The next class after our 36-shot assignment was a critique of everyone’s work. I thought my pictures stood up pretty well to the rest of the class although it was clear several of them could have been much better. Several students commented on different shots.
The instructor had some feedback on specific images:
- 2829: the horizontal lines in this image were slightly off level, and it would have been stronger if they were completely leveled or much further off
- 2851: compared to 2829, this was a much stronger image due to the composition and contrast. This was somewhat surprising to me as this shot was a complete one-off for me.
- 2876: this dark shot of a creepy looking tree was strong. The contrast between the background and the leaves and trunk is distinct. The shadows on the tree make it look dark and a scary. The branches provide plenty of lines for the viewer’s eyes to follow.
- 2882: this was a strong image due to the contrast of the dark leaves against the bright sky and details (like the tiny holes) you can see in the former. The castle is blurred but you can make out of the shape of the window in the background.
When asked which were my favorite images, I picked out the following (in addition to the ones already mentioned):
- 2804: I liked this shot looking past the stone castle out over the park and the high-rise buildings far in the distance. The diagonal line of the stone blocks led down to all the people in the park, and the medieval column architecture is juxtaposed with the modern buildings in the background.
- 2801: I thought this shot was a good look at all the geometric shapes in the architecture of the castle. The composition had decent negative space around the building and held the main tower at the left third.
Overall, this was another good learning experience. For the amount of time I spent on the assignment and the total number of shots I took (~110), I had six or so strong images.