An Ants View
by rayg544

Comment by racb:
Neat perspective- nice composition.

An Ants View
by rayg544

Comment by ktm7:
nice. i like it alot.

Northern Branch of the L & N Railroad
by rayg544

Comment by skief:
Greetings from the Critique Club

I must say that this is one of the most unusual perspectives for a railway shot that I have seen. I do think that unusual perspective helped keep your score above 5.

The black and white conversion is good with tonalities going through full black to full white across the picture.

A few things that would help this picture:
1. DOF choice: In a shot like this with the one STRONG line leading through the picture, it would be better to start it out tack sharp and let it then fade out as you go through the picture. The line should produce the dynamic movement through the picture. Here, when you look at the picture, the eye has to struggle through the out of focus at the bottom of the picture to get to the part that is sharp.

2. Focal Point: Where does the leading line lead me to? What am I supposed to be looking at in the picture? Especially in this as a black and white photo, I need something to be looking at, and not just the line (the track) leading me through the photo. This also relates to the choice of DOF, as I get to the tack sharp point and want to be able to look at something there, but nothing appears and my eye wanders right off the top of the photo without being able to stop and 'rest'.

3. Clutter/Background: You already noticed some of this as in your comments, you had cloned out the grass blade and then noticed it was basic editing. What would help in this to start off with is to just go and pull the grass from the track before you take the shot, then you don't have to worry about it. Look at the background and ask, "Is there any way I can remove distractions from the background before I take the photo?"

4. Crop: Most photos of railway tracks are done in the vertical/portrait orientation rather than horizontal. A vertical/portrait orientation gives a sense of distance of the track seeming to extend to infinity and beyond. With this orientation in the photo, there is a sense of truncation, of stiltedness. There is too much space to the left and right of the track for my eye to drift back and forth.

Overall Impression: While I did not vote in this challenge, I would have scored this picture a 4. Removing the distractions from the background would bump it up to a 5. Correcting the DOF/orientation would possible bump it up another point to 6. I do think that your conversion to B&W is very good and your eye for a different perspective is commendable as well.

If you have any questions about this critique, please feel free to contact me via the PM system.

Amy
by rayg544

Comment by mystical_princess:
nice shot wish she was off to the side a bit and maybe a touch of added contrast to make her stand out more. Pretty good though!

An Ants View
by rayg544

Comment by erinelizabeth:
I think it would have looked awesome if you'd cropped most of the top of this so that it was like the trees made a tunnel.

Amy
by rayg544

Comment by yanko:
The first thing I notice is the cross which seems to have a mysterious dark shadow around it.

An Ants View
by rayg544

Comment by bob_bobski:
Looks a little too high up for an ant ;-) so I'm afraid only an 8

Shadows and Light (A Study in Black and White)
by rayg544

Comment by Neuferland:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

This is a wonderful old time feeling shot of the train station. Though black and white is a nice choice for this, I always though sepia worked so much better for these types of shot, don't know why, just my preference I guess :)

I didn't get a chance to actually vote in this challenge, if I did, I probably would have given this a 5. It's a nice composition but the contrast is not really there. I see no real blacks or whites in the shot, mostly grays and it's very bright overall but nothing really stands out and pulls me into the shot. Also, it seems a tad off balance overall for some reason, maybe if you moved to the right just a bit and shot straight down the canopy area, making it look like one piller and having the piller on the right side line if you used the rule of thirds?

Also the finishing on the edge does nothing for me. It seems to take away from the shot more than add to it. Perhaps a solid white border on the outside to hold it all in, the fading effect in current use seems to suck more out than add in.

Overall, it's a very nice shot and I would love to see any reshoot or work you might try on this.

Hope my comments help!

Deannda

Amy
by rayg544

Comment by Tammer:
For me, this would have greater interest if cropped in from the left to her shoulder - giving it a bit more interest than having the subject in the center of the photo. I like the lighting on the hair. Nice shot of a pretty lady.

Amy
by rayg544

Comment by docurrie:
The background likghting is a little harsh for my taste. I also think if you posed her other than straight on to create some diagional lines it would have helped the composition.