New Joiners - People #566

What an interesting image. Despite the obvious limitations of 'correct' exposure, this frame demonstrates a real interest in finding different ways to make a photograph. In that I'm reminded of the work of Aleksandr Rodchenko, the Russian Constructivist who tried to subvert the bourgeois gaze in the early twentieth century by photographing from odd angles (often underneath). Keep finding interesting ways to make work - well done.

This image certainly works as an aide-memoire to an interesting moment - but it also very nearly makes a strong photograph in and of itself. The issue is really one of timing and light. I like the diaphanous dress 'floating' next to the historic monuments and on one level that works but how much better would it be if the sun was lower and more golden and crucially illuminating her face? Sometimes we can't plan for that so this is a good compromise. Well done.

A really excellent frame that not only captures movement but also nods to an excellent composition. I like the odd angle of the (cropped?) frame and it seems - along with the wiry clouds an almost abstract effort that emphasises line and shape. The separation of the figure from the scooter is either a fortuitous accident or excellent timing but either way, this is lovely.

I think that this is well seen in that there is an interesting image here in here - the lady with the ice-cream - but that is obscured by everything else in the frame. I think that work on the street like this needs to signal, at least in some measure, to subject and that likely means getting closer and engaging so that extraneous detail is omitted. You don't necessarily need to snatch a frame (although there's nothing wrong with that) and you could talk to people - but trying to 'catch' something like this from distance will rarely work. Keep pushing and try and experiment with your own closeness.

Full marks here for creativity and thinking in a lateral way. I love the framing and the angle of the corn inevitably draws us into the kiss. Sometimes, images are spontaneous and sometimes the best ones are thought out in advance and this is a good example of visualising what you want and executing it very well. Well done.

This is potentially a rather lovely image in terms of what it shows but that delicacy is lost firstly with the exposure and secondly., the pattern of the bed sheets(?). I really like the way - whether by design of accident - the smile is captured and I like the rather obscure framing of the figure. That said, the overall exposure is very 'flat' and I wonder whether if it was re-processed it might improve? Still, this is well seen and a bold composition. Well done.

This is an intriguing image and, although the illustration of the text is rather... literal, it's well conceived. My issue is with the exposure. I like that we can see the light, frame right and I even like the curve of the plug cord but the light is very strong and the highlights, as you suggest, have been lost. Although you've 'recovered' some of it I think getting the right exposure (and likely using more light (that could be off-camera) would be a more effective way of expressing your composition.

I think that this is a wonderful moment captured, but I'm sad to see it marred by firstly I suspect, poor exposure technique and then by post-processing. Sometimes the camera captures something special and if we're not ready perhaps it's best to leave it at that. In my experience, the more we try and visually impose things after the event, the less good the result. Still, it's a nice moment captured and a lovely memory.

Oddly, despite this being shot in South Africa, I was reminded when I looked at this of the work of Mike Disfarmer and the notions of his American Gothic portraits. There's something slightly sinister about the pose and the way the model 'rises' from the veld in an imperious way. Nicely lit by golden (afternoon) sun, the composition is balanced and her vibrancy is contrasted with the tall, dead(?) tree on the horizon. I think I'd have preferred a plain background but this is still a cracking image.

This IS a rather humorous image and I reminded of the work of Elliot Erwitt here. That said, I think that both the exposure and composition could have made this better. The light leak from behind the pillar, frame right, is distracting but that could have been solved by getting closer and excluding it (and the door, frame left) which would have concentrated on the mirroring between the woman and the vase. Still this is well seen and even if you cropped into the frame I think that you'd improve the message that you're trying to convey. Well done.

On the one hand, I really like this. A well exposed image that uses fill flash to lighten the model against a rather broody sky. I like the spacing of the street furniture but increasingly I'm bothered by the road sign (?) that's coming out of the model's head. I know that bending the rules is a good way to push your practice forward but in this case, it bothers me - if she was leaning on it, I could perhaps live with it - but I do ultimately find this distracting. That said, this is a cracking frame - (otherwise) nicely balanced and full of intrigue.

Nicely done. Panning, as a technique, can be tricky to pull off but this pretty much works. I think in terms of exposure, you're just about there - although annoyingly the white shirt just behind the cyclists has blown and I look at that first. Also I think that the frame is asking us to do a lot of visual working out: is that two men on the same bike for example? That said, this is a very nice effort and keep practicing the technique - which relies as much on background as well as 'action'.

Some images are all about feeling and this one has it in spades. 'Even though' it's taken on an iPhone (the next camera is the one you have with you) the exposure's not bad at all and the framing works well. I'd like a tiny bit more delineation between the passenger and the seat and the shadow (of another passenger?) ahead of him is a little distracting but this is a lovely frame. Well done.

Sometimes, simplicity is best. Here, although the frame isn't critical sharp nor framed evenly - I suspect a crop ("[I crop] for the benefit of the pictures. The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera." Eugene Smith) this is less important than the emotion the image projects. Indeed, the framing is interesting in itself: oddly balanced even though the face is off-centre but that is countered by the (half) circle of the t-shirt. Well done.

There is a picture in here and I can see why you pressed the shutter - but that evident glimpse of emotion is rather lost in the events around it. If, as I suspect, you were making the dancer's face the object of the image, then it needs to signal to that more clearly and be closer. We do that either by physically moving in (better) or by using a longer lens. Here, you've shot on a 50mm - which is a brilliant and much under-appreciated focal length - but it requires legs and crucially, anticipation. Sometimes we have no choice (and you say you were filming and took this during a break) but good photography is seldom mixed with other simultaneous media. Still, the frame IS well seen.