Girl in a coffee shop


twilightreap

New Member
Jan 29, 2011
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1. in what area is critique to be sought?

Composition, Exposure, what could i have done to make it better.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?

Wants to capture a candid expression on a child.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)

Sitting next to the girl but she is unaware of the camera.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture

I like the expression on the girls face and the colours of the coffee around her
 

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I would definitely go for a zoom out. The girl is obviously looking at someone which I believe is the one whose arm got caught in your frame. Zooming out will give the look on her face a sense of purpose, as though she wants something from someone.
 

I would definitely go for a zoom out. The girl is obviously looking at someone which I believe is the one whose arm got caught in your frame. Zooming out will give the look on her face a sense of purpose, as though she wants something from someone.

Agree with the zoomed out. Perhaps what you could do is to show part of what she was staring at. Or to have it totally removed. I would have gone with a slightly less saturated picture with some film grain added.
 

Agree with the zoomed out. Perhaps what you could do is to show part of what she was staring at. Or to have it totally removed. I would have gone with a slightly less saturated picture with some film grain added.

I would definitely go for a zoom out. The girl is obviously looking at someone which I believe is the one whose arm got caught in your frame. Zooming out will give the look on her face a sense of purpose, as though she wants something from someone.

To add on, I would say if the background can be oof, it might make the girl stand out even more.
 

first of all, sometimes you don't need to get the person's entire body into the shot, unless she's doing something maniacal with her hands and feet. just the upper body and the other person. so at least we know what she's staring at.

like the others said, zoom out as well. however, since this was a street shot, controlling the DOF at the moment would be quite hard if you wanted to ensure you got her expression.
 

first of all, sometimes you don't need to get the person's entire body into the shot, unless she's doing something maniacal with her hands and feet. just the upper body and the other person. so at least we know what she's staring at.

like the others said, zoom out as well. however, since this was a street shot, controlling the DOF at the moment would be quite hard if you wanted to ensure you got her expression.

i think that the inclusion of the hands and legs were good. it was shot from a high angle (though i feel its not high enough) to make the subject appear dwarfed.
 

i think that the inclusion of the hands and legs were good. it was shot from a high angle (though i feel its not high enough) to make the subject appear dwarfed.

possibly :D

it's an impromptu shot. unless TS elaborates in essay what went through his head and thought process at the moment, we won't know why he chose that DOF, angle or other parameters.

personally, studying her actions and look on her face.. she seems contradicting to me. you're right.

because her hands show that she's nervous, yet her face shows anticipation of something possibly good (perhaps it's because she hopes to be forgiven for something done wrong?)
 

possibly :D

it's an impromptu shot. unless TS elaborates in essay what went through his head and thought process at the moment, we won't know why he chose that DOF, angle or other parameters.

personally, studying her actions and look on her face.. she seems contradicting to me. you're right.

because her hands show that she's nervous, yet her face shows anticipation of something possibly good (perhaps it's because she hopes to be forgiven for something done wrong?)

i think that the inclusion of the hands and legs were good. it was shot from a high angle (though i feel its not high enough) to make the subject appear dwarfed.

We don't always need the full body, that is true. However, depending on what the TS want to capture, then the inclusion or exclusion has to tie in with his intention. Because say suppose if he don't intend to portray a "nervousness" with the hand gesture, then the inclusion of the hands might lead the viewer to think of that.

Sometimes we minimize what we have in our frame, because the more elements the more distractions or unintended meaning. For me, the hands and the expression seem to portray a desire for something and waiting for it. Then in that case, I would need to show the viewer what is it that the girl wants. you could debate that not including what the girl wants can "add suspense", but no, it leaves me wondering that's all. I wondered the "what it could have been" because of the slight inclusion of an unknown figure.
 

I feel that shooting from a lower angle would be better .
 

To be very objective,
If the intention was to capture the candid expression of the child, then zooming in instead of zooming out would be a better option.

Regards
 

wow~ didn't expect to get so many replies~ :) Thanks~
1.I was using my fixed 16mm lens, didn't had the time to change to any zoom lens so decided i should just take the whole body. Also she was anticipating the hokkien mee~ but didn't know why her hand looked nervous~
2.The girl was looking @ an uncle cooking hokkien mee, but the uncle was blocked by the stall so decided not to take the uncle.
3.I was sitting next to the girl and if I bent down too low she would have noticed me~
4.I didn't have time to change the DOF, took the picture on impulse~
Thanks again for all the feedback! :D
 

wow~ didn't expect to get so many replies~ :) Thanks~
1.I was using my fixed 16mm lens, didn't had the time to change to any zoom lens so decided i should just take the whole body. Also she was anticipating the hokkien mee~ but didn't know why her hand looked nervous~
2.The girl was looking @ an uncle cooking hokkien mee, but the uncle was blocked by the stall so decided not to take the uncle.
3.I was sitting next to the girl and if I bent down too low she would have noticed me~
4.I didn't have time to change the DOF, took the picture on impulse~
Thanks again for all the feedback! :D

Then in this case, like what legoz mentioned, it would be better to just isolate her expression by zooming in, since you had clearly not intended to capture the "nervous hands".
 

watch the tilt! without the stall the pole in the background it would had been unnoticable. but once u have it, the tilt becomes disorientating
 

Underexposed. Makes the surrounding look even more squalid.
More of the adult, if the intended effect is girl-looking-at-mysterious-grown-up.
Tilt.
Empty half of the chair is somehow disturbing.

Take more pictures of her again in other settings, keep trying :)