Chat - BROKEN w/e comp 14th - 16th January

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by beauxreflets

No blurring, apart from above mentioned spot areas. The softness is just down to the low level lighting from bog standard 12 volt halogens set virtually overhead (1.5 metre from subject) but slightly off to the right. The first is directed leftward spreading light behind on and around, and the second directly down onto the table, with the reflected light from both bouncing up off a cream plastic/oil table cloth. ISO800 f/3.5 1/14 sec Metering Pattern, No Flash.

You are indeed a master of low light photography and i take my hat off to you. You seem to be able to catch a softness without the use of PS now thats what I call photography.
I obviously do not yet have the knowledge of how to read a photo so I will take this opportunity to apologise for reading something that was not there.

I could do with a bit of a pickme up now!!! Whats this weeks challenge

[Cutter]

My ups and downs

Wavemachine: I am broken must be something I ate) Great focus, love the use of colour on monotone, my only critique for what its worth is , it looks more like a hangover than a breakdown. But a great photo non the less.

Watsy: broken thoughts: I realy like this one, the title says it all. You have great focus and I realy like the lighting. To be honest it was an idea I had but my hand would have been pressing down on the pencil and i wouldnt have come up with that great title. A great clean image.

[oggalily]

I know we've moved on to the next comp but I thought I would share my up and downs.

Drew Smith - Borken Down - another labour of love with meticulous planning. I had a look at your comments on how you made the image and I like the idea of sketching out the idea beforehand - it can be useful to have a very clear picture of what you want to acheive before you pick up the camera. Your hard work is obvious and I think the idea is great. Unfortunately I think the idea gets lost in excessive post-processing. I had been thinking it would be great if it was the heart that was broken, rahter than random machinery, but after reading your post I see that was your intention. Maybe if it was more obviously a heart it would work better. The texturing, rust, and additional "wounds" make it seem she broke down through a variety of failures, which contradicts the "broken heart" (in my mind anyway). Another crit on the texturing - it doesn't quite work for me because it doesn't follow the contours of the android and it covers the wall behind as well. Sorry if this sounds harsh. Having said all this you have a great model (I also never hesitate to rope in family members) and the expression and pose work really well.

SieSmith - broken line - moving from the most complex image to the simplest! This has a lot of appeal as the wide aperture works really well, the framing is good, and I love the simplicity. Didn't quite meet the brief for me (I know mine didn't either...) but a very appealing image nonetheless, which currently occupies POTD on the main website, and deservedly so.

[Drew Smith]

Thanks Oggalily - yup, would agree with you on pretty much all your crit. It was a great learning process.