Playing with small animals.

[flyfox]

1.in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition, exposure and tone(w.b. and color temperature)

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
I want viewers to see how little things make children happy and how they have a closeness to small animals and nature e.g. birds which may not be easily noticed in today's modern society.
Many children these days are into gaming and such scenes may be quite unnoticed and rare.
I would also hope viewers to notice the children's genuine smile which depicts true happiness.

3.under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
This photo was taken on a cloudy morning around 10am in Malaysia, Sabah along the streets of Kota Kinabalu.

4.what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture.

Personally i feel this picture's background can be improved, but there is limitations to take from a differnt perspective as it is in the middle of the streets and the background is quite close to the subject(birds and children), which may kind of distract the subject. The white car may be quite distracting too..:sweatsm:

Hope viewers and critics can share their comments so i can further improve my photography. Last but not least, thanks for viewing:sweatsm:

 

[flyfox]

Comments please

 

[nitewalk]

Imho, the car and the tree trunk is a bit distracting. Perhaps, if you were slightly to your left, the different angle will allow you to focus more on the boy and the birds and the interaction between the birds and boy. Either that, or go in a bit closer, because I see that the boy's expression and the flying birds has potential. Going in abit closer might bring out his emotion better I think.

Had you tried converting to bnw? Just curious, coz i've got no idea if that would be a good idea. Just sharing a bit of my feeling after seeing your shot. Hope its alright. Cheers!

EDIT: haha i was wondering why u said "comments please" then i realised that u've waited abt a month.

 

[kei1309]

hmm i think this is a street shot. and.. it looks like the boy's pulling the pigeon's wings. is that it?

 

[candycaine]

I wish there was more subject isolation - the car/buildings in the bg contribute nothing to the scene. Open up your aperture more or perhaps, now that you've already taken the photo, you can try playing around in post-production. It is this that kills the photo, in my opinion.

Also, the car and girl on the right seem out of place. Crop that off too

 

[derrickder]

I like the composition. Very good capture of the moment. The vignette helps to isolate the subject.
Picture is slightly underexposed.

Great street capture.

 

[kwttan]

Composition wise, agreed with rest of the guys, crop off the car and girl on the right of the picture, leave the tree on the left alone. Touch up the exposure and sharpness. As for the background, nothing much you can do as this is a street photo.

 

[flyfox]

Thanks for all the advice, feedbacks and compliments

But i think if i crop off the car, the girl ll be missing from the picture

 

[candycaine]

Picture is slightly underexposed.

On my monitor, the exposure looks fine. But this is minor and subject to individual taste too

Thanks for all the advice, feedbacks and compliments

But i think if i crop off the car, the girl ll be missing from the picture

Then let the girl be missing from the picture. She doesn't add anything to the photo, composition or theme-wise.

 

[kwttan]

Thanks for all the advice, feedbacks and compliments

But i think if i crop off the car, the girl ll be missing from the picture

Why do you want the girl in the picture? Is she your focus? :dunno:

 

[nitewalk]

I felt that at the very least the girl and the car could be cropped off. I don't know if you do have an intention to include the girl, but if going by your concept, i thought the boy would be more relevant and having him in the frame might just be sufficient.

 

[flyfox]

On my monitor, the exposure looks fine. But this is minor and subject to individual taste too



Then let the girl be missing from the picture. She doesn't add anything to the photo, composition or theme-wise.

Why do you want the girl in the picture? Is she your focus? :dunno:

I felt that at the very least the girl and the car could be cropped off. I don't know if you do have an intention to include the girl, but if going by your concept, i thought the boy would be more relevant and having him in the frame might just be sufficient.

Hmm..you ll make some sense..i think i should crop off.

The reason i thought of including here was because they were siblings and came together..

 

[nitewalk]

Hmm..you ll make some sense..i think i should crop off.

The reason i thought of including here was because they were siblings and came together..

Hmm. You have your point, but to the viewer, it may not be immediately clear. Therefore, perhaps you have to decide, is my theme of playing with birds together with the boy's emotions more important, or the fact they are siblings that is more important. It is your shot after all, so its your call.

 

[derrickder]

On my monitor, the exposure looks fine. But this is minor and subject to individual taste too

Then let the girl be missing from the picture. She doesn't add anything to the photo, composition or theme-wise.

Oh ya it looks okay on my iPod touch.
Probably my monitor..

 

[candycaine]

Hmm..you ll make some sense..i think i should crop off.

The reason i thought of including here was because they were siblings and came together..

Your choice- but
1) without explanation, you can't tell that they're siblings,
2) the girl is in an awkward position in a frame such that she's barely significant in the composition so it doesn't quite matter that they're siblings
3) you're dividing the viewer's attention between the boy on the left who fits your intentions of portraying children playing with animals, and the girl on the right who, frankly, seems pretty stunned to be there.

i think i can understand why you want to include the girl- her hand is in a plastic bag and food is flying around so i assume she's feeding the birds? please correct me if i'm wrong. in this case, yes she has a part to play in creating this scene in the first place, but if you want to include her then she should at least be adequately present in the scene and not just shunted to one corner.

since your photo is already as such, the best solution would be to crop her off completely. in my opinion anyways.

hope this makes sense

Oh ya it looks okay on my iPod touch.
Probably my monitor..

Like i said, it's a minor issue what's "correctly exposed" anyway? histograms aren't always correct so it's all down to personal preference.