Advice please

Hi all,

This is going to sound like a strange request....

I really like this picture (!) and yet it seems that my taste is off! Other people do not seem to like it as much as I do.

I guess this calls into my mind whether I'm actually capable of objectively looking at my own pictures! This is of course a worry for me.

I would really like feedback-how others would have shot, cropped, edited etc.

Please feel free to be hyper critical-I'm worried that my eye is way off!

Many thanks

Adam

Hello Adam,

I guess I would post the uncropped version of it. Right as it is, I think it looks fine. I think the people that aren't that excited about it are viewing it from the stance "oh another Nemo photo". Since I've shot a few anenome fish, I find them to be an easy subject unless you're using a point and shoot camera. Your fish portrait is fine and is in focus with the little guy making eye contact. I think the anenome itself is a little bland. The background is not that appealing. But these are largely beyond control with the exception of maybe making the background black and I'm not sure that increases its appeal that much.

To bloviate a little more, I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you like the shot, why does it matter other folks don't. There are several photos of mine I enjoy that don't excite most folks. If you're thinking of entering a contest..by all means enter. Someone may take a liking to it just like you and you never know. So nice shot..

Gary

It is a nice photo however my immediate reaction is that it is hard to tell which is the subject of the photo. I believe if you had shot the clownfish more side on, it would have made for a more obvious story.

I don't mind the shot and see what you like in the compostion. Some minor things like mentioned above may take the image to the next level and make it more appealing to others also. The negative space is not a great colour in my mind. Not terrible but could add to the image if better. As mentioned the anemone is not the most colourful. Maybe some tweaking to the saturation may help bring it up a bit if it does hav a little colour to it. I like the subject offset just would like it a little higher in the frame to bring it out more as the main subject. Maybe a tweak to the angle of the subject and the eye on the right is not the most appealing. That said lots of these things are out of your control. But something to consider if you get a chance to shoot this type of subject again. Or, maybe you have one that has some of these features in your series. Others tastes may vary of course.

IMHO

Cheers

Todd

Just from my personal point of view, I would darken the image (it looks a little washed on my profiled monitor), also, I think it looks a little better with a slight bit more cropped on the right hand side (putting the clown fish 1/3 from the edge).....but hey what do I know :-)

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I'm glad (and relieved!) that others have found the image appealing!

The saturation boost, and the 1/3 crop seem to make the biggest difference to my eye.

Thanks again!

Adam

It's an elegant image, perhaps a little too subtle for the majority. The pastel shades are nice. I can't believe that anyone could fail to notice that the anemonefish is the subject...

Only the text spoils it, as it's too dominant.

Hey Adam

Lots of helpful comments. I thought I'd mention the framing. I really like the double (black and white) matt framing. Its a nice technique which draws the eye into the photo. I wonder though if given the gently pastely colours in the pic, whether a black frame is a bit too heavy. It might be worth playing around a bit with that.

Hi all,

Thanks again for the ideas and input. Although I don't have the immediate opportunity to re shoot this particular image, the great feed back I' getting here will REALLY help next time I get a similar opportunity.

I've played with the saturation and cropping a bit and really like the result:

I will have a play with the thickness and colour on the black frame.

Thanks all again

Adam

Nice job Adam, I think that that is a much stronger image now. The only nitpicking thing that gets me as I look at th image is the tiny pieces of backscatter on a couple of anemone fronds, just to the right of the fish and one top centre. a couple of seconds with the spot healing brush tool and all fixed (unless I am seeing things)

Tristan