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Viewer's Photos Critiqued: Part 4

Lesson 29 from: Taking the Fear Out Of Low Light Photography

Jared Polin

Viewer's Photos Critiqued: Part 4

Lesson 29 from: Taking the Fear Out Of Low Light Photography

Jared Polin

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Lesson Info

29. Viewer's Photos Critiqued: Part 4

Lesson Info

Viewer's Photos Critiqued: Part 4

Interesting. We have a dealer here. Lots of dead space. For whatever reason. Uh, in this case, I would like to have seen more of the table. It's awkwardly cut off, especially with all the dead space behind her exposure wise it's. Pretty cool, it's, nice light, but I'd like to see more of that table. Is that devil or evil or both? There's a cool shot. I mean straight down from up there. I want to see what this is shot at one one twenty fifth of a second to eight. Twenty eight millimeters with the twenty eight one eight at sixteen hundred. This works don't know where the focus is it's oh, snap that's called noise reduction. This is why I don't like the noise reduction. I rather see the grain than the sea. That weird thing on his face that this guy right here, the bass player doesn't just look awkward. It looks like it looks like a stained glass window. You may see it better over here than that on here, but it just has that feeling of a stained glass window. Just let this image live as a ...

grainy image. Because it's grunge it's the band is called devil, all right, I don't mind. I almost said black and white but because they're called devil it has a little bit of a red feel that that in context could work but taking away that noise like that I just that softens up the image and gives it that weird fake look in the face and also that's what cannons look like sometimes it's just that but it's the truth cannon handles and that's not a dig at cannon at all because cannons or fanta I've shot with the one d exit shows and that thing is off a shot the macklemore show with one d x anybody want to look up that video on my side? You can check it out and did a first person shooter from the pit putting the gopro on top of the one d x and shooting is the first time I ever shot that camera and was fantastic but know that both cameras handle things different cannon handles noise and grain one way and nikon does it a different way they know it depends on what you like, but I like that shot a lot. This is a nice live shot of something going on on the stage that works ok I don't mind that it's off to the side the rule of thirds here but if you're going to do that keep all the hands in there I don't want my talking to you like you shot the pictures you didn't but yeah I don't mind it I like the exposure I like what's going on you have the leading lines of the trusses of lights and by the way we know that these lights are terrible there led lights that just put out that weird lighting so I don't mind it I like that I like the processing I like the moment that was captured maybe a little more to the left so that we're not eating the microphone fully but definitely try to get their hands all in there this works good wow so yeah that works this is a good shot there's not much else to say when you see a good shot you call it a good shot right it works I like the guy in the background he's playing a key tar holy snap he's taken it back all right one sixteenth of a second f two point oh it's sixty four hundred aiken aiken dig this I'm trying to figure out oh this is a cup laying down I can dig this guy working I like the environment I love environmental portrait's we see the xbox in the back whatever this stuff is on the wall that says molson is that most a nice other probably canadian is that true? It is probably true though that they're canadian because who's going to put a most in ice on the wall if you're not I can I can dig this a zey as a nice shot for a photo story and environmental portrait, you have the light coming off the screen, which is a lot of times enough light to expose for the room, as you saw when we sat underneath the car and we used with jason hobby and his garage, which we did two days ago, you saw that we lived his face entirely with the iphone light that's, low light. Now, snapshot, um, I know why they left so much head room up there, but try to just put the fans in the photo at that point, get to get the composition better. It's a little over exposure is a little on the hot side. Too much light on her. But that's that's that I am not a fan of lens flare. You guys tell me what you think. Is it it's artistic it's personal preference? Go ahead, trevor, I think would be a little bit better if there's no lens flare thing that lens there just adds kind of an annoying, almost like a filter to it. And I think you'd be a lot better and clearer and good image if there was no one slayer. All right, I think the floor well, it's, not my personal taste, I think it works with the kind of hey, z field to the image in general to me it's when flare just comes out of nowhere but since this is clearly something you know almost voyeuristic where it's, looking through something terroristic did say voyeuristic where's looking through something and so it's a little bit like for me? Sure that's why it works I can I can feel that and that's not bad and I wasn't hating it actually, I think it's it's in a position that's good composition wise with the subject I think it's a little too tight her hands are a little too I think it's if her feet were closer to the bottom and there's a little more head room I think it would feel better it's all about the field it's not the worst thing in the world. I may want to get rid of some of this haze myself just by doing that and just busting through it a little bit and bringing that up a little uh it's all artistic preference I don't think it's terrible what a black and white do anything different either way, I think way pointed it out you could like it you may not like it, but there's there are there are positives to it s oh that's not bad at all you can hear me when I go like this but I'm just trying to figure it out I'm trying to get the context because it's hard for me to wrap my head around what it is but let's look at the exposure, the more I look at it, the more I'm actually starting to like it really the more I'm starting to like it because of the separation of the two colors and I like the tones on her face and I'm starting to like it it just took a second for me to look at it and see it she is a little more in the center but based off of