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I’d like you guys to do a few things:
1. Tell me what you think of the photo.
2. Tell me what techniques you see used here (like rule of thirds, open aperture, fast shutter, etc)
3. Tell me what post-processing you think would be a good idea for this photo (if any).

Remember to play nice or your post will be deleted and your involvement in this group will be considered for termination.

(Its a good idea to click the images link and view it in full before critiquing!)
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The Fast and the Pigeons II
by: Zeanana

Shot with Canon T90; Kodak Film ISO 400 :c)
I placed the camera on the ground and had it on slow shutter speed. We pretended to have some breatcrumbs and waited for the pigeons to gather around us. Once they were there, my friend clapped loudly so they would sore. I pressed the shutter, right into the pigeons.
I hadn’t completely focused on the buildings, more on the pigeons in the foreground, meaning, the buildings aren’t tack sharp – in the beginning, this picture was more an accident, but now I actually think it works better that way as it adds to the seemingly chaotic motion of the birds :)

:) Hi Jim,
Thank you so much for adding this picture here! I am absolutely thrilled!
I do have a tiny tripod, one of those cheap aluminium wobbly ones and found that my hand is steadier than this tripod. Ridiculous ;) ...
A new tripod is on my wishlist and probably about 2 – 3 years down the road… we’ll see :D
Focussing with the T90 is a tough issue ;) me being horribly short sighted and the T90 not having an Autofocus G
But I see your point; If I ever manage to go back to Venice, I will try and set it up again, this time with varying focus points (and a digital camera with more room to experiment) ;) ...

Thanks for your words and I am looking forward to hearing more from all the other peers here!

I see the point of this photo. But I also see that it was an accident. That was my first impression upon viewing it, that it was caught on accident. Now I see you did set it up to some point but got something different than what you wanted. Personally, I wouldnt have been pleased with this outcome and would have worked to get what I was looking for. Thats not to say that this is a bad photo or that you did it wrong, I just think you could have done it better. (Please please please dont take that the wrong way, I’m actually telling you I think you are very good and this doesnt hold to your standards!)

I personally have not ventured into slow shutter speed photography. I was waiting to use it during my husband’s track season (he’s the high school track coach around here). I think maybe I have been putting it off because I dont know how to capture it right. That could be very well true. I need to play around, liek you did here. I commend you on that!

SO I cant give you any technical advice as I really havent done this myself, but compositionally, I can tell you what I would rather see here….

See the large chunk of pavement in the very front and a little to the right too? That’s negative space to me. Unnecessary.

I would like to see the two birds in the front that are in focus the most to be the focal point, in the lower right corner, then have this cropped in length wise instead of width wise (do you knwo what I mean there? Is there a technical term for that?). I would like those two birds on the lower right point of the thirds and the yellow flag on the upper left of the thirds.

I think adding a focal point and lessening the unused space will make this piece a little more poignant, give me somethign to direct my eye to. As it lies, I feel that my eye goes all over the piece (which may or may not be your directive), I kind of get lost in it and move on because my brain isnt focusing on it.

With that said though, thats always a subjective thing. Someone may really like chaos in their art where others my need a distinct focal point. For me, my mind gets too confused when theres too much to take in, but to others, their mind might be delighted to take in every little detail.

So if I havent confused you beyond belief here, then I hope I’ve helped slightly! Again, I commend you on trying something new and experimenting around. Good for you!