Attached Link: LARGER IMAGE

Taken this past Saturday while taking a visiting guest sight seeing near the Port of Miami. Our tour boat was in motion so I did not have much time to set up the shot. Taken with my Olympus C-8080z. Please click on the link above for the full size image. -----

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----- Twice a week an image will be offered in the forum for honest Constructive Critique. This will be done on Monday and Thursday. The image to be reviewed should be posted in the gallery the day prior to the image being reviewed. If the image is not posted in time, the next name will have the opportunity to post. The image for Constructive Critique, will be posted in the gallery. Comments in the gallery will be disabled. A "sticky" thread be started and members of the forum will offer Constructive Critique on the image. There will be a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for any "flaming or trolling" posts. Any posts of this nature will be removed. As a reminder trolling is considered a violation of the Renderosity Terms of Service Agreement. We all agreed to live by these rules when we joined this site. This exercise is no different. Everyone is to behave as ladies and gentlemen. Any member who wishes to submit an image for Constructive Critique should contact pushinfaders via Renderosity site mail. He will be taking around FIVE names at a time. As this moves forward, he will post a notice for more names in the Photography Forum. He is currently looking for more volunteers. Anyone may offer a Constructive Critique in the thread for each image. Please, do not post things like: "HUGS....Fantastic Work....OHHHH....I love it....etc." Be specific about the image. Stay on the topic. Be honest, not mean. When submitting an image, please understand, this is to help all of us improve our work. If you think you may have your feelings hurt, please don't submit an image. One of the staff member will create the thread for the Constructive Critique, your job is to post the image. Thank you for your participation.

Okay, the thread is unlocked...time for critique! :unsure:

OK:)) I love the image:))))) for the mere contrast between the boats if nothing else::))).. I thought the title had THAT in mind, but never mind:))))! Otherwise (I'm not an expert at all but) I think you could have taken the entire first boat and skipped the bit of free see at the right.. not sue if that is constructive enough... nor whether it's of any help anyway:)))! I enjoyed the image anyhow:))! Thanks for sharing:)

So you mean moved the framing up and to the right a bit? Thanks for the feedback.

One thing that comes to mind in the whole "pull your eyes into an image" when using this type of perspective is that the vanishing point should (in a perfect world) end up within the frame or better still to one of the 3rd points (rule of thirds).  This is a personal observation btw - i'm not sure if this is convention, because i am self taught:

Personally i would have tried to get a wider angle if at all possible, giving a bit more of the scene on the left, if anything avoiding the closest boat... the perfect world would have another boat on the vanishing point (the red dot) facing a different direction, and thus would be the main focus of the image.

That is just one take on it.  I'm sure there are other points and even counterpoints to add.

That makes sense to me and your "point" is well taken, thanks for the input. I might have a wider shot from that day, but not with me at work. I will try to track it down tonight if the family gives me time -- just for comparison purposes. I know that I deleted a photo where I had zoomed in on the side of the closest cruise ship in favor of keeping this one. I like the depth of this shot, but I see how having that vanishing point wouls be a bonus. BTW, that middle one was the same ship I took a cruise on 3 years ago. Very nice. I wish I had given that rock climbing wall a try. ...okay, back OT.

HUGS....Fantastic Work....OHHHH....I love it

Just kidding :)  Kort, you have improved so much over the last year and I enjoy viewing your works.   You've put a lot of effort into improving and it shows.  

With this particular photo I would have made a comment about being here in Miami and on one of these cruise ships in the past.  It holds interest because I've been here and I like the POV but there is a lot in shadow here.  Think Inshaala made a good point with the perspective.  My eye is drawn to the smallest boat so the rest of the image is discarded by my eye.  Less of the nearest boat in the image would bring the focal point into the photo and, imo, be more pleasing.

I was on Soveriegn of the Seas :)

Voyager of the Seas. :'P Thanks Burpee, I appreciate the candor and insights. It is not always easy to think of all these things "in the moment" but it is helpful to hear them afterwords for future consideration.

I'll focus my critique on the subjective, emotional quality of the image this time. Right away, the image gives me the impression of being threatened by those huge vessels. It seems like a big wall of dangerous giants that's blocking my view and my safe way out. The fact that you caught the shadowed side may be of influence here (as if they prevent me from seeing the sunny side). The missing vanishing point (as Rich stated) could have given the image some breathing space, which I really miss at this point. That's the dominating impression for me: threat, huge claustrofobe 'walls', occlusion, blocking of view... I have no (emotional or other) bond with boats like this, so there's no prejudice (good nor bad). All I can say is that I don't get a happy feeling from looking at them. Although I have always found such boats impressive and fascinating to look at, that's not working here... on the contrary. Here they come across as very obtrusive and hostile, especially when they're lined up like that. Well, I tried to give some impressions from a different approach (emotional content is just one of the focus points of an image). I hope it can be useful in some way...