where how much room is left between her hair and this I kind of dig it I'm liking this one actually it surprised me because at first I couldn't figure it out but the more I looked the more I liked it uh yeah it's ok it's not special it's not g love in the special sauce but exposure wise it's pretty close dude that's a kit lends it did it said kit lends so the positives aiken definitely point out are getting the exposure right with that kit lens and whatever camera it was a two four five this is good this is good for that this is probably one of those images you may want to hide in black and white or just get rid of the yellow actually, I think getting rid of the yellow is fine we don't have to hide it s o very nice job with getting the exposure right that's really important in a situation like this so I like that part just working on it let's try to pull back a little bit more you are thirty two millimeters a little wider somewhere around twenty two or twenty may have been able to get the whole qatar the whole guitar in there to make it a little better. I like this but I don't like the processing I'm just going to do what I kind of would have done and also I think that the microphone now I can tell he's not these definitely can tell if it's in focus or not but what do we think that first this or did I go too far somewhere in between all right, that comes down the preference but I thought it was too flat myself that's okay nick page that's fine that's a close shot filling the frame as much as you can from the front of the stage it's good it's fine it's fine, so nice exposure but a lot of it you could have the nice exposure you could have everything going on but if the if the subject matter is boring it's not your fault but sometimes the subject is what makes the image even better so with the bass player like this, if you're going to leave the base in the hands and there you got to get more of a minute. Ah, I just think that what this needs is more of the hands in the frame and that's fine there's nothing extraordinary, extraordinarily special. But this looks like a drummer. And I say that because we have looks like a ah high hat stand over here so it's fine, the exposure is good. The composition is nice, but in the context of it for an image to stand on its own I don't think it works standing on its own. I think we're looking at we need to see more of the drum kit if you want to showcase just one image, we need to see that drum kit and go from there. If this is nice, a lot of these day of the night of the dead type images tend to be in the black and white area, but the thing that gets me more is the composition is just is just off. Well, actually, the color pumped up is kind of better. Do you feel that to this needs to be centered more just the way that it's cut doesn't work oh, uh, that's funny that's interesting and I bet you they're playing l l cool j right now that's interesting I like the composition I like that I like what's captured I want to see what it's shot with real quick semi joining two point eight four two thousand nine s o one to fiftieth of a second it should be sharper than this but it's pretty good it's not bad at all it's not it's not the greatest thing in the world but it's nicely exposed ah the other there what do you feel about this guys I would say there really isn't a straightforward subject in it um it's really well composed when it comes to lining things up properly I mean the windows or the frame in the back is lined up really well with the windows in the front but other than that I don't think there's really a straightforward thing that really catches your eye with the image but I agree with you that's a good way to point that out because I was I was kind of lost and looks like it's focused down here on the bars but you don't really have much to go by that was a good good little critique right there okay I'm gonna have to make sure that this isn't zoomed in okay so let me go back to the other one now yeah I'm in I'm in I almost cursed let me go back a couple then no this this one was that okay? Okay. All right okay way call that a man culpa but but now it's much better everything you said was exactly correct and thank you I'm some somebody's at home yelling at the screen right now going you people are looking at my picture wrong, but at least we figured it out it makes a lot more sense I it's subtle if you now want to think what's going through this person's mind I love the dark areas around the edges of the frame it draws you into the light but delight isn't distracting you and the subject has just a hint of light on them. I don't know that they really need mohr because I think in whatever it is it's working yeah, yeah, normally I'm a big advocate of filling the frame, but in this one it's like because it's such a kind of mysterious moody shot like the darkness at the edges gives it just room to breathe and it just kind of wallow in that feeling I really love I really love this image, I think great I'm glad we fixed it because that looks good. Well, it was the kitty cat licking itself that couldn't have been couldn't have been a shot that somebody submitted and somebody actually picked just no on this image all together it's just a no so what could you do to be better? Because with critiquing, you can't just sit there and say things suck you need to give positive reinforcement on things that could be done better. So anybody out there that's critiquing other people's work and leaving comments on facebook and leaving comments wherever photos are it's one thing to say that you don't like it, but it's another thing to say, I may not find it interesting, but here are some things that could make it better just positive reinforcement on something goes a lot lot a much further way and people are very quick to be very to be judgmental today and just be negative, so try toe accentuate the positive well, that's a song? Isn't it someone I would think he's just saying that in elementary school, what could we do here? We could get the exposure a little better one one hundred of one point eight two thousand nine s so it's, just the shutter speeds too much here, so if we did bring it up and we did get the focus, right? I mean, the cat is licking themselves, which means they're moving so there's some motion going on there, we could just work on it. The framing the composition is ok, just we need to leave a little bit more ear room we don't like with fingers, this would hurt to cut off the ear, it looks painful to me so we don't want to cut the ear off like that just