SI: The Road Less Travelled comments - Calvin Sambrook

Hi everyone,

Here are my thoughts on this month's SI, as usual there are some great
shots.

road.jpg: A cracker to start with, the strong lighting and harsh shadows as
well as the pure sky, the composition and the detail in the rocks take this
from being a snap to a photo. Terrific.

RLT-End of the Road-TonyCooper.jpg: I love this, it shouts 'spooky' at me.
I particularly like the desaturated colours which combine with the
overhanging trees really well. The composition is great too with the road
slicing across the bottom third. Well done.

RLT-Road Closed-TonyCooper.jpg: Well it fits the mandate but for me this
isn't such a great shot. At a technical level I think Tony has managed to
control the DOF to leave just the right amount of sharpness in the
background to draw the attention to the fence and signs while still leaving
the background clear enough to add to the message. I'm not at all sure
about the composition but then I don't suppose there was much opportunity to
ask them to move things!

RLT_Alan_Browne_3.jpg: I don't get it. For me there's too much confusion in
this shot, the background is too sharp and has strong components which mask
the foreground. The composition is strange too and doesn't draw my eye to
any individual part. Oh and I don't see how it fits the mandate, but that's
probably just me.

RLT_BobCoe_1_old.JPG: I quite like this and I don't really know why. The
flat sky helps along with the desaturated look. The triangular composition
is so simple, it really forces attention onto the complex, jumbled
structures on the right. Nice.

RLT_BobCoe_2.JPG: I really don't get this one. My eye get's dragged off all
over the place, the pipes, the backs of the people, the ladder. I simply
don't know what it's trying to say. Oh, and the verticals aren't.

RLT_BobCoe_3.JPG: This is so simple and I don't really think I'd call it a
great photo but I do like the way the Do Not Enter sign has been made to
physically block the road. Doing that and putting it on the third was a
great idea.

RLT_MarthaCoe_1_old.JPG: There's no enough 'punch' in this for me. The eye
height camera position and the centre position of the car as well as the
relative size of the car add boredom factor. Imagine if it was shot from
very low down or from very close to the wreck - I think it would look
better.

RLT_MarthaCoe_2_old.JPG: This feels imposing which is what is intended I
guess. I like the way the gate is used to divide the shot into roughly
equal thirds. The fill flash (it that's what was used) makes the sign stand
out which draws attention to it immediately. I'd have cropped the
distracting gap on the far right though.

Road-Savageduck-01w.jpg: A great shot, the energy and tension portrayed in
the model's stance are fantastic - the head down adds determination and I
think those clenched fists contribute far more than there fair share of
impact to this shot. The muted colours and the choice of using camo gear
work well too ass does the general composition.

Road-Savageduck-02w.jpg I quite like the lightning and colours but this is
just a snap to me.

Road-Savageduck-03w.jpg: This is all about the composition isn't it, the
gnarled and twisted trees hinting at the twist in the track - very nice.

RoadLessTravelled Alan Browne 1.jpg: ? An interesting shot but not for me
I'm afraid.

RoadLessTravelled-Alan-1.jpg: Call me boring but I just see a snap here.
What am I missing?

RoadLessTravelled_Alan2.jpg: Now this is a photograph, the composition is
great, the colours are subtle and yet still interesting and the smooth roll
between the various elements perfect.

SI The Road Less Travelled.jpg: Some idiot forgot to add their name - Oh,
that was me - sorry! I would have preferred a more plain background to this
shot but this was the best I could do - every other angle was worse. The
American War Cemetery in Cambridge (UK) is kept in perfect, crisp condition
and sadly has thousands of crosses arranged like this. I chose a day which
was bright but not sunny as I didn't want lots of shadows confusing the eye
and I over-contrasted a little to burn out the whites and remove detail to
make them more uniform. Hopefully the mower lines in the grass add to the
impression of a road curving away into the distance, this was the only one
like that. It's hard to tell from the photo but these crosses are about
waist height but the camera angle is intended to make them more imposing and
hopefully trick the eye into thinking they are above your head.

road_Tim_Conway_old.jpg: This could have done with something to imply
movement, maybe some blurring or cheat a bit and smudge the tyre pattern in
post. I like the camera angle which draws attention to the tortoise while
still making it look insignificant but I guess that gave rise to those nasty
reflections on the windscreen, too bad. A nice compositional touch to
offset it all to the left and have the tortoise heading to the right, it
implies he has a long way to go yet!

rtl_bowser.jpg: I nearly submitted a church shot for The Road Less Travelled
too. I like the rich colours in this and the clever use of contrast and
shadows along with the stark frontage really works.


Once again, I hope I've not been too nasty about anyone's favourite photo
although looking back over these comments it seems I like at least one
submission from everyone which is a relief!

On 2009-07-20 06:52:58 -0700, "Calvin Sambrook" said:

Hi everyone,

Here are my thoughts on this month's SI, as usual there are some great shots.
---------------Le Snip-----------------
Road-Savageduck-01w.jpg: A great shot, the energy and tension portrayed
in the model's stance are fantastic - the head down adds determination
and I think those clenched fists contribute far more than there fair
share of impact to this shot. The muted colours and the choice of
using camo gear work well too ass does the general composition.

