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Hi and welcome to the Critique Gallery.
Whilst I can appreciate your trials with the lensbaby, there are too many versions for us to really comment on.
Which is your favourite ?
Which one would you like critique on ?
Is there anything in particular you would like help with ?
Without further information from you it is difficult for us to critique them all.
So as I see the lead image... for me there is too much OOF on the left side of the frame and too much sky which both pale your subject into insignificance.
I will have a go at a quick mod.
Whilst I can appreciate your trials with the lensbaby, there are too many versions for us to really comment on.
Which is your favourite ?
Which one would you like critique on ?
Is there anything in particular you would like help with ?
Without further information from you it is difficult for us to critique them all.
So as I see the lead image... for me there is too much OOF on the left side of the frame and too much sky which both pale your subject into insignificance.
I will have a go at a quick mod.
In my modification..
I did a hefty crop from the left and top.
Added just a touch more contrast.
Added a blur vignette focusing on the dog.
Straightened the pole on the right with the skew tool in Photoshop.
Converted to sRGB which is the profile for up loading on the web.
Added a frame to try and compensate for the crop.
I think you could have focused much better on the dog as he/she is therein subject of your image.
I do like the curve of the road and coastline.
I did a hefty crop from the left and top.
Added just a touch more contrast.
Added a blur vignette focusing on the dog.
Straightened the pole on the right with the skew tool in Photoshop.
Converted to sRGB which is the profile for up loading on the web.
Added a frame to try and compensate for the crop.
I think you could have focused much better on the dog as he/she is therein subject of your image.
I do like the curve of the road and coastline.
Thanks Chase for your modifacation.
It was, indeed, the first picture I like you to look at.
It was not the dog that was the subject of the picture. It was more the the beach, it's curve, and the se, and it's curve that I liked. And the straight line of the road, Bintang, our dog, was a part of the road. But, as I see it now, I could have removed the pole. And maybe the car also. I like the vintage effect in your modification. And yes I could have croped the sky and the left side a bit. Thank you again
It was, indeed, the first picture I like you to look at.
It was not the dog that was the subject of the picture. It was more the the beach, it's curve, and the se, and it's curve that I liked. And the straight line of the road, Bintang, our dog, was a part of the road. But, as I see it now, I could have removed the pole. And maybe the car also. I like the vintage effect in your modification. And yes I could have croped the sky and the left side a bit. Thank you again
Thank you for coming back to us and helping us along with a little more information.
Quote: I could have removed the pole. And maybe the car also.
I do like the inclusion of those things, especially the car. They give this image some perspective and scale and a feeling of danger for the dog too.
Quote: I could have removed the pole. And maybe the car also.
I do like the inclusion of those things, especially the car. They give this image some perspective and scale and a feeling of danger for the dog too.
Welcome back, Jos - and you're clearly having fun exploring what an Edge can do for you.
It's been a while since you were last in the CG, possibly several years - though you've posted in the main gallery a few times.
I've recently managed to buy an Edge 80, now discontinued: it gives a very strong effect, of course. It can also be interesting to tilt in the opposite direction, and get front-to-back sharpness at a wide aperture, like using a perspective control lens, or a large format camera.
It's been a while since you were last in the CG, possibly several years - though you've posted in the main gallery a few times.
I've recently managed to buy an Edge 80, now discontinued: it gives a very strong effect, of course. It can also be interesting to tilt in the opposite direction, and get front-to-back sharpness at a wide aperture, like using a perspective control lens, or a large format camera.
I very much enjoy(ed) the lead image. The car -blur as it is- actually looks like a vehicle from the sixties or early seventies (even the road and the crooked pole remind me more of those years than the present day). Which mood-wise put me right in that time frame. And it gave me the feeling I was watching (part of) a story. I'll say right away why I wrote enjoy(ed) in the first sentence. While I do like the overall effect of the lb, what put me off is the effect of that lens on the immediate forground. The side of the road, that line between road and "duin" becomes annoyingly cartoon-ish. In that sense Chase's mod is probably a good direction to take this. It doesn't completely root out the problem I pointed out, but does get rid of a big part of it. Composition-wise it's also an improvement.
Welcom back from me too, it's been a while since you last posted in the Critique gallery so it's good to see you still enjoying your photography.
I'm only going to comment on the main image, otherwise I'd be typing reams of stuff which isn't practical Suffice to say it's good to see you experimenting with the lens with different subjects and compositions and Versions 2 and 3 are nicely shot.
You say he subject is the beach but the sharp area is the dog and that's what draws the eye.
The lensbabies do allow you to isolate a particular element very effectively and to have the beach with little detail and interest (compared to the right hand half of the image) soft as the intended subject doesn't work. The viewer will ignore it iand concentrate on the dog.
And as such I'd leave the car and pole, they give locational detail.
I'm only going to comment on the main image, otherwise I'd be typing reams of stuff which isn't practical Suffice to say it's good to see you experimenting with the lens with different subjects and compositions and Versions 2 and 3 are nicely shot.
You say he subject is the beach but the sharp area is the dog and that's what draws the eye.
The lensbabies do allow you to isolate a particular element very effectively and to have the beach with little detail and interest (compared to the right hand half of the image) soft as the intended subject doesn't work. The viewer will ignore it iand concentrate on the dog.
And as such I'd leave the car and pole, they give locational detail.
It's good to see you here in the Critique Gallery again.
You are having fun with your new lens.
It looks like a tilt-shift effect to me, which makes your subject look like a model, as in your second version.
Try to have your subject in the in-focus area for best effect, like your first/lead image. Surely it's the dog that is the subject in that picture, not the sea, because not only does your title indicate that it is, but you have it in the focused area.
Your 6th version, the one of the grass, works well, isolating the grass extremely well.
Pamela.
You are having fun with your new lens.
It looks like a tilt-shift effect to me, which makes your subject look like a model, as in your second version.
Try to have your subject in the in-focus area for best effect, like your first/lead image. Surely it's the dog that is the subject in that picture, not the sea, because not only does your title indicate that it is, but you have it in the focused area.
Your 6th version, the one of the grass, works well, isolating the grass extremely well.
Pamela.
I like the effect with the grasses - I see Pam has singled that one out too - so maybe concentrate on simpler subjects like that. I don't have any Lensbaby lenses - not sure about them but sometimes I see an image which I do like.
Good on you for trying it out.
Kate
Good on you for trying it out.
Kate
I'll add, for anyone not used to the Lensbaby range, that the Edge optics are actually very sharp lenses, and the Lensbaby mounts allow them to be used as tilt lenses, so that you can either isolate a small plane of sharpness that is not parallel to the sensor, or use them as conventional tilt lenses to get front-to-back sharpness of (say) a road at a relatively wide aperture.
Thank you for that information, John.
