New Joiners - People #494

Sometimes the simplest images are the most impactual. This frame is a case in point. Yes, it is taken on an iPhone - although it's said that the best camera is the one you have on you - but despite that it's clear and direct. I like that the woman is large in the frame and is clearly delineated from the background. The large aperture certainly helps with that and her slightly pensive gaze is engaging. There's no detail in the shadow areas of the frame and that's obviously the drawback when you have less technical control over the final image by using an automated camera - but in this case, the whole works better than the part(s). Nicely done.

Nicely done. Decent framing and a moment caught. I wonder how we might make this even better though? Sometimes we have to decide very quickly what the picture we're taking is actually about. So, is this about the vaper alone or the vaper and the street? If it's the former, either we make a tighter frame around the excellently captured profile and smoke or we move our fame more to the left and isolated her more. we might try and catch the slogan of the bag a bit more clearly because that adds another layer of potential meaning or humour. Alternatively we shoot her and the street a bit wider to give greater context. But this is a good effort and all in all a decent frame.

I do like this - the way that you've captured a work face and an obviously difficult life - but I'd like more. I'd like more space to tell the story and I'd like some emotional connection which might come with physical closeness. The inclusion of his hand, frame left atop the rope (?) might have given greater context and a little more of the scene would have bene helpful - or you come in really close for a tight head. This falls between the two but well done for seeing.

This is very nice: a strong portrait that combines context, colour and shape. I like the arches of the building and I like how you've placed the figure to one side. That seems to lead us into the rest of the image. I also like that the devotee isn't looking at the camera and his stick and elbow form a really engaging shape that is antithetical to some of the more cliched images I see of this kind of week. Well done.

A really lovely frame. We can't photograph the wind but we can see its effects. I like that you've framed the figure in an interesting and off centre way and that the fur on her hood leads us directionally into some clear empty space. Colour wise, dusk is tricky to get right but the warm glow of the light compliments skin tone and mood. Nicely done.

Lovely. A really nice use of harsh light signalling to a single latticed window. That said, I'd really liked to have seen more in the tonal range and the effect achieved rather than just squeezing all the information into one small part of the histogram. How to do? Judicious and careful metering on the highlights might have achieved the desired effect without blowing the highlights.

The difference between a good image and a great one is often a matter of centimetres. I really like this frame. It has a good exposure and a range of tones that work well. How to improve? For me, I'd like the pipe and smoke to be more clearly delineated and that might have been achieved by moving the camera a tiny bit to the left so that it's clearer against the background. That might also have obscured some of the clutter behind the head top the left. In any case this is still a strong image. Well done.

Now there's a picture waiting to be taken here but it hasn't quite been made. What I like is the closeness to the kids and that they seem relaxed - but it feels a bit snatched. When we're around people sometimes our desire to get a picture takes over. Oftentimes it might be better to wait and see what happens. I'd also like to see the figures more clearly delineated from the background figures - and that's about positioning yourself in the right spot and anticipating. All practice - and if you do it more, it'll come. All in all not a bad frame and certainly shows potential.

An interesting frame and not a bad effort to create an image with different layers. I think that the exposure's not bad (watch your highlights, they are starting to blow) but I really like the framing that gets the dog having a scratch. That said, how to improve? For me, if you want an image like this in two halves, it's about moving your body relative to the action - so a shift to the left and perhaps a little lower might have framed these two elements a little better. Anyway, good effort.

I like this because it gives a sense of peace and visually, the figure to the right leads us into the cityscape. I always think however it's worth thinking about how images like this might be made even better. For a start, I can see that the time of day is tricky to make pictures - looking at the shadows it looks like the middle of the day so the colours are a little muddy and desaturated. Additionally, I always think it helps to think about what we want to say in the image given these limitations. Are we photographing the city or the woman? What we have is a good compromise but could the photographers position have been better (higher, lower, more to one side?) to accentuate either of those things. Good effort, but keep pushing.

