Howdy Folks
by firefighter271

Comment by snaffles:
Greetings from the Critique Club!

Wow, that is some big dude...must be Texas ;-)

This is a pretty decent shot, I'm a fan of low angles and I'm sure this big guy towered over you and family. Composition is very basic, the lighting is quite strong, looks like sun is at high noon, and you've compensated for a low depth of field with a super-fast shutter speed...would have made more sense to go with a much smaller aperture and a much slower shutter.

The main problem here is, there is no sense of scale. And in a Landmarks challenge, you want to indeed show that yes, this IS a landmark...a large, prominent feature easily seen for a good distance around. I don't know what lens you used, but even a basic kit lens usually wides out at about 18mm or so, which would have helped get in all of the big guy and the fair around him to give that sense of scale.

Hope this helps, feel free to pm me

Susan

Morning Glory
by firefighter271

Comment by CEJ:
Love the concept of this photo. I wish the processing was a bit different, but the thought process is spot on I think.

Morning Glory
by firefighter271

Comment by blindjustice:
I like the light here. the drive by voters didn't spend too much time, but it is worth a long look. Perhaps the brown is a bit too warm, and it might work better either with boosted shadows or the opposite way as a full silhouette.

Morning Glory
by firefighter271

Comment by sidpixel:
Hello from the critique club

An appealing image that vaguely meets the challenge

Whilst your image is visually appealing with the horses as the focal point the strong backlighting dominates the shot to its detriment. There is a loss of detail in the animals but given the theme of the challenge gates would be the only obvious element to meet the challenge but your composition and lighting makes this difficult to discern. The fences are somewhat confusing in themselves it feels as though there is probably a gate on the right edge of the frame but it is not obviously apparent. Sorry you didn’t receive any comments during the challenge Ken, I hope this makes up for it.

Howdy Folks
by firefighter271

Comment by EstimatedEyes:
haha this one is great. love the angle and the colors.

There is no place like home
by firefighter271

Comment by smudgeSMJ:
The sky is truly the radiant protagonist of this photograph, but it doesn't get much of the stage. I would love to see it get more of the frame and leave out so much of the dark ground. Great timing with the sun peaking right over the edge of the home. Great colors.

"No boots on the ground"
by firefighter271

Comment by Damon:
nice action shot

Almost 8 seconds
by firefighter271

Comment by SaraR:
Hello from the Critique Club.

First of all I'll look at the photo in the context of the specific challenge, 'In the style of Jagar'. Jagar's photo tend to be monchrome, with strong contrast utilising the full range of greys between black and white. He makes optimal use of light, even when conditions are harsh. His subject matter is often a mixture of street portraiture combined with verbnacular architecture and tends to the intimate. His compositions, whilst appearing on initial viewing to be very simple are in fact quite complex, and he makes much use of angles and strong verticals. Generally every inch of his canvas has a purpose within the final image.

So, how does your photo fit in with these themes? You have opted for mono, and the conversion is reasonably strong in contrast. Subject matter is not typical of Jagar's style, but your treatment of it does accord with some of the themes I picked up on above. The treatment of the subject - the bull - is incredibly intimate and well observed, and every inch of the canvas plays a part in the story. Whilst the architecture may not be that of a medieval French market town, the use of it, frame filling and providing context, is used in a similar way in which Jagar uses his.

In terms of the photograph in its own right, and apart from what I have noted above, the image suffers a little from a lack of sharpness. I am unsure if this is a result of camera technique, or a lack of post-processing - it may be worth researching the Adamus sharpening method, which works really well for web display (although no good at all for print. You have managed to get a great deal of detail despite the clearly difficult backlight.

Happy to discuss any aspect of this critique - feel free to send me a PM.

Almost 8 seconds
by firefighter271

Comment by posthumous:
frightening intimate moment


I'm hanging this in my fantasy art gallery

Almost 8 seconds
by firefighter271

Comment by littlemav:
1/2 of eight seconds