come up a little higher and of course the cat probably moved in it was framed right? And then it was framed wrong that's all right, bass player move a little bit to the left framing so that the bass player is centered a little bit more if we're going to stick with the blue color. I don't know that I hate the blue color so much because I think the black and white would just be pretty plain actually think that the blue works better in this image in particular so it's just that in his framing yeah, color again, it works better because you can see the red and the response to write and so add some more context. Where is the black and white took away from the overall image so again, there's certain images that do work in black and whites are in images that don't work in black and white hey, now I do not own one of those shirts. What was that shirt? Well, no it's not really sure things just changed its really void of color, so this is one of those images images that I don't leave it in color because it would just go to ten we could go to town on the black and white here is it should be grady and grimy all right, that almost makes up for the composition issue of it being too much headroom, but we also know that shooting shows you don't always have control of everything. This is a one in eighteen to one o five kit lends a nice job with that, so this I think, is much better in black and white color blacks. This makes it go boom and that's not just because it's, black and white disguise and he's screaming into the phone he's like this is my phone and I will scream into it. But it's not that good of a shot. Why not one of the two, seven hundred it's just I don't think it's sharp it's, not sharp, and also you can see the noise reduction again. You see, it doesn't show well over here uses and you just see it because you don't see the grain. I just if it's more in the glasses, if you guys could see the people at home probably see this better because they're seeing exactly what we're seeing. You're seeing it on the tv this right here it starts to look like one of those one of those paintings, the watercolors it starts to look like a water color image if it starts to look like a water color image that's that's why I don't like it. And and it's it's, not sharp. You can't make up from getting it out of focus. If it's out of focus there's nothing you can do to fix it because I don't advocate the lytro like I said yesterday, and that could never shoot in a concert venue anyway. So this is this is noisy and grainy. I don't this is the op, is it of it? I don't hate it, but I think we can definitely hide the noise and grain somewhat my going this way and brand doing this also, if you do the clarity that's going to accentuate the noise more same thing, if you do the whites and definitely if you do the shadows, but this is where it was when we started and there's a lot of noise introduced into that in his flat and then just tightened it up like that. I think that works and that's how you get away, that's, how you get rid of that haze a lot of times, it's just pump up that contrast and the haze goes away. You'll see that when you're shooting outside sometimes, yeah, hes might have come because it was originally darker, and they tried to lighten it up a little bit, and so maybe that's, because they wanted more of the detail in outside, maybe. It's possible because this isn't haze from like a smoke machine I just think this is processing haze but this is what I would have done to the image myself they still alive in there russ very much so guts assed arjun there who his saw their images coming up in there shaking in their boots the shaking in their boots don't do that okay all right all right this is uneasiness doesn't look like it's going to be fun one wo wow that's good I mean so they didn't date they are not afraid of low light photography and they're not afraid of bumping their eyes so bumping your ia soto four thousand to allow yourself to get twelve thousand one twenty twelve one twelve fiftieth of a second exposure was a pretty smart idea knowing that this was going to happen because they're able to freeze it they're able to make this happen they also don't have noise reduction it's pretty sharp for what it is this is the forty millimeter twenty four to seventy two point eight l can inland this works it's just at the processing is lacking and it's also a little too it's not tight enough you feel that it should be a little tighter all right let's see what it would be a little tighter before we jump in what do we know which image is the person that was just scared? No okay, we'll go like this so that's a little better compositionally expose exposures fine it's just in a situation like this there's not a lot of light that's going to be dynamic I don't know that black and white is going to save it and I also don't like the crop I just did because it I want to leave a little more head room for her but I'm not gonna go well I can guess I could do it they're better more headroom thank you makes me feel a little better is this better or is the color better guys? Because this is trying to give it some context this is just flat snapshot and this is saying hey, I made a black and white for some artistic appeal hey, don't go with that either one I don't think she's in focus on three twentieth it's close it's just that's very hot do that that it's ok composition wise it's fine there's just not a lot of interest going on and she's a little too glowing in the face that's a good moment captured see when you're looking for some emotion this is capturing emotion it makes the image that much better. I want to see what the what it's s o aperture f four because look at the background the background becomes pretty prevalent those street signs the streetlights air in there it is not super distracting here but it could be more distracting in the future are we out of two hundred here? Nowhere out at seventy if we're out more two hundred we will compress that even it f four I don't mind it it's pretty cool especially shooting from the stands because this is definitely a stand shot that works that works nice leading nice nose room where is normally have head room this has nice nose room I like that like the lights and the reflections in the eye and I like the exposure so that one works very well either she's really tall she can't be that tall right? She can't be that tall I don't know if the tree is in focus or they're in focus because they're definitely not sharp and a lot of this lack of sharpness here comes from the