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This Wasn't Supposed to Happen!
This Wasn't Supposed to Happen!
DiamondPete


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Surprise! (Classic Editing)
Camera: Nikon D100
Location: Ralph Stover State Park, PA
Date: Nov 22, 2003
Date Uploaded: Nov 23, 2003

N/A

Statistics
Place: 39 out of 57
Avg (all users): 5.0000
Avg (commenters): 4.8571
Avg (participants): 4.5581
Avg (non-participants): 5.2000
Views since voting: 794
Votes: 138
Comments: 8
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
12/04/2003 06:30:14 AM
Critique Club:

An interesting use of motion-blur, and certainly fits the challenge.
However, the blur seems accidental rather than deliberate... the only thing which is reasonably sharp in the shot is his bum, which I'm sure is not meant to be the focus of the picture. If you'd panned the camera the follow the movement of his face, which has a great expression, I'm sure the photo would have worked really well. That way the viewer's eye would be drawn to the face first, and it is his expression that would have made the photo work excellently as a 'surprise' shot.
Compositionally the photo seems a bit chaotic. The background is very distracting and makes the photo look more like a snapshot because the feeling is that the photographer didn't put a lot of thought into how it would affect the final composition. The sky also looks like an afterthought... it's usually a good idea to place horizons or skies on a 3rd junction (rule of thirds). This ties in with another reason I think the composition doesn't work for me... the person is centred in the frame, which draws attention to his bottom again, as that is the part of him which is in the centre of the frame. If you insist on centring your subject, be aware that the eyes should be where the viewer's eye will want to go first, so centre the eyes/face in your frame.

I would have been tempted to crop the picture keeping the top-left quarter. This would give you his head, torso and upper legs. I would crop out the sky. This would compositionally focus more on his face, and introduce a nice top-left to bottom-right diagonal in the composition.

In conclusion: in my opinion this picture is a little too much like a snapshot and needs more thought on it's composition. The motion blur is a nice touch, but we need more sharpness in the shot... this would work well if the face was sharp.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/27/2003 05:44:48 PM
I don't mind that the climber is in motion, but the whole picture has has motion blur. If you were trying to do a panning shot, the climber should be in focus and the rocks more blurred.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/26/2003 06:56:39 PM
too much motion in the shot, it might be a better idea to use a tripod, it was a good idea. go somplace with a group of people and wait for one to do something dumb.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/26/2003 07:32:12 AM
This would have been superb surprise shot it the background wasn't blurred. The man is falling and the blurr on him suggests that, but the background needs to be still for this to be effective. Also it might have looked better vertically cropped, as it would add to the feeling of height.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/26/2003 01:29:11 AM
oops! looks like it might hurt:( action like this is hard to do. what would have made this more effective would have been less camera shake. having both the climber and the background moving is a bit distracting. but no question, he looks surprised .
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/24/2003 10:02:03 PM
Oh ouch! Poor person! My bum is sore just looking at this! It fits the challenge perfectly now if only the camera had been able to get a slightly shaper shot. I know the person is falling but the blur on the whole shot is just a bit too much, probably because I'm guessing you were shocked by what was happening as well. A 5
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/24/2003 06:24:43 PM
Ouch. Hard to get a sense of what is up and down, although I'm sure that is how this climber feels. Everything is shaken. If the rock were sharp, and the climber swingin all over at least we'd have a point of reference.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
11/24/2003 02:59:46 AM
Would have been more effective I think if the rocks had been in sharp focus and then the guy blurrered. Great action shot though, and hard to get focus perfect when you need to take a photo in a hurry.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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