Yes, that is very help Geert. I think many people approach an image critique focusing on the technical aspects first and your emmotional approach is an eye opener. I do see what you mean hear and thank you for your insights. There is some sunlight in the image, but I am thinking from all the feedback that a crop with more breathing room and perhaps the colors made a bit 'happier' might serve to lighten the mood, so to speak, and make a more inviting scene.

Yes.. I meant to move it a bit more right and top, so that the contrast is even better...the tiny ship in one tiny edge, and the big boats, in FULL size, surrounding him from all sides... I guess I had the same emotional rush as Geert, though I wasn't feeling SO threatened (probably because I have no link with the sea and in general I don't like travelling on boats). It seems kind of funny to me... :)

Kalina

P.S. By the way.. what does "trolling" mean?

Thanks Kalina for that clarification. "In Internet terminology, a troll is a person who enters an established community such as an online discussion forum and intentionally tries to cause disruption, often in the form of posting messages that are inflammatory, insulting, incorrect, inaccurate, absurd, or off-topic, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others."

I checked my other images at home of this scene, but sadly I think this was the best. ;']

all I can say is the small boat gives perspective on how large the cruise ships are.since you were pressed for time on a moving boat a better angle may not have presented it's self but having the first ship in it entire profile to give better credence.some times one must grab a capture with out enough time to frame and hope for the best. when I went to Catalina, I was impressed with just how large they are

Hi, i like the concept but you need to raise youre camera up and get rid of most of the water, it does nothing for the image.  The line of the boats is good and interesting but you really need to have more of the first boat to fill the right side!!  iE: more image to the right and higehr up. And also getting the water level is important too!! Easy to fix with a crop.  My camera club friends sometimes tell me to have shoot at a wider angle and then crop in (later on PC) if youre not sure about the composition you want (assuming you have a high meg pix capacity)!!  Even a panorama might suit for this long perspective pic. Hope thats what you were looking for, cheers from louise.

Thanks for the explanation on Trolling:)!
For the second picture: I think it is OK, but I think all this open wide space on top and bottom of the picture makes the boats seem much smaller and less significant...it's more to show..."BIG they may be... but nothing's larger than the sky and sea" .. that's the feeling I get whe I check it in full size....and here you see only 2 boats of the same kind.. so it's more like a scenery of the port, than really comparison, ... that ofcourse doesn't mean it's bad.. it just gives a different feeling (perhaps I shouldn't judge it, since I've seen the first picture, so I'm kind of feeling I have to compare the two:)). I hope this is helpful!
Kalina:)

Thanks, yes, it is helpful. I'd don't think any of my shots quite got "it".

I think Inshaala is right about the vanishing point - we're led into the shot just great, but then our lead goes off the page ;-)

Along Girsempa's POV, I was at first amused - looking at the contrast between the teeny boat and the cruise ships all that came to mind was "Someday... I'll be a BIG boat and they won't laugh!" What might have sold it well is if you could have gotten a vertical shot of the little boat at the bottom left and a WALL of cruise ships blocking the right side of the shot. Again - the day and the moment frequently comes to the conclusion of "unnattainable for now".

If you wanted to have a manufactured image (that would achive the notion I just mentioned) you could move the teeny boat under the middle cruise ship and do a vertical crop - framed by the left and right sides of the cruise ship (cutting out all adjascent ships). A little head and toe room and you have a powerful shot of a mouse under a gorilla.

As far as the second shot, this is the crop that I ended up with. Would work better with a more interesting sky but -- "conditions of the day". You're there when you're there, and that's sometimes all you can do.

Good luck-
-Lew ;-)

Thanks Lew. I read photography magazines and so many articles talk about planning and coming back when the light and other conditions are right. That is great if you are a pro, or retired, or have all the time in the world. For most of us though, we take what we can get when we can get it and make the most of it. My gallery image today could be considered an example of that. I was visiting a park and happened across a torn section of danger line tape. The 'DANG' seemed funny to me so I took a photo or two. If I had been able to wait until near sunset, the cast shadows through the grass could have been more dramatic, but no, I had the moment and took it (looking back, I probably should have nabbed the scrap and photographed it later in a better location). It is a busy image, and the color was a distraction, so I converted it to B&W. Anyway, where was I going with this? heheheh....

I get the feeling that the horizon isn't level. The vertical lines in the ships aren't vertical. Just a small thing I noticed right away.

Yep...you hit that one on the head! :)