Summer in the Cityby
bing3102Comment by FrankRobinson: Hi Ryan, welcome to the Critique Zone!
This is an interesting idea but I'm not sure that it tells the story that you are aiming for. I have no doubt that the voters couldn't figure it and that hurt your score. Perhaps a wilting flower and a dead bee against the cityscape would have sent the message? Twin that with a long exposure (using a tripod) against the city at night, to capture light trails and you might have taken a ribbon!
Technical: This is a very capable camera / lens combo - but almost no lens is at its best at f20 - refraction creeps in from f16 onwards and sharpness goes. f8 would probably have been enough here which would have boosted your shutter speed - again good for sharpness. I know that the reciprocal law says you only need 1/focal length but Ansel Adams reckoned anything below 1/250 wasn't fast enough. We can't always get there but more speed = good a lot of the time, unless you have a tripod and remote release!
PP: The shot is a little 'flat' - try adding a little contrast with
curves or levels to make it more three dimensional. It also could do with some
sharpening.
Artistically: While this looks like you were going for the 'rule of thirds', to me the flower is a little cramped and almost off the edge of the shot. I would pull it a little more to the centre, using the stem as a leading line perhaps, to make it really the subject, with the city as a background.
All of this is just my opinion, but I hope that there is something of use in here. You clearly have an eye for the unusual, and a lateral perspective on life which I'm sure will result in some interesting shots - I look forward to seeing more!
Happy hunting,
Frank.
