 Posted 11/28/2006 10:27:58 AM
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Okay, first, thanks for the daily award today on this:
Second, though, if you wouldn't vote this a 10, please tell me why. Not "whine whine it's obviously a 10" but "This image stuns me and others I've shown it to, but DA voters so far don't think it's worthy of the highest votes, so I wonder why?"
I'm regularly surprised by what does and doesn't do well here and elsewhere, so that's not an enormous surprise.
But I'm considering this for a contest on another site, so any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks!
Edited by Zeke to show image.
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Posted 11/28/2006 1:18:41 PM
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I really like this. I think the statue is a little too far to the right though. I would have preferred to see it somewhere near the 1/3. Great colors, great silhouette.
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Posted 11/28/2006 1:43:32 PM
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Jeff, you know I like your work, so I'll offer a critique on this one, hoping you will take it as constructive criticism. The image does make a good first impression, with solid emotional impact. The fog/smog in the distance, with the sharp island and statue in the foreground creates a good "stacked hills" effect. If I could change some things, I'd choose three design elements.
1. I think the sky colors...orange, red and yellow... border on over-saturation. It's not blatant, but maybe a distraction. The sky's not posterized, nor "bleeding", but it's approaching those levels.
2. The proportions of the rectangular image are 2:3.5, which is fairly long. Definiitely non-standard. Nothing illegal about that, but there's a reason images are usually 3:2 or 4:5. It's a visual appeal issue.
3. The silhouetted statue and island have a bit of harshness to their edges. And, depending on how I move my eyes closer or farther from the image, some jaggies appear. Again, this is not too serious, but noticeable. Possibly a subliminal distraction.
Overall, this image is very good. I think the colored sky reflection off the choppy water is effective. Very difficult to capture.
Hope this helps a little.
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Posted 11/28/2006 2:09:46 PM
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| Why I would/did not vote this image a 10... 5) Post Processing seems a bit overcooked. Not a problem also not a 10 4) No Pow/Wow/Bang/Boom - I could not remember if I had voted for this image yet. 3) Many times "Sunsets" are considered a cliche' topic. Not a problem but again not a 10 2) Statue of Liberty could be considered a cliche' subject. It is photographed thousands of times daily. With its constant image exposure, it would really take a humdinger to get a 10 there. 1) 10's for me are EXTREMELY RARE! I have voted higher than 8 less than 1.5% of the time in my last 6000+ votes (82-9's & 9-10's) It is a good capture - IMO it is rated fairly in the mid 7's and is not a "10" Good Luck with the image, WE
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Posted 11/28/2006 2:47:31 PM
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Oooo. All good advice.
The good news is that all of your thoughts resonate with some things I already wondered about. Good news, that is, from the standpoint of my development as a photographer. I'm starting to see things now.
I know it's awfully long. I did that for effect. But I can understand how I might have overdone it.
As for the colors being overcooked, I understand and agree. This was my first attempt at a gradient map. I'll tone it down some. The original color is quite "muddy" and gray.
Richard, I appreciate your saying it's hard to capture the colors in the water, but I can't take any credit. The original happened to have that.
Wright, I agree it's something of a cliche. That's why I went with the silhouette - that seems somewhat less common than the closeups that show much detail.
So again, thanks!
Anybody else?
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Posted 11/28/2006 4:13:01 PM
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| Wish that I could be of more help, but alas, your shot is just not in my area of expertise. The only thing that I wish was different in the image is the direction from which the shot was taken. Nothing you can change with this image, I know! But, I would imagine being at a different angle to the statue, so that you could make a distinction between the arm and the body... to me, it would make it more WOW to see that arm stuck up there with the pride in which it should. I know... I'm of no help! sorry.
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Posted 11/29/2006 9:24:40 AM
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I agree with Zeke about the 1/3 thing.
The sky seems a bit noisy but difficult to say on such a small version.
I agree with Richard's #3...there is a slightly annoying halo effect in between the dark and light.
Still, overall something to be very proud of.
I'd probably give it one of my 2% of 9's that I give, historically. 
~ Nick
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