Reflecting on a few of my failures

I’ve seen some very nice posts on this site over the last couple of weeks, Scott Ferguson, Ibraar Hussain and myself even got to start critique about some posts, which I find marvellous. It is, for me, the way to grow, to learn, and try new tips from others.

One thing I haven’t seen yet is shots that should have been keepers but weren’t for some reason. I also haven’t seen much in the way of a dedicated form of criticism. Also, I thought this might interest you a bit.

I will present you a few shots, give you my point of view of why they failed and hopefully you will join me and give me your advice or thoughts in the comments. Good/bad, it doesn’t matter, what I’m looking for is constructive criticism. To grow from your experience, point of view, and your mistakes too.

What do you think?

So let’s start this adventure into the past with the first shot (at the top of the post above). This was taken with the Leica M240 + 35 Lux. For me it’s a no brainer: bad composition (look at the part of the chandelier in the upper right corner. The people are not on any point of the rule of third, eventually, I should have waited for the lady with the dog to be out of the picture (negative space) and the couple speaking, not him on his phone.  What’s your take on it ?

The second photo (below) was shot with an M9 Monochrom and a Cron 75 Apo. It was a cold day in Boston, with beautiful light, unfortunately no one in the street. I was attending a photo workshop.

So, I like the mood and lighting of the image, however the pole shouldn’t be there. If I had moved 2 meters to the right (and maybe advanced a little), that would have let the subject wouldn’t have been obstructed in the picture, and the shot could have been a keeper for me.

Next one. A nice reflection. I loved how she was struggling to choose and saw her arm moving, thus I focused and shot, as there would have been no second chance!

What makes it uninteresting for me is simply my own bloody reflection that messes the shot up completely. Imagine it without my fuzzy self!

For this next one, we were around 10 people, all friends of one or more in the group. The mood was cool, very dim light, it was taken with an R8 and the 100mm Apo.

Conclusion: Wrong lens. It forced me to shoot at 1/12s (which I wasn’t accustomed to at the time). I should have taken the 75 cron instead. Its widest aperture is f/2, which is a whole stop brighter than the 100mm. One stop can be a lot, and it would have given me better framing, better focusing, and an overall better picture.

The next shot was taken late afternoon, again with the 100 Apo and the R8 at f4. The down angle is simply due to the fact that he was stood on a stage.

Love the mood, however he turned his face whilst I was pressing the shutter release. If I had have practiced more how to focus with an SLR, I would have had the right moment! Also, a shot from the other side would have turned out better I think.

This next shot was a spur of the moment shot that captured this person step on the windowsill. I acted by pure instinct, and this was the shot I took.

With hindsight, If I were to have moved back about a meter and composed slightly differently, I could have had his feet in the frame and not the top of the window which feels much less important to the shot.

The last one is a recent one. Shot with a Leica MA and a 35mm Lux.

Wrong choice of lens, should have gone with the 75mm, as my subject here are the two little girls in the back on the right. Yes, I could crop, but there is not enough definition to do so, and even with resolution, they are not in the right place. My framing was for that little girl with a 35. Conclusion: I need to think more before shooting, shoot with INTEND and THINK before acting!

I learned the hard way to “kill my babies”, and I’m glad as posting these would have reflected badly on my page, and would not reflect at all what I am capable of. It’s as simple as that from my point of view.

What’s yours?

Cheers

Alex

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