Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Goals

We've talked here about goals before - Ivan putting most action into identifying them. I read this today and found it interesting:

http://bythom.com/goal.htm.

Perhaps my goal should be to read less on the Internet and to put more thought into photography?



I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this one though, guys, for a couple of reasons.

The first is the colouration. I'm colour-blind, and I was reasonably happy with this tinting, but of two other people who've seen it, one has said it's fine and the other has said it's waaay too pink. What do you think?

The second is its merits as a photograph. Ivan made a point the other day that, when you're photographing your children, you can be a little too close to the subject matter, emotionally, to be properly objective about the merits of the photograph. Now, I'm pretty pleased with this (Canon 40D; Canon 50mm f1.8 lens @ f1.8) but I'd like a two steps back opinion.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

G

Firstly, regarding the colour; it's a bit pink for me, I think I'd prefer either a mono or just less pinky. I think I'd also like it a little punchier contrast-wise too.

Regarding the image, it is a very engaging and happy image. I like the clear childly pleasure in the eyes, and the almost naughty covering of the mouth, as if something cheeky has been said. It's nicely framed too, and the eyes are well captured and make good contact. Good catchlights in each eye too, and all key elements are sharp (eyes, nose, hands) with gentle blurring of the body and edges of hair. Perfect DoF and exposure. Top of the head is cut off, but that's fine; in fact, that heightens the close-in, intimate nature of the shot, which is exactly what it needs.

My only gripe would be that it would have been good to see more of the mouth, smiling, through the fingers, since it takes a wee further look to know that it's a smiling image, and it would have been more powerful if that had come through more strongly. Other than that I love it. Great image. Definitely submit it at a future competition (Print, possibly) but in straight or lightly toned mono.

Cheers
Ivan

stasher1 said...

Hi Gareth, i like it too... but sorry Ivan, i like the pink! If you go B&W you definately would have to make more punchy but i like this pinky monochrome myself. As Ivan says, nice use of DOF. i love the mischievous feel. Thinking of getting this lens myself - would you recomend?

all the best

Adam

Gareth said...

Hi Adam,

I would definitely get the 50mm f1.8. It's the best quality lens that I have, and the cheapest! Particularly for portrait work, it's perfect. Such a wide aperture gives you gorgeous low depth of field with pleasant bokeh. Can't recommend it enough!

Cheers,
Gareth