Critique Me

Courtney Souders Photos

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Critique Me

Critique Me

Portfolio Response

I enjoyed looking at each one of your images.  First, I’d like to say that I find your subject of nature very appealing.  Nature is my favorite subject to photograph!  I liked your use of light in several of your photos, including photos #1, #4, #9, #10, and #12.  In photos 1, 4 and 12, your capture of light brings about a sense of mood, which is very nice. In photo #9, light acts to highlight the church, while leaving the rest of your scene unaffected.  And, in photo #10, you captured light at the end of day with a lovely sunset.

My two favorite photos are #1 and #4. I like the composition in both of these images.  I especially like the silhouette and reflection in photo #1, as well as the stillness of the water.  I am not sure if this is an intended long exposure image or not, but I appreciate how still the lake appears. I think photo #10 is a third favorite due to the sunset and the silhouette of the city skyline

Here are my critiques; Be careful with cropping.  Photo # 4 shows some tree foliage coming in on the right hand side of the image, which I think should be cropped out. Also, the road is rather dark and I almost didn’t notice it, until I looked at the image a third time.  I would lighten up the landscape in this image a bit - I don’t think it would hurt the lovely mood going on in the scene.

In photo #13, the green foliage is lit up more than the center of the flower, causing a distraction.  I would lighten up the center of the flower (also sharpen it) darkening up the foliage on the bottom of the image, thus bringing the flower into focus as the main subject. 

In photo #6, I am uncertain as to the main subject in the image - is it the leaf of the plant, or the gnome? Neither has good lighting and only the leaf is in focus - but, somehow, I am thinking that wasn’t your intended subject?  Perhaps, I am mistaken. 

Photo #7 is too dark and should be lightened, as you are losing the center of the flower.  And, while I appreciate the light on the church in photo #9, I think your high-lights are blown out and should be lessened. What does your histogram show you?  Are you using histograms in class?  You may find you are clipping your highlights with that image. 

In photo #12, your composition could be better balanced using the “Rule of Thirds”, where your horizon line should either be 3/4 of the way up - or - 1/3 of the way up in the image, instead of the center of the image, where it currently shows.

You can center the lovely purple flowers more in photo #11, by bringing your lens down a bit so as to not cut off the bottom of the first flower - this would be a cropping issue. 

I’d like to end this on a positive note!  I didn’t really see any blur in any of your images - they were all, for the most part, in focus and that’s a good thing! I would pay special attention to the subject in your images - what is your intended subject and how are you representing it to your viewer?  Is it lit up and in focus?  Is the cropping of the image lending itself positively to your subject? In your landscape work, are you going for a foreground, middle ground and background, or “Rule of Thirds”, as it is referenced? Having those three elements in any landscape shot will always give a pleasing look to your images. 

I hope this has been helpful for you!  

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