Reflection

Hi all, I decided to post my first photo's here as I had a school assignment last week and I would appreciate all feedback/tips etc one could possibly get. So if you wouldn't mind, feel free to give as much feedback as you think is necessary .



Information:
camera: Nikon D3100
lens: 18-55
color space: RGB
A: 10
S: 1/125
ISO: 100

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh336/brechthxc/PD 05/bw5.jpg


Information:
camera: Nikon D3100
color space: RGB
Lens: 18-55
A: 10
S: 1/160
ISO: 100

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh336/brechthxc/PD 05/bw4.jpg

Information:
camera: Nikon D3100
Lens: 18-55
color space: RGB
A: 10
S: 1/60
ISO: 100


http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh336/brechthxc/PD 05/bw3.jpg

Information:
camera: Nikon D3100
Lens: 18-55
color space: RGB
A: 10
S: 1/100
ISO: 100

http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh336/brechthxc/PD 05/bw2.jpg


Information:
camera: Nikon D3100
Lens: 18-55
color space: RGB
A: 10
S: 1/50
ISO: 100

The subject was reflection, I converted them to grayscale using Photoshop's raw converter and added some sharpening to it.
There you have it, hopefully they're not the worst you've ever seen!

It's a nicely executed image, great exposure and focus, a solid photograph. However, I'm more interested in it as a composition and if it's alright with you, I would like to deconstruct it to understand better your compositional intention.

1- You've titled this work "reflection" which makes me think you want us (the viewer) to notice the reflection in the water. If this is correct, what elements of the composition are designed to pull my eyes to that aspect of your image?

I have a few more questions but I will wait until I understand your thoughts more thoroughly before I ask them.

Thanks for the fast feedback, I went out in the field with the intention to take pictures which contained reflections, I didn't want the reflection itself becoming the dominant part, I just wanted reflection in them, whether it was a mirrored image of the subject itself, or a reflection of the sky in a window or creek.

So the reason I asked is to understand what the composition was about. If it's just a nice image you took and you like it and wanted us to judge it from a technical point of view (ie - exposure/focus) it's fine in all those aspects. Nikon does a great job fixing exposure and focus so that every image is nearly perfect in that respect. But if you're looking to get more out of your photography, I would suggest you define what it is you're trying to tell the viewer and then use features or aspects inside the image to push the viewers eyes into seeing what it is you want us to see that tells the story that you want told. If it's the reflections you want us to see, I would suggest you remove extraneous items in the scene so that the viewer is forced to learn about the sky thru the reflection in the water. I would also consider aligning some internal vectors to pull the eyes toward that part of the image. As it stands now and without the title you have given it, I would say this image was about the boat and its implied movement toward the viewer due to the space left in front of the boat. The internal lines of the two trees as well as both sides of the river banks pull the eyes toward the boat and confirm it to be the subject of your work. Had you titled this work "Boat" or something like that, I would have understood, and I only delved deeper because "reflection" was not what your photo was saying to me.
So in a nutshell, I'm only mentioning all of this as a learning tool for both myself and others. Photos for the sake of photos are fine and if that's all this was, please disregard everything I've said. But if you're looking to take your art to the next level it requires more than just a pretty picture. It requires a question followed by an answer, or better yet it requires a conclusion with insight that the viewer receives from your story. You need to push the viewer into the image and show them exactly what you want them to see. Everything in the image should be there for a reason because you choose to include them and all these items represent the words you are using to tell us that story.
I apologize if I'm being too academic with your image. I am currently working hard on understanding composition and how to use it effectively so that now everytime I see an image I judge it by this criteria and when I saw your invitation to review it along with your title, I thought I might share some of these with you.

Also, when I say "remove extraneous items in the scene" I'm not talking about Photoshop cloning or anything. it was more about when you press the button on the camera type of thought.

Aha, now I understand what you meant exactly. You are right, I probably didn't give enough thought to what I was trying to tell the viewer as it was already clear in my head, I saw something and it had the aspects in it that I was looking for, but I skipped the part where I put the emphasis on the specific part I wanted. I didn't really want the boat, I wanted its reflection and eventhough it's there, it's not what the viewer sees first! It's just what I see first because I knew what I wanted. It all makes sense now!

No need to apolagise though, I'm still in school so I'm used to academic responses and so far they've helped me a lot. I hope I understood correctly what you were trying to say and I will ask more questions to myself before taking the actual picture. Well other questions than the technical ones.

I figured you meant framing the picture before taking it, photoshop is a great tool, but for now I'd rather learn how to take great pictures instead of being great at editing not-so-great pictures .

DW_ said:

Nikon does a great job fixing exposure and focus so that every image is nearly perfect in that respect.

Click to expand...

Could you explain what exactly you mean by this?

Thanks for your help, I've learnt a lot already from you!