Here are the comments I gratefully received from my tutor. I have marked my answers to some of his suggestions in red.
Feedback on assignment
You continue on from the previous assignment with work showing good
imagination and creativity and making the best practical use of your
circumstances.
Your images while not all major prize winners show a novel and refreshing
theme that not only meets the brief, but actually serves to form an interesting
self portrait of your circumstances. The mixture of imagery from your work
place as well as your home lifts the images away from a straight forward
fulfillment of the brief that anyone could have produced and provides a unique
insight into and interpretation of your life. It is this that makes the imagery
stand out from the crowd and you need to recognise that it is this unique
approach that as a photographer you need to bring to your future work.
Image 1 - the blue and yellow are more contrasting colours being 1/3 of the
way round the colour wheel rather than opposite. You images demonstrates
good observational skills to spot the opportunity presented by the stripes
formed by the slats - the yellow forming diagonals in one direction and the
blue in the other. I also like the figure walking out of the frame, the way you
have caught his arm replicating the angle of the blue slats and the sloping
yellow roof - it’s these details that lift the image out of the ordinary and yet
another example of colours from a paint catalogue. One small suggestion -
you might want to consider using photoshop to ‘square up’ the verticals on the
right of the frame.
Image 2 - The neutral colours of the cab make a good foil or background for
the colours in this made image. This is a better match of colours opposing
each other across the wheel. The natrual and delicate nature of the flowers
surrounded by the technology highlights the contrast between the two and
that fact that this is your cab and the flowers are ones you have gathered from
the trackside underscores what I referred to earlier relating to these images
making a personal self portrait.
Image 3 - Yes the 1:1 ration of red to green is done well. A simple image but
done well using good placement of the brushes in the frame.
Some suggestions:
• You might have stopped down a little more to keep both brushes sharp and
yet still had the background out of focus. You could even have used post
production to blur the background if necessary. Having one sharp and the
other blurred gives prominence to one over the other. As you are keeping
both equal through the colours why differentiate using focus?
• Use a slightly higher camera angle to loose the coloured background (or
alternatively place white card there to match the white of the wall/window
frame)
• Turn one of the toothbrushes so that heads oppose each other rather than
facing the same direction
I agree with all three points. In hindsight turning the heads towards each other like a contrasting mirror image with them both positioned in an even plain background and possible central in the image would have helped emphasise my intention to show harmony in the 50/50 ratio.
Image 4 -Nicely done making good use of the mirror - reminiscent of Lee
Friedlander’s image - take a look at this http://www.atgetphotography.com/
Images/Photos/LeeFriedlander/Friedlander44.jpg - even more of a self-portrait
on a road trip - could apply to you in your cab?
Image 5 - Yes - a good found image meeting the brief of similar
colours well. The figure makes the image and as you say, good
to loose the face allowing concentration on the colours and
forms. I particularly like the crop and the use of the strong
graphical shapes formed by the segments of the umbrella and the
triangle of the building’s roof. You might want to consider
straightening out the horizontal line of the balcony using post
production and perhaps increase the saturation - see suggestion:
I can see how the straight balcony helps highlight the graphical shapes that form the image which was my reason for the square crop and hence helps my objective for the image.
Image 6 - Another good found shot concentrating on the yellows. You might
want to lighten the shadows and soften the saturation of the yellows. This will
help lift and re-balance the greens of the foliage which at the moment are
quite low in brightness compared to the yellows.
I had found this a problem. I realised the greens of the foliage were too dark but I was scared of losing the deep contrast of the yellows as I felt it was its intensity that helped make the image striking as the yellows curved around the top of the image. Perhaps by just lightening the shadows in the foliage area and leaving the yellows with the more contrast I could have found a happy medium, like this.
Image 7 - This image illustrates how you have made the best of your
circumstances with this ‘made’ image. It’s simple effective and meets the brief
well. Another underscore to
your self-portrait.
Image 8 - Another good similar colours image but you might consider a different crop - see
suggestion. This will fit in with your other square formats and cut out what I find distracting - the white
windows and concentrate attention on the technology of your working environment.
I agree whole heartedly with the consideration of the crop. I had tried to crop the windows out or at least even them up because I couldn't stop my eye being drawn to the right hand window. It was the fact that I had to crop into the top right box to eliminate the windows that held me back from doing so. Although now I see the suggested crop I'm beginning to see it works better. Here I have cropped a little more than suggested and darkened the highlights to stop the light area of the bottom left demanding attention.
Image 9 - Yes the yellow
and the reds fit the bill of
the brief and I like the
composition to concentrate attention on the coloured umbrellas. I’d think
about increasing the saturation and brightness of the rather dull reds to
balance up against the yellows.
Image 10 - Yes another good found
image and you have chosen a good
day with clear blue skies to complete
the coloured contrast brief. However,
you might want to re-crop to bring the
colours closer to the notional ratios
2:1 . As it is the yellows occupy the
majority of the frame. Also you could
have considered a different time of day
- early morning or evening when the
light at these times would have
emphasised the warmth of the brick
wall.
I agree with the timing of the shot here. I would have loved to have been there for sunset but family timescales won on this occasion. I did actually try and alter the white balance in lightroom to try and warm the brick for this reason because it was actually a lot whiter than this with it being afternoon sun.
Image 11 - Another good found image
using dramatic graphical elements to
good effect in that the image isn’t just
about the colours. I’d consider re-cropping: keeping the dramatic diagonals
formed by the vanishing point but balance up the colours better - the purple
has a lower value as assigned by Goethe. By my calculation the ratio should
be more 2:1 purple to green. It also then provides quite a dramatic panorama
format.
I really like this crop, it works much better than the original and obviously with the colour ratios now corrected too.
Image 12- Yes a good
image relying on strong
graphic shapes. If you are
playing with shapes you
could radically alter the
perspective to increase
the drama and making the
image more three
dimensional:
This is ironic. I was torn between two images I had taken, and on seeing this suggestion I thought I had accidentally sent the wrong one from the one I had put up on my blog. Then I realised it was a manipulation of my original choice. Here is my other image. I couldn't decide which to go with, eventually deciding on what I thought to be the more graphical with squares, rectangles and circles. Although seeing the suggestion above I can see the merits of the drama brought by the perspective.
Image 13 - A good image
that fits the brief but
perhaps shows a little bit
of just meeting the brief. I think you
could have experimented a little more
along the lines of some of your other
images concentrating on strong
graphical shapes. A different crop
perhaps turning the image into a
portrait format that emphasises the
strong vertical lines contrasted by the
round screw holes at the bottom and
the strong shape of the purple metal
bar.
To be honest I was never 100% happy with this image and can see from just finding a better crop making use of the verticals makes it a whole lot more interesting.
Images 14, 15 and 16 - All show
good simple images that meet the
brief and demonstrate your skill in
composition, camera angle and
observation to good effect.
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