Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
The first three parts of this critique are written based purely on examination of your photo. "Final thoughts" is written after reviewing your score, photographer's comments, and voter comments.
TECHNIQUE
Focus is great and depth is handled well, adding a nice three-dimensionality to the image. Works very well, IMO. The tones seem to be very mid-range without a lot of true highlights which gives the image a fairly gray feel, but I like it because it fits with the feel of old books and pages. I can almost feel the dustiness and smell the age. Nicely done technically.
COMPOSITION
It's an interesting composition, and I think it works. Books resonate with me and you've chosen a perspective for your composition that is unusual and not often seen. It highlights an aspect of books that is very dear to me, and captures very well the texture of the pages even down to the dust and fiber. Your pic makes me want to run my hand over these books; cradle them in my palms and feel the weight of the ages. I love your title too. Very poetic and thoughtful. I'm usually not a fan of borders, but yours is nicely understated. Usually the best I can say about a border is that it doesn't suck, and yours doesn't suck. Good job. ;-)
EMOTIONAL IMPACT
As stated, this image connects with me. I like it. Would the average voter respond in kind? Without some type of splash or pop, probably not. This is like a very narrow kind of study. Unless the average voter is a bibliophile or has some reason to connect with a close-up of well-aged books, it might not have sufficient impact to be a standout in the field.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Two thoughts: first, the lack of any photograher's comment from you is frustrating. Having spent time studying and trying to critically evaluate your image, it's disheartening to find that you didn't even supply me with any of your own thoughts; what were you aiming for? What feel were you trying to achieve? What is your connection with this image?? Please, when you request a critique, at least do us the honor of leaving your own feelings/frustration/etc. Second, your final score of 5.2 is a little disappointing; I would have thought this would have scored a little higher. You only gathered a few comments, making me think that most voters passed lightly over this one. One commenter (e301) did spend some time though, and touched on some of the same themes that struck me. |
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