Fifty Two Weeks

[davidc]

More info about the shot on my site -

http://davidcandlish.photography/news/2 ... f-the-girl

I found it hard to choose my favourite this week. I reserve the right to change my mind too


The Week of The Girl by David, on Flickr

[davidc]

After seeing people's reactions to this elsewhere I may rename this the week of the disembodied hand! Who let Thing off of the Addams Family into the photo shoot?

[Mike Farley]

After seeing people's reactions to this elsewhere I may rename this the week of the disembodied hand! Who let Thing off of the Addams Family into the photo shoot?

I am not sure what you are trying to convey with this image, but I find it confusing which might be your intention. Your model is presented in an androgynous manner and my first thought was that she could even be a ladyboy. Then I read your blog post and discovered that she comes from Thailand ......

The bricks behind the model also do not quite work for me. I have seen similar textures in floors, so initially it is a bit ambiguous whether she is standing up or lying down. If the location permits, it might have been better to have stood her a bit further away, which might also have helped the positioning of the troublesome hand. As it is, the model and the background are both competing for attention and I would be tempted to add a bit of negative clarity and a subtle vignette to the wall to help your model stand out better. Overall it is a reasonable effort and has some good qualities, but the elements within in it have not really come together to lift the shot to the next level.

[davidc]

Cheers for the feedback! I'm not sure what you mean by androgenous manner and sort of thought the title might give it away As in I've not done anything deliberate to mask or alter her sexuality.

I'll try out some negative clarity on the wall although I do remember you don't like any backgrounds in portraits from a zombie portrait a year or two ago

I think it might need a lot of clarity reduction to simulate bokeh though and maybe some artificial lens blur would do better to blur it out completely. Still, I thought that the plain & uniform background without any focal point would act as a pseudo-ganzfeld effect & maintain an off-centre composition. As such, I'm not sure the background does compete. I think the single biggest problem is that hand.

Some other shots -

download1.jpg (117.22 KiB) Viewed 2679 times

download2.jpg (47.48 KiB) Viewed 2679 times

download4.jpg (89.82 KiB) Viewed 2679 times

[Mike Farley]

Cheers for the feedback! I'm not sure what you mean by androgenous manner and sort of thought the title might give it away As in I've not done anything deliberate to mask or alter her sexuality.

It's the hood she is wearing which causes the ambiguity. She could be an attractive young woman she actually is or a pretty boy. The title might be ironic. There is nothing wrong in presenting someone that way if it is the effect you are after.

I'll try out some negative clarity on the wall although I do remember you don't like any backgrounds in portraits from a zombie portrait a year or two ago

I think it might need a lot of clarity reduction to simulate bokeh though and maybe some artificial lens blur would do better to blur it out completely. Still, I thought that the plain & uniform background without any focal point would act as a pseudo-ganzfeld effect & maintain an off-centre composition. As such, I'm not sure the background does compete.

You appear to be confusing a homogenous visual field (ganzfeld) with the Gestalt Law of Simplicity. For me the background is a distraction, but it's your shot.

I think the single biggest problem is that hand.

Ah, yes.

[davidc]

The Week of the Ape


The Week of the Ape by David, on Flickr

I wasn't fully happy with the first shot and after finding another memory card of images I've opted for this simple portrait of a female orangutan instead.

http://davidcandlish.photography/news/2 ... wo-weeks-3

[Mike Farley]

Sorry, but this shot is not doing much for me. Obviously there was potential for a good "mother and child" image but it is not working here. The baby is obscured and the mother's gaze is directing our attention out of the picture.

[davidc]

Thanks for the feedback.

I know it's not my strongest image ever but when choosing an "image of the week" I'm constrained by what I've had time to shoot. I also don't want to wait ages between posting shots either. I may go back and revisit his later, or choose a different one entirely.

[Mike Farley]

I fully understand. You needed more co-operation from the subjects than you got on this occasion. Even when limiting yourself to "just" one shot per week, 52 good images is still a big ask.

[davidc]

Yes it is - though unlike the 365 where the focus was on lasting the distance I'm now more interested in having 52 images that I like and ideally have some kind of story or learning experience I can share.

Hence I'm not really worried about coming back in a few weeks and saying "actually, I've changed my mind, this other monkey one is better". I probably will.