critique please

[cdiver2]

I really like this phot but feel I could have done better ( lighting )
Nikonos v 90 at f22 velvea film, one ys60 strobe at about four feet.
Geting closer I know would have made a big difference but at the time this was not a option, he was comeing up towards me and I was decending towards him and I had the feeling any seconde I would need a macro lens to get a photo of his tonsils. Looking at the photo now I think I should have gone for it.
Feel free

 

[Dee]

What a great view! You get the feeling he IS coming at you. I don't know that you would have had time to do anything different.

 

[boney]

Nice shot!!!
You may be able to touch up the lighting a bit with PhotoShop or a similar product...

 

[cdiver2]

Dee after looking at a lot of your photos your praise gives me hope. I was thinking of starting a thread of photos that could have been good shot except for operator error what do you think ?.
boney thanks to you also, I did have a go in photo shop 7 but I could not get the results I wanted. I dare say a expert in that field would do a lot better than me, Im at the age now were puting a message on the answering machine is a struggle

 

[Dee]

It's always good to get an honest critique on your photos. But in order to get that, you'll need to supply more than the photo. We would need to know the EXIF info...f/stop, exposure time (shutter speed), lighting used, even depth it was taken can help us in determining if something else could have been done. So include everything you know about the photo. The EXIF reader that I use is a free download if you want to try it....EXIF reader

You'll need a thick skin! Some folks have all good intentions when critiquing but it may come out more like a slam! So take what is said in the manner it was intended, nat neccesarily the way it sounds. (which is true of anything over the net!)

 

[cdiver2]

Asbestos pantys on. This shot looks soft on the focus to me but everyone says its ok ?.

Details. Nikonos V, 20mm lens, 90th sec at f11 Velvea slide film.
YS60 strobe on TTL aimed from the left, depth 35ft. scanned at 600dpi. Location Gulf of Mexico.
Thanks
David

 

[James connell]

f11 from 4 ft away on iso 40 film- hmmmm.

fstop = GN / 4 for iso 100 film.

your about 2 stops to dark - if the ys60 is around 30 ( as i remember)

30/4 = f8 (rounded up) but you lose 1 1/3 stops for the slower film so 5.6 would be just about right on. even photoshop can't put detail in that isn't there! print film *might* have stretched this far but i it would have not been a big diff.

this is a case where TTL would probably NOT have done any good. subject filled less than 1/3 of the frame against a (basicly black) non reflective background - the sliver side fish could have caused an erroniuos reading too.

 

[Dee]

Your exposure looks good, JC's math supports the tech side of it. But it is slightly out of focus. It could be as simple as your were just a touch out of focus range with your Nikonos.

For the composition, I can't decide if you want to show a reef scene of if the damsel in the center is the subject. You've got the damsel almost dead center and too far away if that's your subject. For a wide angle of the reef, I'd still like to see the damsel either off to the left (since it's facing right you don't want to crowd it) or out of the picture altogether.

 

[cdiver2]

James what I had forgoten was that I had the asa set at 100 = -1 stop there ( I do this a lot but I just forgot about it on this shot ) I have just purchased a seconde strobe ys30 duo to use in the slave mode, Do you think if I had put a diver above the subject aiming the strobe down and towards the rear fo the fish the results would have been any better ?.

Dee the idea at the time was to have the fish in the middle and the reef as a back drop but after reading your post I think you are right and it would have looked better had the fish been of to the left.
Thank Guys its appreciated.
David

 

[Dee]

Composition can make or break any photo. Yes, the technical stuff is important but how many perfectly focused and perfectly lit photos have you seen that just did nothing for you. In fact, there was something unbalanced...just not right about it. 9 out of 10 times it's the composition. Same token the other way. You can have a slightly out of focus photo just knock your socks off because the composition was perfect. That's what makes a photo 'speak' to me. The soul of the photo as some call it.

To learn more, get Jim Church's Guide to Composition. I think that's the name of it. You can also work through Dave Reads Photo Instruction website Dave has a way of explaining things that makes them a no brainer! He may still be a film dude but so much of photography doesn't matter whether it's film or digital.