New Joiners - People #515

This is really lovely. A moment caught naturally and thoughtfully. A decent exposure, bearing in mind the potentially overexposed sky to the rear, and I like that a wide aperture has blurred the trees. The umbrella as a prop works very well to balance the frame and the portrait format matches well the stance and the movement. This is simple and that's its success. Well done.

This is a lovely moment: natural and candid. The use of black and white works to engage the viewer in the scene without the distraction of (possibly) multiple colours. Sometimes, the simplest images - those of spontaneity and laughter - work best and even though some of the background is white and a tiny bit distracting, overall this is a great effort.

Sometimes, as I suspect here, we don't get a choice where we stand to compose and the problem with this is that the foreground figure is in direct competition with the bleached-out background sky. A more accurate exposure would have lessened this effect. I'm also saddened that a potentially interesting image is rather spoilt by the lack of sharpness. Practice with (I suspect) a long(ish) lens makes perfect - keep pushing.

This is an engaging image and, with the woman's black blouse almost blending into the shadows, quite a tricky one to expose for. That said, this isn't a bad effort but the pose is distracted a little by the lights in the background. When we have time, it's crucial that we imagine what the final image will do. Here, a small alteration left of right by the photographer would have made a more compelling image - but this is still strong. Well done.

There's a lovely moment in here - the two lads in the centre of the frame enjoying a laugh - and that's well seen. However the image falls down because it's taken from an angle where inevitably other elements interfere with our view. Sometimes, as the text alludes, moving about is tricky but the compromise I suppose might have been to try and frame the image as a portrait, and/or use a longer lens. There'd still be distraction however from the background figures but this was never an easy situation I suspect to negotiate. Additionally tricky as you're shooting from below and at a distance - so a decent effort in a tricky situation.

Nicely done. From the file on screen I can just about see the catch-light in the eyes but can't quite see if it's a softbox or what shape. In any case you achieved a lovely soft light with a good, even spread that kisses the model. I like the shape and how the out-of-focus details leads us in to her. Technically strong without shouting about it. Well done.

There's a lot of positives here - a strong portrait, nicely composed and reasonably well exposed. I like the direct look, and I like how the walking stick has been framed. I like the sense of character we get but what slightly mars this for me is the quality of the light. It's very, very difficult to make something wonderful in harsh, direct sunlight that unless you absolutely have to do it, I might have been tempted not to bother. Early morning light (although you have to get up early) and late afternoon are the best and most dramatic light. I usually try and be under shade (which can be very dramatic) during the fiercest hours when the colour is at its worst . That said, sometimes we have to compromise and exposure wise (despite some highlights blowing) this isn't a bad effort. The alternative is to try and introduce flash as fill which takes some practice. Despite all of this, well done for a good effort.

This is cracking. I love the angle of the shot: so many 'street photographs' these days seem to be images of nameless, faceless, voiceless people walking past flat walls. This isn't that. Nicely exposed with lovely light, the kicker is the intimacy and timing. Firstly, photographers don't have to have written permission in triplicate to photograph people on the street. Nor do they need to 'sneak' images. Sometimes a smile or a nod is all that's needed: a warmth. Not always, but in my experience that kind of non verbal communication goes a long way. The best bit? The timing of the smoke. For me, the frame is shot a bit wide but it works. Delightful.

Monochrome here has been your friend. The image in colour might would have rendered the image a little complex and distracting. As it is, you have a very solid image of a woman, whose face is (a rather understandable) mixture of composure, boredom and perhaps a thinly veiled contempt. As a portrait however, this is graphically strong: I love the brutal vertical lines - but most of all I love the curve of the iron underneath her arm - like a musical symbol from a score. The direct gaze is arresting and her hand position frame her mood very well - both relaxed but additionally defensive.

There's a story here but I'm unsure exactly what that is. Clearly, the girls to the left 'lead' us into the figure of their mother but because they take up so much space they compete negatively for our attention. Sometimes a good photograph is about moving a few inches one way or another to find the most harmonious angle and this is a case in point. Well seen but keep pushing.

This is a nice and humorous image of (I presume) Christmas time. What elevates a photograph above a snapshot however is usually intent. Here the figures, not helped by the height of the background, are competing for our attention with what's behind, so perhaps a more neutral space might have been found. More, perhaps the framing (portrait) might have been better as a landscape to give more prominence to the figures. All that said, the image is fun - and with a bit more care, even the most pedestrian 'snap' can be improved.

This works as a photograph but perhaps not as well as it might. I like the angles of the pan and I like the exposure - but to really 'tell' the viewer what's happening, I need to see the hand(s) more clearly. That's likely about positioning yourself to give yourself the opportunity to do that - and establish some (at least partial) intimacy. Almost there, keep going.

Simple, straightforward and effective: a nice moment - but how to improve? Although the sky detail is still reasonably intact, I wonder whether a much lower angle might have made the figure more pronounced and captured the dandelion away from the tree line on the horizon? That way we might get a real sense of the dramatic (shot slightly from underneath) and that might have transformed a solid image into a really interesting one. Anyway, a good effort.