Mi camino

Point out my mistakes, please!!!

Annestown, Waterford, Ireland

Review by Timothy O. Sutherlannd
20+ years experience
United States
Location: Bend, United States Oregon
Specialty: Black & White
Experience:20+ Years
Web site: [link]
About Timothy O. Sutherlannd
Studied with Ansel Adams in the 70's at Yosemite. Worked mostly in 4x5. Sponsored by Ilford, Hasselblad,Calumet,Polaroid,Gitzo and others. Led workshops into the Four corners area of the Southwest. Publish 13 posters which are sold at many National Parks Visitors Centers. Sold my Gallery in Taos, NM and retired to Bend, Oregon where I have a new Canon iPF8300 44" wide printer and do printing for photographers worldwide.Did a Navajo portrait project in 2001 at Canyon De Chelley AZ, first time since Edward Curtis an Anglo was offered this opportunity. Recently switched to Canon digital and seem to be happy with it.

Photo Critique Summary
Subject of photo: 9 Out of 10
I like your vision very much, It reminds me of a shot I did years ago of my footsteps in the sand disappearing into the ocean. It reflected the way I felt being stuck on a very small Alaskan Island for a year in the military.

Composition & Perspective: 10 Out of 10
Perfect, It creates a very definable "tension" of the legs only being seen on the body.

Focus: 10 Out of 10
excellent, I see no problem at all with focus, DOF seems to be great too.

Use of camera, exposure & speed: 10 Out of 10
I don't think you used a tripod which seems to be fine for this type of shot, and the perceived motion of the foot works very well without being blurred. I'm a little conflicted by the blacks, wondering if they could be opened up a bit?

Color & Lighting: 9 Out of 10
The specular reflections work very well and are not always easy to attain.

Depth of field: 10 Out of 10
As I said above it appears to be just fine.

General impression: 10 Out of 10
In general I'm not into "Artsy" photos but this one took me by surprise. One thing I was taught years ago is that you can line up 10 photos on a wall and your eye will immediately go to one or two. First impressions are key and don't need to be explained...they just "Work"

How to improve your photo
1.I generally don't like "centered" shots but you made it work. I don't see any reason to do anything different.
2.Take a look at the blacks in "Post edit" and open them up just a tad and see if it looks any better to you. I use a calibrated monitor here so mine might look a little different than yours.
3.Just keep your vision....it works for you!
Good luck