Well, it's nice enough and I hope you had a nice thanksgiving - but what makes a decent photograph different from a snapshot? It's thought. Some of your figures are in shade, some in bright sun - and they are arranged awkwardly. When we have a situation like this where everyone knows you are there, take charge and arrange people harmoniously and work out whether they can all be in the same light - if in deep shadow or in direct sunlight you might need a touch of flash for example. It's about thinking what you want to achieve before you press the shutter.

This is potentially a really strong frame - an environmental portrait that is both straightforward and engaging. I think, ignoring the lighting issues for a second, that you have captured a 'vibe'. However, the farming is brought down by the addition of the figure in the background - one that appears to be growing from the model's head. Clearly the store was crowded but if we can't incorporate other figures in a harmonious way, the only other option is to exclude them. Sometimes it's worth thinking about how we might make an image before we shoot and that might entail some negotiation. Anyway, it's a nice effort.

I love the mood of this but I feel like I'm only getting half a story. Sometimes when we see something that looks beautiful or interesting, trying to frame that and make a photograph of it means that we lose something in translation. Photography is a very blunt instrument and doesn't allow us to feel the sunrise on our faces by proxy - so by standing back, reframing and communicating not only what the images feels like to you - but making it 'readable' to others is key. Show me more of the scene or make the model recognisable by showing more of her so we can 'read' the image.

Very few images are made better by distance. And this is a good example. There is a photo here but it lacks focus and intention: is the image about the busker or the woman - or the busker and the audience? Sometimes it's worth thinking about intention and additionally trying to move closer to see what the frame offers. Well seen but a bit more though needed - keep going.

It's always tricky to make images in a busy place like Cairo - you never had a moment and it's a constant movement of people. So well done for isolating these two. That said, the image doesn't really engage as a simple portrait because of all the clutter behind nor as a reportage image because that clutter isn't organised well in the frame. Think about what you want to show - is it just the men? Come closer. Is it them and the street? Find a different angle - higher or lower or to one side - so that we, as the viewer, get a 'readable' image. Good try though.

I think you've seen a nice image here but it's neither one thing nor another and I think that might be to do with where you're positioning yourself. The main character isn't clear because there's someone 'growing' out of his back and he's slightly obscured by the man in front. Either concentrate on his face as a tight portrait or maybe move yourself around the action until you get a balanced and harmonious composition.

There IS a picture here but I almost can't see it and I think that's an easy technical fix. A better and more careful exposure would have resulted in a clearer delineation of the figures from the murk. We might wither bump up the ISO or open the aperture more. You're shooting a 1/50th and that isn't enough on a 105mm to avoid shake unless you're very steady, More, I'd be careful about metering via the camera because that looks for the brightest spot and gives an average - hence the reasonably well exposed sunset and the dark foreground. Keep on going.

This is a charming image of a young gymnast but I can't help wondering whether such a wide angled lens was perhaps an appropriate choice. There is a time and a place for an extreme lens but a straight on portrait where distortion is so obvious might not be it. I know that these lenses are very seductive - everything looks dramatic through the viewfinder using them - and if that was the intention, then fine - but I think it does make a point of the lens rather than the subject...

For the sake of this little kid I have to ask, what's happened here? : ) There's a great picture to be made but I think that you've let your camera make all the decisions for you - certainly in terms of metering and exposure and cameras, are generally to be treated with suspicion... I think the camera's read the highlight off of the hat and tried to make that the overall exposure. Several solutions here. The first and simplest is to meter correctly off the face, the second would be to move the model into an area that wasn't both sunshine and shade - a more neutral light. Third you could introduce flash to even the difference between the highlights and the shadows... or you could take the hat off... Anyway, with a bit of practice you'll know what to do next time!

A charming moment but shooting into the sun is always full of difficulty - one never knows where or how the effect will travel through the lens. This has almost come off but with such harsh direct light there's always a danger of firstly the tonal range and the colour being limited. You've just about managed to hold this image together and I wouldn't want to suggest that you never shoot this way again - but if you do, a judicious use of the technique might be best!