wise comment. I am not serious at photography. I toy with it. I usually like the images I post. I do get bored with straight images and like a little grit in them. I appreciate the critique. A lot of people have hit me with that over the years.

[Photo-John]

Photo-John, thank you for your wise comment. I am not serious at photography. I toy with it. I usually like the images I post. I do get bored with straight images and like a little grit in them. I appreciate the critique. A lot of people have hit me with that over the years.

Fair enough. I worried later that I might have come off a little mean about it. Thanks for putting up with me

I am very serious about photo critique and ocassionally feel like things need to be shaken up on this forum. This time you took some of that heat. And even if you don't need or care about my advice, someone else that looks at this thread might. So it's always worth my effort

[Don Schaeffer]

Thanks John. Don't worry. I've been taking heat here for years. lol. I appreciate your interest.

[Grandpaw]

It's solarized a little. I tried an HDR type manipulations with two variations on the same exposure. Photo-John, thank you for your wise comment. I am not serious at photography. I toy with it. I usually like the images I post. I do get bored with straight images and like a little grit in them. I appreciate the critique. A lot of people have hit me with that over the years.

Don, I don't understand your statement about "I'm not serious at photography" and you constantly post pictures in the critique forum. If you just want people to look at your pictures so you can let everyone see them you might consider posting them in the Viewfinder Forum.or a forum appropriate to the subject. To me the only reason to place a picture here is if you are trying to get different ideas of what worked or not worked in your picture so you can make adjustments to progressively fine tune your picture taking abilities, Jeff

[Don Schaeffer]

I like the critiques. Viewfinder is more often comments than photos.