New Joiners - People #533

It's always tricky to expose for images where a single light source strafes across a face but this is a pretty nice effort. I wonder however whether, as is usually done, just a fraction of the other eye socket might have had a little light to suggest at least a partial symmetry? I also think that the brightest part of the light in the forehead is a tiny bit too hot. That said, this works - well done.

A very nice idea - I like the woman's head in the centre of the artwork somehow suggesting a sort of halo. The image has a pleasing symmetry but for all that it's a little underexposed - the blacks and shadows merging. That said, still a nice effort with a deceptively warm palette.

This is engaging and I think I get what you're trying to do but ultimately the composition means that I'm unsure what I'm looking at. Here. the subject and the background clash and one's eye is drawn rather too much around the details of the other dancers. If there was a little space between the girl's head and the rest of the frame that would improve this immensely. Sometimes the difference between a successful frame and one that isn't is just an inch or so that the photographer can move into. Keep pushing.

This is such a nice idea - the sunlight through the hat - or is it a curtain? It reminded me very much of Gueorgui Pinkhassov's photograph - Hotel in Akasaka area, Tokyo, Japan, 1996 (look it up). Ultimately however it's a failure ion two counts - it isn't sharp (although I might live with that) but the exposure's way out. Although I get tons of 'affect' with the image, these key technical concepts remain crucial to how we make images.

Sometimes captions and images work well together and sometimes, less so. My criteria is always 'show' THEN tell and here, despite an effusive description, the image doesn't really show what it purports to. The issue is that if we are going to show how most of the world lives we might try and do it in a human and engaged way. Next time, get closer and interact: be emotionally as well as physically closer and your photography will improve.

Dramatic and challenging - I like it very much. That said, there are obvious but easily fixable issues here. The drama comes from two things: the lovely deep blue and the lighting - but it's the direction and quality of that light that renders the image problematic. It's midday sun and right overhead and although I like the drama of the shadows, the eyes are almost lost (although I do like the shadow of the lashes). If we have to shoot at this time, a bit of 'fill' in the shadows - some sort of reflector underneath the face - even a sheet of paper that bounces the light back up would gently soften without losing too much impact. Well done.

OK - this is presumably a 'snap' - a photograph as memory. That's all well and good but how might we make an image that is additionally aesthetically pleasing? Well, if we have the time, we might direct the subjects to a more neutral space - like the plain wall - that is less distracting. That's all about thinking of the foreground AND the background. Even if we used the background as is, it's worth taking the time to make sure there's no one else walking out of frame... Worth considering for next time.

There's something really engaging about this: an enigmatic smile, delightful warm and soft light - but when we're this close, it's the details that matter. I wonder if we were to come a little closer to exclude the fringe and frame closer to the centre of the nose whether we wouldn't be forced, as viewer, to concentrate more on the important things that this frame suggests - the smile; the eyes and so on and be less distracted to the superfluous elements. Still an excellent frame.

Sometimes when we compose, we can see something interesting - a scene but on reflection, it's often better to make a decision about exactly what we're trying to ask others to see in our image. Is it the architectural details? The frame-within-a-frame, or the people on a damp London day? Although several elements are here they don't combine too well - but an idea of what you want before you press the shutter might have helped. Keep pushing.

There's something very engaging about this image but because it feels like the camera has controlled the exposure, it's almost like a negative - the highlights are rendered as show and vice-versa. Clearly the camera has exposed for the highlights leaving the shadows dense and undefiled. An exposure from the boy's face coming from the direction of the light would have made a more accurate and even exposure. Decent effort to see this however.

I have an allergy to seeing images of homeless people or people down on their luck without good reason, but this is a decent effort not least because there is some notion of dignity attached to it and exposure wise, it's pretty good. I like the balance of elements here (despite the crop - try and use all the viewfinder to compose in frame) - the dog and the hat are well defined and the chaps fingers make a pleasing shape. Well done.

This is, as the caption suggests, entirely joyous. What makes this a cracker is firstly the laugh of the child but above that, it's delightfully timed so that the elements - the fan, the hands and the background don't encroach on the subject but are harmonious with it. Nicely exposed and well-captured, this is an excellent image. Very well done.

This is a really interesting image and, although compositionally it isn't dynamic, it captures a genuine moment of warmth. I like that it's on one level, a simple 'snap' - just a few men sitting on a sofa (although with the exception of the guy in the yellow shorts whose foot you cut off, it's pretty well balanced) but what it does is what all good documentary work does - it explains. It shows in a rather gentle way how these people are living and more importantly the visual context of that life. Nicely done.