Five Sculptures – Critique

For this week’s critique we will examine “Five Sculptures.”  It’s a photo of art sculptures on Queen’s campus called “Five Sculptures on Topological Themes” by Alan Dickson.  It was taken in August.  Let’s go over its strengths and weaknesses.

Composing this photo was a bit challenging.  I took many photos at various positions around the sculpture to find a sweet spot.  To me this was the best viewpoint.  Here, the sculptures create an order, going from  tallest on the right to shortest on the left.   This order generates an interesting invisible diagonal line drawn through the tops of the sculptures.

There is a nice juxtaposition of living things and non-living things.  You can see the grey lifeless art pieces are placed before the living green trees and plants.  I like this contrasting theme.

Would the photo look cleaner if I had gotten closer to the sculptures?  Is the red hanging pot of flowers distracting?

Are the buildings in the background taking away the spotlight from the sculptures?

Please let me know what you think!  Thanks!

Sit for a While – Critique

“Sit for a While” is our photo for this week’s critique.  It depicts a red dragonfly resting on a spruce branch.  This scene was found in my front yard. The photo was taken in August.  Let’s discuss what works well and what could be improved.

The subject matter in this photo is quite special.  I rarely ever capture wildlife, and it was a treat to shoot this dragonfly.  I love its intense red colour, which stands out in the sea of green.

This photo really captures a strong sense of depth.  You can see there are three layers to this photo.  The first layer is the foreground, which is in focus.  Then the second layer further in is the semi-focused branches in the middle of photo.  Finally, we have the third layer, which is the out-of-focus branches in the background.

Would a tighter shot of the dragonfly work better? In the present photo, the insect is quite small relative to the entire photo.  Zooming in closer to it may work better here.

There is a lot of negative space surrounding the dragonfly.   Is it too much?

Please let me know what you think! Thanks!

Wallpaper – Critique

For this week’s critique, we will be examining “Wallpaper.”  It’s a photo of purple cornflowers taken in July.  The flowers were found by a house in my neighbourhood.  Let’s go over it’s strengths and weaknesses.

The first thing that I notice immediately about this photo is the vivid colour.  I love the rich, and bright purple of the cornflower.  You can see its brilliance provided by the radiant sunlight.

The background in this photo is quite lovely.  Although there isn’t much beauty in a chainlink fence, here it provides an interesting backdrop pattern for the cornflower.  It resembles a quaint wallpaper.

The one flaw in this photo is the buds and flowers on the left lower quadrant.  It appears extraneous and is distracting.

I think the photo could be improved by taking a closer shot of the cornflower.   That way  more of its details would be seen.

Please let me know what you think!  Thanks!

Spruce After The Rain – Critique

“Spruce After The Rain” is our photo for this week’s critique.  It depicts a branch of a spruce tree after the rain.  This tree stands in our front yard.  The photo was taken in August.  Let’s discuss it’s strengths and weaknesses.

It’s clear that the spotlight is on the one branch in centre of the photo.  This branch is in crisp focus, and its colours suggest life, and vibrancy.  It takes your eye from the bottom right across the photo to the top left.

This photo has a lot of beautiful bokeh.  The sunlight makes the raindrops hanging on the needles sparkle.  That’s where all the circular bokeh comes from.

The branches below and above the central one to me is a little distracting.  It doesn’t add anything to the photo, and steals the spotlight from the central branch, particularly the small branch below that is in focus.

There are a few spots in the photo that appear overexposed.  On the right side, some of the raindrops are glaringly white.

Please let me know what you think!  Thanks!