WPC 1404 - Hands ANALYSIS: fjrwillie has volunteered their WPC 1404 - Hands entry to the Photo Critique & Analysis Forum* to find out what they could have done to make it better. Be...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

fjrwillie has volunteered their WPC 1404 - Hands entry to the Photo Critique & Analysis Forum* to find out what they could have done to make it better. Be nice, but be honest as this will help everyone with their craft. Thank you fjrwillie and thank you everyone!

From WPC 1404 - Hands RESULTS http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/photo_contest_ratings.jsp?pcnum=100

* If you are new to the Photo Critique & Analysis Forum please read the Section Rules http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-159520-1.html

150 Years of Hands

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naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

Very interesting composition. At first I thought that all left or right hands would be better BUT after looking for a while, the chaos of right & left drew me in for a closer look. B&W is good for the image BUT the green ring doesn't go with the challenge (Hands). Technically the image shows maybe camera shake? Halo around several hands & blown out areas. The blown out (bright) areas are the most distracting to me. All in all a very good attempt with a few tweeks cold be better. JMO!

Also the title is confusing to me. Are all hands 25 years old?

Thanks for posting for critique & analysis.

DugE Loc: Windham, Maine

Love the concept, can see where you were going with the ring, but I am not a big fan of HDR which is what seems to have been done here, the halos around the fingers and the overblown highlights just don't appeal to me, like the background of the leather, works well in playing off the skin's of the people

Graham Smith Loc: Cambridgeshire UK

The concept is very interesting and indicates that fjrwillie put some considerable original thought into the picture, top marks for that.

The first thing that strikes me about the image is that the lighting is very uneven, on the left there are two bright thumbs that don't match, tonally, the hands they are attached to and that applies to other areas too. There are some blown
highlights. The long pinky nail, contrast wise, hasn't faired well in the conversion to B&W. The HDR, as already mentioned, has created halos and overall the sharpness isn't quite there.
What could have been done to improve the picture? Attention to the points I have mentioned would produce a very good image.

I wont comment on the selective colouring apart from that it takes the eye away from the interesting patterns formed by the fingers.

Graham

10MPlayer Loc: California

I agree with all of the above. I think the most frustrating thing on close inspection is the ghosting or halos. Too many areas are blown out. I don't know if there's enough there to be able to fix it or not. If it is HDR maybe use the best of the images alone and touch up the highlights and shadows. Just a thought.

fjrwillie Loc: MA

naturepics43 wrote:

Very interesting composition. At first I thought t... (show quote)

Thanks for the comments and now that I look at the ring it is a distraction.

There are 3 pairs of hands attached to folks that are 50+ hence the name.

Willie

fjrwillie Loc: MA

DugE wrote:

Love the concept, can see where you were going with the ring, but I am not a big fan of HDR which is what seems to have been done here, the halos around the fingers and the overblown highlights just don't appeal to me, like the background of the leather, works well in playing off the skin's of the people

Thanks for the look see and taking time to evaluate and comment

Willie

fjrwillie Loc: MA

Graham Smith wrote:

The concept is very interesting and indicates that... (show quote)

The long finger nail was painted red and was to be in red in the photo, however it looked terrible. Agree it looks terrible even in it's natural state.

Thanks to U for the taking the time to evaluate and comment.

Willie

fjrwillie Loc: MA

10MPlayer wrote:

I agree with all of the above. I think the most frustrating thing on close inspection is the ghosting or halos. Too many areas are blown out. I don't know if there's enough there to be able to fix it or not. If it is HDR maybe use the best of the images alone and touch up the highlights and shadows. Just a thought.

Thanks for looking and adding to the comments. Gives me something to think about. All this kinda of new to me.

Willie

Nightski

Willie, I think what would have made it better is if the background had been further away front the hands. If you had shot this over green grass or contrasting carpet. It would have given the subject greater separation from the background, therefore creating a more dramatic result. Outdoors would be great as you would have more natural lighting, but that may not have been possible in your part of the country right now.

Nightski

I'm sorry, I forgot to add, that I like the idea of this image. I hope you try it again. It would have been a photo that I would have voted for. I like your creativity in the composition of it.

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

fjrwillie wrote:

Thanks for the comments and now that I look at the ring it is a distraction.

There are 3 pairs of hands attached to folks that are 50+ hence the name.

Willie

Thanks for explaining to this dumb old man. LOL! That didn't cross my mind (or what left of it that still works)
I still like your idea of composition & think it could be worked into a very interesting image.

Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to critique your very interesting photo.