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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
9/3/2001 4:12:53 PM
Very nice . Especially like the range of colors, the composition with the bright yellow in the background against the stamen. Incrediable DOF -- waterhouse stops?
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| Photo By: Neil Cowley
(K:125)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
9/1/2001 12:31:59 PM
Bev-
Strobe is a small battery operated unit with built-in slave capability. It isn't very big (fits in a large coat pocket) and the light output isn't very big either - Guide number about 50 for ISO 100. I have had trouble with the
sync cable staying in the PC connector, but other than that haven't had much problem. There is very little output control. There is a high/low switch which is good for one stop. There is a snap on diffuser that is good for perhaps another stop. Anything more and you have to improvise.
The 'setup' I used was to put the bottle on an inverted stainless steel bowl to get it above the table. There is a 52" circular diffuser to the right about 6" away from the bottle (just out of the frame). The Morris is fitted with its diffuser and put about 10 feet in back of the diffuser. I checked the light on the diffuser by actually taking a photo directly at the diffuser (with the strobe turned down). There is some light fall-off at the edges, but it is not too bad. To the left of the bottle is a 1x4 foot styrofoam reflector - about 4" away. It is oriented so it is 1 foot high -- this is probably why the left shoulder is a little dim. Black velvet backdrop. We tried with and without a top reflector. At the time I couldn't see much difference, but it may have helped with the left shoulder lighting as well.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
9/1/2001 7:08:39 AM
Debbie - Go get 'em.
Artie-
This was done with a Morris battery fill strobe (the $40 kind) with a small diffuser placed a long way from a 52" diffuser. That was our softbox. The reflector on the left was a sheet of styrofoam. Biggest challenge for me (other than the obvious one of trying to get the picture correct) is to predict what is going to happen (no modeling light on the strobe). Fortunately Mary Sue's digital camera is a terrific learning tool. Biggest thing I've learned so far - it takes a lot of light to make even a small bottle look good.
I'm not done yet eh -- one more -- with the left shoulder lit.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/31/2001 3:59:10 PM
Ok, I find it amazing that at least two of the members
here follow buffalos around waiting for the right moment -
and then hold onto the photos, keeping them at hand until the time is ripe... This is a strange group.
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| Photo By: Paul Groff
(K:10)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/31/2001 3:34:14 PM
Debbie! Birds! Not water spots, water droplets -- caught in mid flight. I sent this to you because I think you've been talking about wanting to take a picture of someone in water spray and have the spray not look like fog. Camera was on full auto (that's the only option the Canon Elf Jr really has) in bright sun with ISO 100 speed film.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/30/2001 9:24:47 PM
Debbie - this one is for you.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/30/2001 10:55:54 AM
Really really like the lighting on the telescope. Nice work Paul -- or Debbie...
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| Photo By: Paul Groff
(K:10)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/30/2001 6:52:45 AM
and Debbie - why would I be mad at you - you obviously spend a grat deal of time looking and commenting on all
the images. Your comments are always appreciated! And
often spot on.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/30/2001 6:54:10 AM
Artie -
This was me trying to use the diagram -- and getting impatient after 120 shots where I couldn't make it work. It may be that waht I really need to learn is not so much photographic technique, but patience. After a night of thought, and looking again at your diagram #2 (which is the one I was trying to use - except that the light was on the left rather than right), I think my diffused light wasn't big enough and was too close - probably why I couldn't get enough light on the reflector side. I noticed that Bev is diffusing her light through
foam rather than by bounce - may try that as well.
Debbie -
Yes yes yes agree completely. The dark spots at the bottom are I think where the bottle is reflecting the material on the table - and also where the edge of my homemade reflector is. That is one of the problems I was unable to solve. Maybe the bottle should be elevated higher than the lights. And cutting the tag off was an oops... I got the left hand reflector too close and it was in the frame.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/27/2001 9:42:46 PM
Debbie - actually this was a case of luring the young
lady into the mines...
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/27/2001 6:10:58 AM
Chris - yes had it printed 10x54. Looks ok except for th couple of spots I forgot to dust spot.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/25/2001 1:48:40 PM
Raquel -
We are all learning here - and we all love images. Welcome to usefilm. Like the composition - lookes like the photographer is left eyed!
Looking forward to your next post
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| Photo By: Raquelle S.
(K:136)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/25/2001 7:41:04 AM
OK I'm obviously going to have to get up earlier. Nice job Was hoping that the blues were a
little lighter - but I shouldn't mess with mother nature.
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Photo By: Jeroen Wenting
(K:25317)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/25/2001 7:31:36 AM
Beautiful golden lighting - phone poles don't bother me at all. Kinda wanted to see nearest fence pole in focus. Or maybe even drop off that nearest pole. Also wonder if 15 minutes later would have brought the sun line closer to us and given a better feelng of the sun sweeping across the country. In any case a nice shot.
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| Photo By: Dawn F. Collins
(K:560)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/24/2001 6:50:44 PM
This is one of those shots that was really interesting to me at thumbnail size, but when seen at larger size was less interesting -- but I don't understand why.
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| Photo By: Rene Asmussen
(K:138)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/24/2001 6:44:07 PM
Really really like the lighting on the feathers. Also like the stark composition -- although one that showed just a smidge more environment would be great too.
