Feel free.

[suci]

Tis still summer here.
Color; too much ? Not enough?
Composition; Off balance? Ok?
Theme; Why? Is it summery? Does anyone care? Nikon D90 Tokina 80/400 @ 400 mm F6.3 1/1000 sec.

[AlexShark]

Theme; Why? Is it summery? Does anyone care?

I very much care, Janos. And so I'll start from the end.

The theme is not self-evident from this photograph, so help me out. Why did you take this picture? Why at this particular moment? Why not just the reflection of the boat, with nothing else in the frame? Why not just water with nothing else? Something grabbed you there and promted you to release the shutter -- what was it? Would you have taken this shot if she was not wearing glasses, or if the boat was solid gray? I could understand the motivation if she were stark nakkid, but given what I see, I need to ask you the above questions.

Composition: there really isn't any, it is a tight frame of a floating object that can be neither improved, nor ruined (seriously -- cut everything off except the reflection and the photo will not suffer).

Rendition: since the style appears to be realism, the only concern is accuracy. Yeah, the colors, sharpness, etc., appear to be pretty accurate. Hot spot on the forehead, a bit of awkward lighting on her face with that bright spot on the chin. Other than that -- cool.

[suci]

Thanks Alex. You don't know that I have xray vision, so the question about my motivation is moot.
Seriously what grabbed my attention was the colors and the name of the kayak. They give some coherence to a theme of free spirited fun.
At the time in that place, that seemed sufficient.

[AlexShark]

Seriously what grabbed my attention was the colors and the name of the kayak. They give some coherence to a theme of free spirited fun.

Fair enough.

I think her pose is too tense, and even a little bewildered, to express the free spirited fun. Perhaps you have some adjacent frames where she appears more relaxed and, hopefully, the light falls more favorably on her face. In principle, these kind of shots should be made in burst mode until the buffer is full -- 5-6 frames minimum. Now that I don't feel like feeding a vending machine every time I press the shutter, my camera is permanently set to the burst mode. I also tend to shoot wider, since I can crop, but I cannot grow the missed bits.

To give some more fun to the theme, I'd try converting it to a vintage look and feel, a polaroid. It is a typical snapshot, so why not reinforce it?

[suci]

What you say is very true. A wider view would have shown that there was a bit of competition going on. She looked back because someone was catching up to her.
Of course none of that is evident, so burst mode would have possibly saved the day.
I always wanted to do some Polaroid transfer, but i doubt there is even paper for my SX70, but finding some software to do that may be worthwhile.
Alex I wish I lived in Chicago again. I would probably knock on your suite door, or enroll in one of your classes.
Teaching old dog new tricks? I don't know.

[drh681]

photoshop's smudge tool. work on a layer.

lots of things to play with in that toy box.

as for the image, it would make a nice enough product shot.

but as mentioned, the isolation and lack of interaction even with the water limit the appeal.

[suci]

Thanks guys. Nice enough shot for a sunday outing, but it sucks. Kind of what i thought. But i like it.
That should conclude my query for now.

[AlexShark]

What you say is very true. A wider view would have shown that there was a bit of competition going on. She looked back because someone was catching up to her.
Of course none of that is evident, so burst mode would have possibly saved the day.
I always wanted to do some Polaroid transfer, but i doubt there is even paper for my SX70, but finding some software to do that may be worthwhile.
Alex I wish I lived in Chicago again. I would probably knock on your suite door, or enroll in one of your classes.
Teaching old dog new tricks? I don't know.

Janos, there are some magnificent Photoshop plugins that can render polaroid (or other aged looks) to a perfect photograph. My favorite is Alien Skin Exposure 3: http://www.alienskin.com/exposure/index.aspx -- this one emulates every single flim, slide, and processing technique of the darkroom. This is what I use to convert to B&W or to age a photo. The product is very expensive. However... I upgraded to version 3, and I still have the complete version 2, which I will be happy to offer you at a nominal rate. PM if you are interested.

Right now I am in Fort Worth, I spend in Chicago about a third of my time. Plato Photo Academy offers workshops wherever I can find enough people. Would you like to plan a workshop in Austin in February?

[drh681]

Thanks guys. Nice enough shot for a sunday outing, but it sucks. Kind of what i thought. But i like it.
That should conclude my query for now.

Oh, it does not "suck", but it's not...

saying enough by itself?

[mrchile]

Thanks guys. Nice enough shot for a sunday outing, but it sucks..

Pretty girls never ... Uh, LOOKING AT PICTURES of pretty girls never sucks.The female form is always a work of art, no matter how it is presented.