Assignment Five : Personal Project Feedback

Well that's my last assignment done and feedback received :o) Once again positive feedback about which I was happy, with a few constructive ideas to improve individual shots. With some of the critique the composition was either beyond my control or deliberately done, I shall carry out the amendments and review/compare to see if they improve the overall images.

Full review on the Tutor Report Page.

Tutor Report Form

Hi Jan,

Thank you for sending in your fifth and final assignment. As usual I have just had a brief look through it and it is very much up to your usual high standard. All the images are very accurately exposed and biting sharp and you have also chosen an unusual but interesting subject matter. Anyway, please find below my comments in more detail:

Feedback on assignment

Image 1 (1960s)

For me the lighter area at the top right hand corner is just a bit too bright and you could afford to tone it down a bit. You could also afford to crop off the gate area at the top right as it is a little too distracting. However, the shoes are nicely positioned in the frame and the texture detail is excellent.

The bright area in the garden was toned down but  the brighter area to the rear was left as I was suggesting a bright path to an unknown future, but can see how it is a little distracting and could also be toned down. Experimenting with the crop from the original shot I left the gate in on purpose thinking it helped narrate the story of entering the garden and starting on a journey down a path.

 

Bright patch toned down


 

Toned and cropped


 

To compare



Putting them side by side I do prefer the tighter crop.

Image 5 (1980s)

Again you have another colorful and interesting image. However, the church in the background is just a little too tight in the frame and could do with a bit more space around it, particularly at the top.

Due to the height of the church it was tricky to fit all the bell tower in, however to try and correct this I created a duplicate layer which was then distorted and using the clone tool and layer mask the layers were merged to give a little extra height.



Final Image height added




To compare



When taking the crematorium shot I took an extra frame to give the extra height, on framing the church a few of the initial shots were fine, but with the final image the composition was obviously altered slightly and I failed to notice. Due to the intricate detail of the tree I thought that cloning might not give a satisfactory result, to my eye it does look a little fuzzy but if you had not seen the original shot this could be put down to the aperture and wide angle making the background soft.

The final image with extra height gives a much better shot.

Image 6 (1990s)

Very nice reflection on the shoe in the foreground and the red matches very nicely that of the London buses. You could afford to crop off the pedestrian on the far right who is partly out of the frame anyway. This would make a tidier composition.

This image was shot and framed intentionally to contain the commuters who stride over the bridge each day. The line of the bridge takes you into the centre of the frame, because of the wide angle the clouds also lead from the corners of the frame to the centre as do the street lights. Cropping to remove the pedestrian  removes too many elements that I feel help complete this photograph, the detail in the sky, the rear of the bus and the repeat pattern of the street lights.



Simple crop of just the bus



Cropped side and top



To compare

Using Joel Meyerowitz as one of my influences I noted that in several of his images he has cropped people entering or leaving the frame, as this was an effect I was attempting to recreate I will stick to my original shot.



Meyerowitz montage



Image 7 (1990s)

The trainer shoes are nicely placed in the frame and the shadows of the tree and framework form interesting patterns on the building. Again the image is nicely lit with the hint of a nice blue sky. Although you say in your notes that the building is a swimming pool there is no indication of the buildings use to the viewer as there is in the crematorium shot.

The part of the building behind the trainers is the sports complex cafe, the swimming pool cannot be photographed from the outside due to the glass not being smoked and obvious privacy issues. Not wanting any obvious signage in the shot this was one of the photographs I hoped would be open to question and interpretation to the audience, the trainers being a clue that it was a municipal leisure centre.

Image 8 (2000s)

Another interesting and unusual shot that is attractive to the viewers eye. The only problem with this one is that the building is leaning to the right and is distracting. For a better effect straighten the image so that the verticals on the mansion are upright.

Note to self to watch my horizons ;o) I knew that the building was a little tipped but thought I had corrected it enough, obviously not and one of those cases where in the end you can't see the wood for the trees! Also I was attempting to retain the tips of the railings. Part of the problem I think is that using a wide angle lens has distorted the lines of the building, even when adjusted some of the verticals are still out :o/

Dodgy verticals even when corrected....

Comparing before and after verticals





To compare final shots




Final amended image

The final image has a slightly different crop as rotating and transforming the image has lost some of the background, however the more upright building in a vast improvement and the loss of the railings does not impact on the final shot. This too, if anything, has removed a distracting bright patch from the left hand side.

Image 9 (2000s)

I like this shot very much. The colors of the sky and water are lovely and the silhouetted foreground boots add the interest. I think that you could afford to crop a little off the darker area on the left hand side so the viewer concentrates on the boots and the color of the scene.

I found, because of the geese to the extreme left of the image, cropping just a little gives not enough space to the side of the frame or cut them in half which left a messy shot. Cropping them out entirely also removed the interesting blue patch of sky so have used a curves layer to lighten the far left instead.



to compare




Final adjusted image


I think this adjustment works well and adds more detail although the sharpening around the geese needs to be adjusted as there is a slight halo now uploaded.

In conclusion I took on board the suggestions and altered the images accordingly, the amendments have made for better final images although I have chosen to keep one photograph unaltered. Having worked really hard on this final project I was a little disappointed in myself that I hadn't spotted some of the obvious corrections before sending to Peter but this is also part of teh learning curve, I should probably step back for a day or two then come to the images with fresh eyes as you do when you do the first edit :o)