Thanks for the comments.
This abandoned service road leading to a long gone TV relay site does
pretty much meet this SI mandate. I immediately thought of this road
when the "Road Less Travelled" mandate was announced.
The hiker in the shot was hardly a model. I was on the road heading up
the hill looking for the right shot, when I noticed I had a fellow
traveller coming up the road behind me (sort of ruined the idea of
"less travelled"). We talked and I learned he was a retiree hiking to
work on his fitness in preparation for a Montana hunting trip later
this year.
When we went our separate ways, the shot of him heading up the road
just seemed perfect for this SI.
As to his selection of camo for his walk that day, who knows? He was
probably trying to "live" his planned hunt.

-----Le Snip----------


Once again, I hope I've not been too nasty about anyone's favourite
photo although looking back over these comments it seems I like at
least one submission from everyone which is a relief!

All comments appreciated.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

Calvin Sambrook wrote:
Hi everyone,

Here are my thoughts on this month's SI, as usual there are some great
shots.

Thanks for the detailed and thoughtful comments! I finally got it
together & did likewise for this round.

left un-snipped below

road.jpg: A cracker to start with, the strong lighting and harsh shadows
as well as the pure sky, the composition and the detail in the rocks
take this from being a snap to a photo. Terrific.

RLT-End of the Road-TonyCooper.jpg: I love this, it shouts 'spooky' at
me. I particularly like the desaturated colours which combine with the
overhanging trees really well. The composition is great too with the
road slicing across the bottom third. Well done.

RLT-Road Closed-TonyCooper.jpg: Well it fits the mandate but for me this
isn't such a great shot. At a technical level I think Tony has managed
to control the DOF to leave just the right amount of sharpness in the
background to draw the attention to the fence and signs while still
leaving the background clear enough to add to the message. I'm not at
all sure about the composition but then I don't suppose there was much
opportunity to ask them to move things!

RLT_Alan_Browne_3.jpg: I don't get it. For me there's too much
confusion in this shot, the background is too sharp and has strong
components which mask the foreground. The composition is strange too
and doesn't draw my eye to any individual part. Oh and I don't see how
it fits the mandate, but that's probably just me.

RLT_BobCoe_1_old.JPG: I quite like this and I don't really know why.
The flat sky helps along with the desaturated look. The triangular
composition is so simple, it really forces attention onto the complex,
jumbled structures on the right. Nice.

RLT_BobCoe_2.JPG: I really don't get this one. My eye get's dragged off
all over the place, the pipes, the backs of the people, the ladder. I
simply don't know what it's trying to say. Oh, and the verticals aren't.

RLT_BobCoe_3.JPG: This is so simple and I don't really think I'd call it
a great photo but I do like the way the Do Not Enter sign has been made
to physically block the road. Doing that and putting it on the third
was a great idea.

RLT_MarthaCoe_1_old.JPG: There's no enough 'punch' in this for me. The
eye height camera position and the centre position of the car as well as
the relative size of the car add boredom factor. Imagine if it was shot
from very low down or from very close to the wreck - I think it would
look better.

RLT_MarthaCoe_2_old.JPG: This feels imposing which is what is intended
I guess. I like the way the gate is used to divide the shot into
roughly equal thirds. The fill flash (it that's what was used) makes
the sign stand out which draws attention to it immediately. I'd have
cropped the distracting gap on the far right though.

Road-Savageduck-01w.jpg: A great shot, the energy and tension portrayed
in the model's stance are fantastic - the head down adds determination
and I think those clenched fists contribute far more than there fair
share of impact to this shot. The muted colours and the choice of using
camo gear work well too ass does the general composition.

Road-Savageduck-02w.jpg I quite like the lightning and colours but this
is just a snap to me.

Road-Savageduck-03w.jpg: This is all about the composition isn't it, the
gnarled and twisted trees hinting at the twist in the track - very nice.

RoadLessTravelled Alan Browne 1.jpg: ? An interesting shot but not for
me I'm afraid.

RoadLessTravelled-Alan-1.jpg: Call me boring but I just see a snap here.
What am I missing?

RoadLessTravelled_Alan2.jpg: Now this is a photograph, the composition
is great, the colours are subtle and yet still interesting and the
smooth roll between the various elements perfect.

SI The Road Less Travelled.jpg: Some idiot forgot to add their name -
Oh, that was me - sorry! I would have preferred a more plain background
to this shot but this was the best I could do - every other angle was
worse. The American War Cemetery in Cambridge (UK) is kept in perfect,
crisp condition and sadly has thousands of crosses arranged like this.
I chose a day which was bright but not sunny as I didn't want lots of
shadows confusing the eye and I over-contrasted a little to burn out the
whites and remove detail to make them more uniform. Hopefully the mower
lines in the grass add to the impression of a road curving away into the
distance, this was the only one like that. It's hard to tell from the
photo but these crosses are about waist height but the camera angle is
intended to make them more imposing and hopefully trick the eye into
thinking they are above your head.

road_Tim_Conway_old.jpg: This could have done with something to imply
movement, maybe some blurring or cheat a bit and smudge the tyre pattern
in post. I like the camera angle which draws attention to the tortoise
while still making it look insignificant but I guess that gave rise to
those nasty reflections on the windscreen, too bad. A nice
compositional touch to offset it all to the left and have the tortoise
heading to the right, it implies he has a long way to go yet!

rtl_bowser.jpg: I nearly submitted a church shot for The Road Less
Travelled too. I like the rich colours in this and the clever use of
contrast and shadows along with the stark frontage really works.


Once again, I hope I've not been too nasty about anyone's favourite
photo although looking back over these comments it seems I like at least
one submission from everyone which is a relief!






--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

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