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| Photo By: Ken Nelson
(K:15)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/24/2001 12:01:00 PM
This is the one I've been looking for -- it's come up a few times in random images and then I forget the image number.
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| Photo By: Glen Gaffney
(K:71)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/24/2001 11:57:24 AM
Debbie - would the image work better for you if more of the
people were in focus? Or would it be more distracting?
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/24/2001 11:55:25 AM
It is in focus -- I know it doesn't look very sharp here but I think that has to do with the dull lighting. Might also have something to do with that wonderful JPEG compression.
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| Photo By: Chris Hayward
(K:1519)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
8/23/2001 8:42:10 PM
Ray -
Looks much better here than the import in the Live session. So much so that I'm not sure my comment is applicable any more. In the Live session the weak lighting on the far right and dark areas on the right bothered me a bit. I like the background - feel it gives the image context. Also I had mentioned that a higher angle might have been interesting (I know it might be a blind shot), but upon reflection, I think the lower angle gives a better feeling that this is an alter. Nice work
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| Photo By: Ray Wearn
(K:1052)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/23/2001 11:25:58 PM
I get a different impression.
The imaging is so perfect here that the lack of the cup
handle, lack of steam, and buried spoon handle in the
coffee beans has to be planned and a subtle comment to
create a cognative dissonance in the critic in me.
This image works for me - the question in the back of
my mind is was it intentional and if so what is the message
I am supposed to be taking back. I keep studying the
image, wondering if there will be another
clue - perhaps dark pecans in the spoon instead of coffee
beans - or perhaps one of the beans is really a beetle.
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| Photo By: Beverly Gustafson
(K:1572)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/23/2001 8:45:18 PM
Another experimenter! Good.
What draws my attention in
this composition is the red thingy and the braclet - both
relatively sharp smallish objects compared to the rest of
the image - but it isn't quite enough to hold my interest
for long perhaps because of all the other weirdness in the
image. It's almost too many experiments for my old
conservative mind to handle at once.
Good seeing and concept -- there is a lot of wonder in the
everyday objects.
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| Photo By: Andrea Besch
(K:52)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/23/2001 8:09:44 PM
Effective. For me this is an image that works as well
upside down as rightside up.
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| Photo By: Martin Mora
(K:4666)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/23/2001 8:01:10 PM
If I could make portraits like this, I'd quit my day job.
Not only is the image technically perfect - but the
choice backdrop, lighting etc - an impressively simple
appearance - although we all know how difficult
that is to achieve.
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| Photo By: Samuel C. Ormes
(K:0)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 6:11:38 PM
Alex - we agree - so I must have expressed myself poorly -
the image doesn't work because of poor lighting. This
moment would have been great if it was well lit. It would
have also been great even with poor lighting if it had
documented an event significant enough to the audience that
we'd forgive the poor lighting. I don't know what that
event might be -- perhaps newspaper headline material -
or (if we want to sink so low) gossip material. The
question tried to ask was "Is this moment so signifcant
to the two people here that they would accept the poor
lighting?"
What I was trying to say is that in documenting/
capturing instants in time, there is usually a tradeoff
between the technical details and event itself - the PJ's
dilemma. As you point out, there are things we can do to
get prepared -- but some of the things we can't control.
Alex and I agree that we are both fans. Keep posting.
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| Photo By: Greg Pauline
(K:27)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 1:35:11 PM
Mora - thanks for posting this one. It reminds me of
some of the the highly stylized early portrait paintings,
you know the ones with the careful studies of light.
I am having a hard time estimating the age of the subject
here for some reason - keeps flipping back and forth
between young child and somewhat older. Any hints?
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| Photo By: Martin Mora
(K:4666)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 1:27:55 PM
Welcome Maria.
I particularly like the eye contact
the trumpet player has with the camera.
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| Photo By: Maria Garripoli
(K:0)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 1:23:59 PM
Jeremy - you live in a nice place -- except in the winter.
When this image popped up, I thought wow - someone is
working on a spoof of all those product/model shots --
you know the ones where the model so obviously does use
the product being shown. Like the position of the hands,
the nails! and the slightly tilted camera. Its a concept
worth exploring -- maybe on your next shoot you could add
a frame or two to the end of the roll.
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| Photo By: Jeremy Hood
(K:153)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 1:11:14 PM
Greg, it's hard isn't it to select the right spot such
that the light is good, to get everything focused up, and
capture the moment. But what happens if you are in
a position to document an event, but there is
no way the image will be great. How good does the
document have to be to override the shortcomings of
the image?
For me, a stranger that knows nothing about the two
subjects, this is just a generic event -- so the
problems Gary mentioned swamp whatever emotional impact
is going on. Did your friends feel differently though?
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| Photo By: Greg Pauline
(K:27)
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Critique By:
Chris Hayward (K:1519)
7/22/2001 1:01:00 PM
Another watercolor like image Tony... but I like the one
of the sunflower better. The foreground vegatable
has a nice subtle green color - reminding me of the
toned and hand painted photo (this one isn't is it?)
To me, the foreground object just doesn't have as much
ooomph as the sunflower - perhaps too subtle for my
underdeveloped image pallete.
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| Photo By: Tony Smallman
(K:23858)
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