back light you'll find that in backlighting it's very hard to get your focus locked on it just gives it to feel that it's not the hand her hurt her her huge hand on his head is kind of distracting if she brought the hand down maybe put it on the shoulder it could be better, says she's, blocking his whole face that's a good shots a little smaller on the screen here because it was submitted that way but compositionally it's it's sound I love that they kept the light the blue light up up top you have a separation of the blue of the separation of the red that all works pretty well. I'm pretty happy with that shot right there. Not happy with this shot because you don't have the face. This is just not one of those keepers exposure wise. Absolutely. Yes, it's very good for that. But other than that it's it's you gotta wait for the right moment, anticipate the moment that's coming and then capture it. What is this first off? It's captured very well to freeze the motion. We don't have any information if I had the guest guys, I'm going to tell you that this is a screen grab from a website because it doesn't fully have uh it doesn't really have the full border, so somebody may have taken that from a website so it's a good shot but I don't know that it's actually an authentic shot it was just calling it out so yeah, so this looks this is all right. I know it's not really all right, a little on the tight side, but but but having the two guitar players in, they're not really cutting everything off. It doesn't hurt maybe come down with level, but this could be a horizontal shot this could be one of those better thing, so this is a mic in the mouth shot rappers are one of the hardest people to photograph because it's all this it's everything is this. Macklemore is always like this. So you have to find and try to get to the side to hopefully not get a mike in the mouth shot. Exposure wise, composition wise. This is spot on editing wise. It seems to be spot on it's just the moment. Yeah. It's a church of sorts it's in there somewhere exposure wise, but other than that, this is another one of those png files. I don't know many people that say well anyway, screengrab it's, just the exposure we need to work on the exposure also, make sure your lines and levels or straight you can see that the floor is a little cock eyed here. I like the colors in the hughes. It just needs some work with the processing birthday cake shot. Very nice. Nice to get the exposure right on the face. Here that does look good. Using the candles to light it up that works of what is this? Why is there? What? Oh, that must be the person's watermark. That's star. You see that star? You got that star right there, who's moving the mouse oh, that's me, it's the laid up there, uh, all right. That's all sorry the person that I just said all right this is fine not a great moment captured exposure it's ok but it's again it's part of the moment not really captured too well this person has a mic stand coming out of their head it doesn't work because of that and and the and obviously the exposure is being thrown off I would venture to say that it was in in some sort of auto mode and it's being thrown off by this can up here in the corner no, not nothing in this photo draws me in there's really nothing I could say to make this any better pull back try to get it in focus yeah that's what I have to say it's a fine straight shot it's okay maybe black and white for them he's got his in your monitors out and he's checking his pac that's what's happening whenever you see somebody doing that they're checking the pack to make sure the volumes there because they probably hurt their ears with the monitor this is fine from the side this is that rapper shot is eating the mike from the front but you're on the side that's going to be a much better picture the tones, the lighting everything about as much better maybe a little tighter but I would live with this the way that it is that's fine it works but we need the bump this exposure up we need to get in here. We need to say hello, you know, that's just that was just an exposure exposure change it's it's all came it came from or life in post processing very low light situations, so the exposure isn't that far off. This is nice in terms of that. Getting that exposure just made needs to be a smidge bit brighter and the composition is pretty far off. We're not in focus were in focus right around here. This is a very shallow depth of field. We don't see what the exposure is colors or nice, we just have to get something, sharpen the image to make it work uh, nice logo on the shirt actually like that we just need some we need something in the face we need some more of the light brighten it up yeah, and I don't wanna go too far to get the grain but I'm going to venture to say that that's going toe bring this image tio life even that even if we want to stick with their color it's still much better when we just bright ended up couple more shots here that's okay? I don't know that anybody's in focus, though we need to get somebody and focus on that one drummer shot I don't know if I know that guy that is a strobe effect going off you see that that's? How you get the drumstick? That za strobe effect with a flash that's pretty cool it's a nice little effect that's going on there but we don't have a good look on the drummers face sparklers dangerous for kids. I was never allowed to play with sparklers cause a fire. This looks like an acapella group. I think that works. I like the framing here. I like the fact that the lead singer's there the two people are out of focus next to them, but it creates a nice triangle there exposed very well. Nice black and white. I think it pops the mic is off to the side enough. I like the reflection in the glass is I like being able to see everybody that they're singing too so that's a pretty cool shot. I really like that one. Is that anthony key? This? No, no, not enough tattoos. Just trying it's tough when you're shooting from the from a crowd it's very hard to tell you what to do differently from the crowd that's why we try to get into the pit. Just bring down the level when you're working with the crowd with one tip I could give you is go horizontal because work with the hands don't have so much dead space up top the way that you what I rather have silhouettes on the bottom of people's bodies and hands in the air that have the dead space up there and not have any interest in the image. They must work out. That's. Nice, it's, soft, that subtle, nice lighting. I think that works.

