From: caroleigh@c...
Date: Wed Oct 6, 2004 1:43 pm
Subject: Critique: CJ Middendorf (first 2 photos)
Mini Pumpkin Patch - What a terrific photo! The pumpkins stand front and
center, the lighting's good, the repeating patterns of the baskets are
good, depth of field is good (you can tell those are squash in the upper
right). How could the photo be better? Don't know about the nubby squashy
thing pointing in from the upper right . . . it's sort of out of context
with the other stuff (i.e., pumpkins, small round squashes). Had that
been three or so more round squashes, it might have been less jarring.
And what about the squashes in the upper right? Would it have been better
had you included the very tops of them, rather than cropping them down
the way you did? I don't know, really. All in all, I'd say this is an
excellent photograph. Kudos to you for finding fall color in San Diego.
Indian Corn and Pumpkins - I think this is what you were probably referring
to when you said the photo wasn't as sharp as you'd wished. Yes, this
one looks soft to me, from front to back. BUT. I think it's a very pretty
little fall vignette. The corn husks seem to cradle the pumpkins and there's
a feel-good essence to the photo. I'd say go buy a few pumpkins, some
corn husks, and create your own vignette like this at home and see what
you can come up with under more controlled conditions. This is a good
photo, and worth re-creating with a bit more sharpness.
U-Pick
Good photo, CJ! I like the repeating forms of the pumpkins, the clarity
of the sign and its jaunty angle. I also like how you placed the sign
up in the upper right third of the shot. The strawberry plants are a bit
dark, so if you'd not mentioned that they were in a strawberry field,
I probably wouldn't have noticed! How could the photo be improved? Perhaps
by lightening it up somewhat, although this could simply be a function
of various monitors. This is what I'd call a documentary shot, good for
stock photography, a story-telling marketable photograph. Nicely done.
Stacked Apples
Yes, yes, yes . . . I really like this one . . . for a number of reasons.
The lighting is bright but not harsh, creating highlights on the apples,
but not too much and no dark, distracting shadows. If what caught your
eye was APPLES ON DISPLAY, then you've filled your frame with just that
and as a result you've got an impactful photo. I like the repeating patterns,
the repeating colors, the various levels that the baskets are displayed
on. How could the photo be improved? Perhaps if the apples on the far
right had been dark red ones instead of the repetitive reddish/gold ones,
but that's such a minor point. There's a country rusticity here that's
really appealing. An ARTISTIC documentary shot. I wish I'd taken it.
Sorry I called you a gimp.
Carol Leigh
