My first challenge submission! I don't expect this to do particularly well but I finally made the decision to get of my backside and enter after years of judging others.
Unlike most of the world, here in Sydney it was a hot and humid day. The Garden Orb spider normally only likes to only come out at night but I guess she found the shed eave she was hiding in too hot. My son is not particularly fond of spiders but armed with his daddy’s hat he was brave enough to get a closer look (though he was not going to get any closer than this).
If I don’t get the Brown Ribbon and become destroyed emotionally there will hopefully be future submissions from me as this was fun!
Statistics
Place: 105 out of 160 Avg (all users): 4.8945 Avg (commenters): 4.6667 Avg (participants): 4.7679 Avg (non-participants): 4.9441 Views since voting: 918 Views during voting: 289 Votes: 199 Comments: 8 Favorites: 2 (view)
Congrats on entering your first of what I know will be many entries here at DP Challenge. Not a bad shot for your first entry and certainly better than what I entered.
Interesting scene laid out here and it definitely tells a story. The connection to the challenge isn't immediately apparent from the photo itself so the title had to be used to reinforce what you are going for. Generally (in my opinion anyways), if you need to use your title to tell the viewer why it fits the challenge they probably aren't going to be convinced anyways.
Challenge aside the shot does have potential. The boy's eyes take you straight across the frame to the spider on the left. The shed itself has interesting verticals.
I like the panaramic crop as it does work with the scene as you've presented it. The use of the border is ok here in my opinion. Borders are used to help contain the image so it stands out from the grey (in the case of DPC) background. Its a good thickness too and doesn't detract from the image.
Unfortunately the biggest issue with this image is the background. You have a very bright object in the background and an object in a very distracting blue tarp. Tough to frame a shot and keep an eye on all those things but in some cases your background is even more important than your subject or at least just as important. Remember, just because your aren't setting up all the elements doesn't mean you don't get to decide where they are when you look through the view finder. (i.e. move your feet!)
Not too shabby for your first time. Keep shooting and we all look forward to your next submission!
Thanks to everyone who commented. I completely agree with the criticisms made and would not have composed the photo in such a location if I had a choice. I am not particularly good at, or inspired by, taking photos in a staged setting. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the skills and efforts achieved by those that do. I carry my old, beat-up cameral with me everywhere and try and capture moments that are special (to me at least) and not staged. I focusing on this spider hoping it would do something interesting while it was leaving its hiding hole to escape the hot tin shed. My three year old son, after proudly stealing my hat off me, came over to see what had my attention. He had inherited my wife’s arachnophobia and I managed to quickly grab this photo just before (and accurately predicted by aliqui) he ran away.
I really liked this photo as it caught the moment of realisation of something scary in his garden. I also feel that the voting was fair for my photo (especially in comparison to some of the great photos submitted). Hopefully, one day I’ll invest in some PP software and better equipment to improve my photo outcomes, but more importantly, learn from the comments made of my shots and the skills of those that I judge. My first challenge was more than a little fun.
Well spotted. If I may, I'd have gotten the child closer (if possible) to the green siding and made both he and the spider more prominent with less BG clutter.
Cute photo. There's a bit of an awkward composition, but it works very well here. You're immediately drawn to the cuteness, but then wonder, "What's the little tyke looking at?" Your eyes travel across the full length of the photo and then, surprise, "...holy crap, that's huge!"
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