Commons:Photography critiques/August 2012

Pulitzer Fountain in Manhattan

Pulitzer Fountain in Manhattan, NYC

This photograph is taken by me, this is my first image in Critique. I want to hear others opinion on this. Thanks. --Rangilo Gujarati (talk) 21:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

What do you want to know? The subject is centered and visible whole, but that's is about the only positive thing to say about the picture, I'm afraid. On the down side, it's badly tilted, unsharp and grainy due to sensor noise, has overblown white parts and a disturbing case of chromatic aberration (CA) visible on edges. I'd suggest taking it again, at a different hour when the sunlight isn't so harsh, with lower ISO setting to reduce graininess and a tripod to stabilize the camera. Then you can use a filter in your image editing software to take care of CA. — Yerpo ^Eh? 06:40, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

I added the sculptor and sculpture date. You must be very careful whenever adding a photograph of a sculpture in the United States to establish that the sculpture is no longer under copyright (this one is okay because it was first published before 1923). On quality: a low ISO would be better but may not be possible because you wouldn't freeze the water in the same way. However, this image would greatly benefit from either using a lower aperture or moving the camera closer to the subject, either of which would narrow the depth of field and separate the subject much more clearly from its background (the detailed tree leaves are very distracting and unimportant). If moving closer prevents you from fitting the subject in frame, consider a panorama. If you're not using a tripod, you should shoot a little wide in order to accommodate rotation in post - otherwise you may end up cropping too much. And yes, use software correction for chromatic abberation, or a different lens. Dcoetzee (talk) 08:03, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

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To add to the above comments, I find that the statue disappears into the clutter of the trees behind the statue.

With the background in focus, it draws the eye away from the subject of the photo, the fountain.

Using a smaller f/stop, perhaps a f/2.8, and focusing tightly on the statue would blur the background, bringing the viewers focus onto the statue.

PeteBobb (talk) 06:59, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Same statue a few years ago, following some of the above advice and avoiding some of those flaws. Jim.henderson (talk) 23:54, 6 July 2014 (UTC)