Paint Chip Critique

Before the critique I felt like I hadn't done the best job ever, but I still thought my photographs of "Yesterday's Yellow" were good. However, after the critique I realized that even though there were some good images, there were a lot of spots I could have improved on. I also learned from what was said about a few other photographs from other students on things I could try in the future or improve on.

Weaknesses:
Two of my five photographs looked like someone else took them because they weren't strong at all compared to the rest. One was a picture of an old fashioned diner that was said to have looked just like a tourist took the picture. After looking at it longer, I have to agree. I had taken other angles of the diner but there was some lens flare in them. I should have paid more attention and either gone back to shoot it again, or try even more angles. The other one that wasn't as strong was a picture of a an old soccer goal; from the angle I took the photograph it looked like I was focusing mainly on the rusted pole of the goal, instead of capturing the entire goal itself. That is another one I could have gone back and taken even more pictures of or printed out one with a better angle which portrays what I was trying to say better. Another thing I realized during critique was I need to get adjusted to printing on Red River paper. One of my pictures was a little too bright. But I'm sure with practice I'll be able to fix that in no time.

Strengths:
Three of my five photographs were said to be very strong due to the way I was able to capture almost the essence of a story. I had a picture of an old mailbox on a yellow house which you never see anymore. Everything in the picture seemed to be spot on. Another photograph was of an old yellow house with broken windows and a crooked stairway. Someone stated in the class it would have looked better if the windows were centered but I had them off centered on purpose and I personally feel that's what helped make the photograph successful. I didn't want everything to be completely centered and was trying to do the rule of thirds. Another strength I had during this project was my depth of field, especially in my photograph with the tractor. The name of the tractor was up close, then you were able to see the tree growing in and around the tractor, and finally the old house in the background, making it very successful.

Overall, it was a good critique and I have a few ideas on what I can do in the future to improve my photography.