Ratings and Reviews

Rusty Shinault
 

I'm a huge fan of Jared Polin; love his humorous and relaxed style of teaching. I love that he's passionate about photography, and that he is willing to share his experiences, opinions, and knowledge. I really enjoy Creative Live classes, and really enjoyed watching Jared teach in front of a live class. Hope to see more of Jared teaching on your platform.

user cf5d2d
 

Jared did not disappoint! He shared his knowledge of composition, exposure, and capturing the moment - all while engaging his audience and keeping things light and fun. I absolutely LOVE when how he sets up his equipment so that we can see each snapshot he takes, and then tells us why it's a good shot or why it's not a keeper. It's so easy to learn that way. I'm a second grade teacher (a.k.a. an educator) who, thanks to Jared can call myself a photographer. Jared is a photographer who is also a great educator!

a Creativelive Student
 

I've seen a few CreativeLive sessions and this was one of the best. It was very unique and engaging I liked the onsite shooting and review and critique. I have done teaching and I know how hard it is to teach WHILE you are doing and I think Jared did a great job of balancing that. I'm quite familiar with his FroKnowsPhoto podcast and website so I knew what to expect and both HE and CreativeLive EXCEEDED my expectations. Thanks much also for letting him use use studio for Raw Talk on the Road (my suggested name for it), I could see a real opportunity for CL to provide access to their facilities for others wanting to record training, etc.

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