Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/10
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Tina writes:
|Bill,
|I'd love to know what you think! My skin is not as tough as Eric's so =
be
|gentle. I welcome contructive criticism.... =20
|
Sure, I'll be happy to critique the photos on your web page. However, =
please keep in mind that I am not a professional art/photography critic. =
First, I am looking at photos in order to teach what little I know =
within my small community of family. You have to have a photograph to =
begin with to do that. I find that the LUG members are all reasonably =
competent photographers and appreciate their pages on the web.
First, I should comment that I like the way your web pages are put =
together. They are thematic just as your photographs are. So your =
first two web pages are great examples of how to put a cohesive thematic =
series of photos together. (We are also learning hypertext, java, and =
java script).
Second, your framing tends to be very tight. There is little wasted =
area. From the size of your reproduction offerings (for sale), I assume =
that this is done at the time the picture is taken rather than excessive =
cropping in the darkroom. When the framing looks too tight at first, =
(ears cut off) we have the opportunity to discuss why this was done and =
would the pix be better or worse with a full head pix. When you spread =
out and show more area (for example the pix of people saying grace) we =
can throw up a couple of L's and see how it would look cropped and =
discuss why it should or should not be cropped. The whole point is that =
regradless of what the subject is, the techniques used can be applied to =
any other subject (people, cats, dogs, architecture). Fill the frame =
with what you want to communicate. I did a lot of photography with a =
18x24 mm camera ("single frame or half frame" depending on how you want =
to use the terminology). If you didn't fill the frame initially, your =
chances of getting any decent enlargement were nil.
Third, I like your use of black and white and contrast. This is the =
most difficult subject to communicate to people that grew up with color =
television. I liked (I think it was Ted's) the comment that black and =
white displays character while color displays clothing. It presents an =
interesting and discussable topic when clothing is a symbol of status =
and culture.
Fourth I like the way you push your lenses to their limits. I still =
choke on this. I was trained to alway stop down one or two stops from =
the maximum aperture of the lens. I am consciously trying to use my =
lenses wide open if it is at all appropriate (i.e. can get by without =
the additional depth of field). I have to keep in my mind that it is =
inherently permissible to shoot wide open.
In summary, I find your three net pages a great teaching tool. The nice =
thing about evaluating other people photos from within a family group is =
that there is no necessity to publicly state an opinion about your (or =
Erics, or anyone else's) pictures. The point is to try to make our own =
better and to learn a lot of things in so doing.
Regards, Bill Larsen
ohlen@lightspeed.net
|______________________________________________________________________
If you have not yet looked at Tina's work, here is her footer:
|Tina Manley, ASMP
|<http://www.photogs.com/manley/index.html>
|<http://www.aperture-photo.com/site/reportage/manley/manleyframeset.html=
>
|<http://www.onlineartistleague.com/manleyt/portfoli.htm>
|