Prayer


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Halfgeek

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Nov 22, 2011
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Hello this is my first critique seeking, Im kinda new to photography... Started pick up photography as a hobby about 4 months ago. I hope
to better learn to not only take better pictures but to learn to accept criticism better if any.

1. In what area is critique to be sought?
Composition, feelings, colour tone, just anything

2. What one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
To create a feeling of desperation... "last resort... prayers"

3. Under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
Under perspiring condition physically (took a seat and rest from the hot sun outside), feeling peaceful

4. What the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I like the feeling this picture gives.

5. What the critique seeker wants to benefit from receiving critique?
To shoot better pictures by having better composition and adjusting colours to suit the feeling I feel when looking at a certain happenings unfold in front of me.
More accurately relay how i feel when looking at whats happening in front of my eyes through my pictures.

image1515.jpg
 

Is the picture too boring for a critique? Or did I miss out any information which should be provided? If its the first than I shall take it as a form of critique too.. Cheers.
 

My overall feeling of this picture, is that it is quite cluttered. The TV screens, the speakers, the other person's head over the subject's left shoulder, the black tripod thingy on the left side of the frame are all quite distracting.

As to your objective to show "last resort", I do not see it here, simply because, there is no emotions shown here. I cannot see the subject's expression because his back is to the camera. Neither can I see another other signs that he is indeed desperate.

The lines/rows of chairs is not bad, but do note that you need to make sure they are level too. Also where to end the framing at the bottom is also a good thing to take note of, as I do not particularly like the little bit of the holes in the chair showing near the bottom left edge.

You idea is a good start. You need to think how you want to compose and execute the shot to make it stronger than it is now...
 

Clutter and all aside, one has to keep in mind that viewers may not attach the same connotations to a picture that you may have, being present at the scene. You may have seen the man walking in, seen him deep in prayer. This is not immediately obvious to the viewer and they can probably guess that the setting being obviously in a church, the man is praying. The feelings of desperation, last resort that you may have seemed to detect from the man is not immediately obvious to me, and I doubt it would be the case for other viewers. In such a case, if there is no outward appearance that makes this relatively obvious, then you won't be able to convey such a message. Something showing intensity, tension or just plain concentration would surely, work better than the back view which is shown here.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H3aEP8QhWe4/TZAO05DR45I/AAAAAAAABis/FDFlid2qFqc/s1600/prayer.jpg
 

I think focusing on the facial expression or the hand/body language will better express the topic.
Or you might want to have a more contrasting background or reducing the depth of field to focus more on the subject.
Good Luck!:)
 

Haha I was abit worried that the subject of my picture is too dull.. I notice a lot of landscapes with plenty of details here. Thank god :D

Facial expression would make for a better story of a feeling... Noted!

And wow very detailed suggestions made! Personally I would prefer a place of a traditional old church minus all the tvs or electronic stuff.


Thank you guys so much!
 

If you never mentioned prayers, I would have thought he's reading the bible or sleeping. The lump on the right shoulder is his right hand? That's an odd position for prayer. How about the black lump on the left shoulder? Take care of the details in your framing, especially in black and white unlike color where you can do additional tricks like desaturation for bright distracting colors.
 

Haha I was abit worried that the subject of my picture is too dull.. I notice a lot of landscapes with plenty of details here. Thank god :D

Facial expression would make for a better story of a feeling... Noted!

And wow very detailed suggestions made! Personally I would prefer a place of a traditional old church minus all the tvs or electronic stuff.


Thank you guys so much!

It is not just facial expression. It can be other elements as well that can show the same feeling. A tattered or dirty shirt... messy hair.. all these things can help your viewer see the story. But in your photo, there is none of these.

And while we cannot change the environment sometimes, we can do better by way of better framing.

Hope this helps.
 

Thanks a lot! You guys are a great help to me :)

Thread closed :)
 

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