New Joiners - People #602

This is potentially a wonderful frame but is marred by a nagging framing issue that is the exclusion of the boys' feet. A strong expression and entirely natural pose just cries out for as much space below as above and sadly that isn't there. An enormous shame because this is one of those images that despite a slight exposure issue, is potentially lovely.

This is clearly an emotional image but its impact is lessened by its framing and the positioning of the photographer. The central motif are the expressions on the woman's face but they fight for our attention with the passive faces of the rest of the crowd. There is simply no way around it - if we want to photograph something we have to move our bodies in relation to the object and here that would have meant being in a different position so that we could see at least part of what you wanted to show. Be brave and move - it's a risk that the image demands if it's strong enough.

This is a rather hypnotic image that is deceptively simple - but well executed - and which speaks to a non-specific nostalgia. What I like overall is the framing - a compact and straightforward arrangement that means the more we look, the more we see. The patterns of the hair are contrasted with the 'leading lines' of the models areas and her gaze is disarming. A wide aperture forces us to engage and this, along with a muted colour palette that speak to memory and pastness makes this a winner. Well done.

This is a potential wonderful frame - a caught moment nicely rendered in a pale colour scheme that focusses the viewers gaze on the face and its expression. It's so nearly lovely but the framing makes us explore the face to the frame's left which is a huge distraction. I think a portrait framing of this would have made the world of difference - even and including the red on the figure in front. Keep pushing.

The best photographs are usually the ones with a clear intent and here I'm left confused as to what that is. I presume that the focus is on the conversation between the two main figures. The issue is of course that what caught your eye in the first place isn't what the frame shows. When we compose we have to think about what we want to say but crucially how we want to say it: is the action obvious? Is the foreground compromised by the busy background? And here the answer is yes. The only solution is to change the positing of the frame by moving oneself into a position where there is a harmony between the elements. Have a think about the result before you press the shutter. Keep pushing.

There is an image here but apposite to any sort of 'decisive moment', you've missed it by pressing the shutter as the cook turns away. Sometimes that can work but here the figure is rendered doubly anonymous - the absence of the face obscures what he's doing and secondly means that we fail to 'read' the image in a familiar, human way. Next time, be brave and wait - make eye contact or just announce your presence.

The vogue for making images with the widest possible aperture has its drawbacks and one of them (as well as overexposing the background) is evidenced here. If you're not precise in your focussing, or you let the autofocus hunt, you're liable to undermine the very essence of the image by missing the critical focus on the eyes. Here, a really interesting image is diminished by this and there's no way around it other than nailing a precise focussing - and that might mean practicing. Good luck and keep pushing. It;s only by mistakes that we learn...

A delightful moment captured. This could so easily have been a 'snap' - an unfocussed image that although records a memory has little aesthetic value. However here, a careful exposure and an uncluttered composition has combined the aesthetics of a photograph with memorialisation - a really powerful statement. Well done.

Whether by accident or planning, this image is actually very engaging and compositionally really interesting. The photograph has the feeling of a caught moment - which I'm sure it was but the way the three figures are framed by the shapes of the others - and by the semiotic signalling of the fire exit sign - really elevates it. It has a bit of the feeling of a Lee Friedlander composition and all th better for it. Well done.

This is a dynamic composition, well framed and exposed with the hair colour a central feature. That said - and not to necessarily agree with Cartier-Bresson's aphorism about sharpness being a bourgeois concept - in this case, it does make a difference. In this case - and you can argue that mood supersedes it - the softness of the image is for this viewer, a distraction. It's a really beautiful frame but I can't help wanting the eye to be sharp. And annoyingly, it isn't...

This is an engaging and direct image that gives many clues not only to the life this man lives but his character as well. It's nicely framed (although I suspect cropped and is all the better for that) but its exposure if off. It's over-exposed by perhaps two or more stops. This means that the wrapping on the cigar (and to be honest, the wall(?) behind) is the first thing you look at. When we have time, as in this situation, an accurate exposure reading is a must - don't trust the camera as I suspect an overall reading might well have been fooled by the cigar wrapping itself. Keep pushing

This does what a portrait should do - give some indication of character (assumed or otherwise) - and this a clear, reasonably well exposed example of that. But it's crucially out of focus on the face which is the first point to which the viewer looks. Whether this is the result of autofocus hunting or camera shake, I don't know (there are no technical details given) but although it's an engaging image, it does undermine the whole enterprise I'm afraid. Nail the basics and the rest will follow.

Sometimes an image, despite its technical drawbacks works because of the emotion or the affect that it offers. This image is very nearly that. It's a strong composition that benefits from a striking figure, and the use of a wide aperture to blur the external world works well. However, I do think that if the highlights were even half a stop less exposed, you'd have a cracking frame here. Still a really good effort - but watch that exposure.

A great sports shot is not usually the result of luck but of placement and timing. This is a good example of that. Here, the action unfolds right in the centre of the frame and the resulting image is expertly timed and well exposed. Lovely. Well done - this is a self-explanatorily great frame.