New Joiners - People #530

Although this is an engaging image, I'm unsure what it speaks to. Is this a portrait of one man in sunshine or three people? Sometimes, we need to be clear about what we're shooting and why. The light on the main chap's face is very bright - almost overexposed as the highlights are nearly blown - and the woman's face nearest to us in deep shade. Sometimes we are limited to where we can stand and make images and sometimes by the light. Concerts are tricky if we're static and I think that this frame might illustrate that dilemma. Don't be discouraged but use this image to think about what your next photograph will be 'about'.

This is such a potentially nice image... but if I hadn't been told that the second silhouette was someone taking a photograph, I wouldn't have immediately known - and that's the problem with making pictures of shapes - they have to be instantly recognisable. Nice exposure and a nicely balanced frame - and a bit of humour too. Keep pushing.

This is a nice frame and I'm sure one that will evoke memories but I'm unclear about exactly what you were trying to do. If, as you say you wanted the figure to go dark, well, by shooting into the sun you've sort of achieved that - but all the shadows are deeply underexposed and you've additionally attracted a great deal of flare at the top of the frame. Also the exposure in the water has blown the highlights and that becomes the focus of the gaze. Sometimes, the old adage about not shooting into the sun is worth remembering (although rules are there to be broken) because we often can't produce a well balanced exposure when trying to expose around it. I think that this is a nice idea but either a really more clinical exposure (likely from the water's surface) and some manual shading of the lens might have helped. Nicely see though.

Well, there is a really interesting image in here but it's buried within a frame that requires us to search for it. Partly the issue is that the figures are so far apart. The reaction of the couple is strong but is compromised by the other figures. Sometimes there's little we can do with that - and even shooting wide open would just accentuate the focus issue between the subject(s) themselves. It might be just a case of 'well seen' but better luck next time and hope that you might be able to capture that moment at a different time.

Nicely done. I like the subtle light on the figure - very low-key and Rembrandt-esque. A lovely pose too and one which highlights the wall behind him. Personally I'd have been tempted to not include the touristy street at all and concentrate on him - but this is well executed and well exposed. Lovely.

I think that this is a really nice frame but its limitations are exactly that which you point to. The waterfall is all highlights and sometimes with just natural light and an extraordinarily slow shutter speed that's just as it is. I think that this would be a really good opportunity to have a go at lighting - even with a single off-camera flash. That way you can control both the exposure on the water and on the model. Once you get your head around it, it'll transform your photography and you don't have to use it often... except - as in this case - where it would have solved a rather intractable technical problem.

I don't mind this - the conical hat framed by the bridge of the hawker's frame - a kind of picture in a picture. Nice colours. But... let's be clear, this is a snatched image. That's OK sometimes but you've seen it and you can do it. Now is the time to stretch what you can do and what you want others to see. I'm all for being quiet on the street and merging into the background but once we have this in the bag, it's time to try another approach. Talking, interacting or at least being closer - both physically and emotionally. Your photography will improve immeasurably when you push beyond the obvious.

I really like the directness of this. I especially like the cool tone and the contrast of the model's hair to the light green of the backdrop. The incongruity of the pose is interesting, but I think that the shadow between the torso and the arm is a little distracting. Sometimes it's the slightest detail that the eye is drawn to... Still, this is an excellent effort and an eye-catching one. Well done.

This is potentially a really interesting frame: a solid portrait and what I really like is the shadow that his hands make. Exposure wise it's very 'hot'n his face from the direct light above but there's just about enough detail to get away with it. Personally I'd have metered more carefully for the face and allowed the shadows to block up perhaps a stop just to get a more accurate rendition. Nicely done however.

Nicely done and simple. Decently exposed and nicely composed, the viewer can immediately work out what'a going on and the framing - through a clear shape - adds to the 'readability'. Overall, this works because it doesn't set out to be overly complex. Well done.

Nicely done. I like the framing here - the perspective of the street opening out and introducing the figure. The paving stones seemingly leading our eyes towards him. Monochrome seems to serve the mood here well and I like that he's slightly off centre and busy smoking. Melancholy and minimal. Lovely.

Well, this isn't a picture that is necessarily a great piece of art - but it IS significant. It's significant because it will become a memory (and by the sounds of it was taken like that). Actually - despite the 'washed-out look' of the iPhone process - there IS an interesting composition in here because you've chosen where to frame your nephew in relation to the other elements (the bin, the rail etc.,). However, for me, the idea of a 'family snap' is entirely relevant because of much allied theory that underpins it - what is a portrait (or for that matter, a photograph) for? Is it to remind us of what someone looks like - or was like? Is the image of them - or our perceptions of them? If you're interested, go check out Roland Barthes' little book, Camera Lucida and see what he has to say about the photograph he found of his mother and the memories that it evoked. It'll be worth your time. Thanks for sending in and jogging MY memory about what a photograph can do.

Well, this is nice enough - but how to make it more interesting? Rather than try and 'get everything in' perhaps you might have concentrated on details - their hands playing their instruments for example. Or perhaps one woman and made her the object of the frame. Just a thought.