Challenge:Mother (Advanced Editing IV) Camera:Canon EOS-20D Location: Near Pt. Piedras Blancas, California Date: Dec 29, 2005 Aperture: 5.6 ISO: 200 Shutter: 1/60 Galleries:Nature, Animals Date Uploaded: Dec 31, 2005
Thanks for the critique Heather, it is very useful.
I think I agree about the focus. As I recall it was in focus, so maybe there is something to the animals themselves being fuzzy.
The lighting was indeed flat, somewhat overcast day and I couldn't hang around until the clouds passed and sun came out again.
Interesting thought on the eyes. I understand what you mean and I agree, but I think w/ these guys their eyes always look like black holes. They don't see very well because they are designed to dive to great depths and thus their eyes always seem to look sort of blank.
Anyway, thanks for the comments, they are very helpful.
In response to your request, here is your in depth critique from The Critique Club.
I read your comment, and do think that the image was probably voted lower due to challenge relevance. When looking at the shot, the first thing I think of is animals, ocean, sad. I don't think in a million years, I would have thought 'mother'.
That being said, on to the image itself.
First thing I notice is focus. I think it's the texture of the seals that makes them look soft focus, cause when I see the wiskers, they appear to be in focus, but not much else does. This may have been a trickier shot than it originally appeared. She is shiny, and reflecting light and color, and I think that throws off the appearance of the focus. Not really sure if there's an easy fix to that, but I sure couldn't come up with one.
Next is the lighting. Doesn't seem like the most flattering lighting conditions. Not sure what thos conditions were, but seems a bit flat. Notice there's nothing in her eyes. Her eyes are just blank holes in her head. Would love to have seen some depth to them. Maybe some kind of front light? Again, might be trickier than it sounds, due to the reflective surface of the seals, but non the less, I think the eyes need something.
Composition is lacking. We have a seal butt to the left, and 1/2 an overturned seal to the right. Subject seal, smack dab in the center of the photo. No negative space.
I'm not sure why, but the 'rule of thirds' seems to be popular, and it works. Visually cut your photo into 9 squares, those lines are your 'thirds'. Then, when you take your photo, place your subject on one of those thirds, leaving negative space or background for the rest of the photo. Check out the Rule Of Thirds challenge for examples of how this adds to the visual appeal of an image.
She's an interesting seal, but I don't think the photo captures that interest. overall, lacking visual appeal and 'wow' factor.
It's a great start though, and keep trying. You can learn a lot from DPC. ~Heather~
Hi and thanks for the comments. I can understand how some thought I was trying too hard to squeeze this in to the challenge. Truth be told, "only a mother could love that face" went through my head as I shot it, but I was not thinking specifically of this challenge until I got home and was playing with the shots I took.
My first entry to a challenge, so I'm not disappointed at all, and some of the comments are quite helpful - especially as far as the technical aspects. I also need to learn to think from the audience's perspective if I am going to try to do well in challenges.
Nice subtle link to the challenge. I think it's out of the box in a good way, not bad. The picture lacks something in the lighting department. It's fairly flat to my eye.
Title is the only thing that brings this into the challenge. It's a good enough idea, but the lack of (an obvious) mother and child pairing in the frame keeps this from really shining through. My eye is drawn to the bright spot on the chin of the animal on the right-side, but the cropping of that animal leaves me disappointed. The focus seems a bit off, perhaps more on the nose than on the eyes. I would reshoot with a mother and child in the compositions and more attention to cropping. Hope that helps!
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