'Cause I'm the taxman! But rather than having the image be the Beatles protest at a 95% tax rate, I reinterpreted the lyric to be the traumatic experience of sharing candy unevenly.
Bounce flash. Curves, cropped, some reflections and wood inperfections cloned out, small amounts of dodge and burn. Resized and USM applied.
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Place: 225 out of 273 Avg (all users): 4.8093 Avg (commenters): 5.4000 Avg (participants): 4.5435 Avg (non-participants): 4.9576 Views since voting: 1126 Views during voting: 365 Votes: 257 Comments: 11 Favorites: 0
This is your entry in the 'Beatles Song/Lyrics' challenge. It definitely fits the challenge. You've chosen very readily identifiable lyrics, and actually a clever concept for the photo, and your idea is conveyed nicely. Your technicals look fine, even lighting, good focus, etc.
I noticed your goal on your bio page, and took a look at your past challenge entries. So, I hope you don't mind, but I may kind of talk in generalizations here, that are applicable to not only this shot, but in general to a lot of your challenge shots. Please keep in mind, this is just my humble opinion, and you may place whatever value you may like on that :-)
I can see by your shots that you have a fine grasp on the technical aspects. Focus is good, exposures are fine, even lighting, dof, basic processing adjustments, etc. What I'd really like to discuss is subject and composition. I feel that concentration in this area could make a considerable difference in your scores. I see from looking through your entries, you have some very cool, creative ideas. This shot, Bulb, and The Emperors Shoes, just as a few examples. There are some though, that do seem to be lacking some excitement and inspiration, so to speak. A lot of times, even mundane seeming things can make for great, interesting images, if presented with a little 'passion' if you will. Some advice that a person gave me once: "If you want to photograph something, there is a reason why you want to photograph it. What is it about this 'thing' that YOU find appealing. Shape? Color? Texture? Emotion? what? Define that, then find the way to photograph the thing that shows to the viewer what you feel."
In a lot of your photos, the idea, the subject is presented in a very straightforward approach. Here is the subject, here is the shot. Ok. We can take for expample, your taxman shot here. A creative, fun concept, but there is lacking excitement, and dynamics. What kind of things could make it different, more interesting? Perhaps in this case, adding a little more context? Instead of haveing the hands cut off in the frame, and seeing just the candies, get more, or all of the model in the shot, wearing a shirt and tie or suit, with an evil, greedy, 'taxman' look on his face :-) Shoot from a more stimulating angle/point of view. Instead of going with even, flat lighting, make use of some dramatic lighting and shadows. Just some ideas here.
A thing that has helped me greatly in my photography, is to not just view, but really 'study' the photos here at dpc. Look at top scoring images, images that you find really interest you, that you like looking at, analyze why you like it. What makes you want to look at it. Check out the poor scoring shots, or images you don't care for. Why is it that you find them weak? What makes them 'not work'.
The 'good' images are not just good subjects with positive technical merits. Really delve into them and you'll see the excitement, the interest, the dynamics I'm talking about. You'll see interesting points of view. Shots from down low, or up high, sharp angles, out of the ordinary views, that are not just eye-level stand there and take a quick shot. You'll see incredible uses of lighting and shadows to create drama, or tension, or mood. You'll see strong, dynamic compositions. True, rules of composition can be broken and make for incredible images, but they are called 'rules' for a reason, and they generally just 'work'. You should know and understand composition, and take it into account without even thinking about it while shooting. Things like the rule of thirds. Leading lines. The golden mean. Repetition. Triangulation. Centered, and off centered subjects. Perspective. Balance. Negative space. ...and so forth and so on :-)
I think if you are serious about wanting to produce high scoring images, with your technical grasp and creative ideas, that if you apply a little bit of studying, and dive into yourself, find the way to put some 'excitement', some 'verve' into your shooting, the potential is there and it is very possible. I hope this at least provides you with some food for thought, I look forward to seeing your shots in the top of the pack :-) If you have any questions, or comments or anything, please feel free to contact me.
A good choice of lyric, but to really make it fit perhaps you should have used coins. Also, as it's the "Taxman", he should be seen wearin a suit, not a checked shirt. ;>)
Very funny. And, original. I'd like the photo better if you hadn't cropped so tight on the candy, but had cropped out (or rolled up) your sleeves. Minor detail, I know, but those are the ones that count.
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