It's been quite a while since I've done a full commentary, so here goes:
Tim Conway
All three are appetizing images, although I don't much care for the severe
cropping of No. 2. I might leave out the fork on that one; so little of it
shows that it seems an intruder.
Savageduck 1
It's a catchy image and well rendered, but it's a food picture only by
inference. OK but not great.
Savageduck 2
The black bar (part of the case, I guess) wrecks this colorful and decently
composed image.
Savageduck 3
An attractive presentation, but a bit overtruncated at the top. It needs a
glass of white wine (fully visible) in the upper right corner. And the rest of
the silverware.
Chemiker 1
A good idea, but I don't think it comes off as well as intended. The glass and
the bottle don't relate well, an effect heightened by the fact that the lower
part of the glass isn't visible.
Chemiker 3
A well-executed picture whose interest is magnified by the detail of the back
story. But, Alex, if you had spilled that coffee on the scarf, I wonder if
you'd have lived to show it to us.
Frank S 1 & 2
Someone once said of Oakland, California that "There's no 'there' there." I
have a similar feeling about these pictures, particularly the first one. It
isn't really obvious to me what we're supposed to be looking at.
Frank S 3
Yeah, I guess; but at least straighten out the verticals in the center. Some
images are improved by tilting; this is not one of them.
Alan Browne 1
Good color and content, but unlike at least one other commentator, I don't
think the moving hand and spatula are a plus.
Alan Browne 2
Martha and I are not in full agreement over what's a mushroom and what's an
onion, but this is a very nicely executed picture. One of the best of the set.
Alan Browne 3
What's the point of the low DOF? I'd like this picture a lot if all of it were
in focus.
Kurt P 1
The picture is OOF, and that matters a lot where the points of the cake slices
come together. The eye is drawn to that point, and I find myself squinting to
try to take it in.
Kurt P 2
This one also has focusing issues, but arguably not where it matters as much.
Here the problem is truncation: the eye is drawn to the part that's chopped
off. The effect is exacerbated by the fact that the picture's background is
the same color as the display surface.
Kurt P 3
My wife says that's basil and that the bowls evidently constitute an herb
garden. Here the selective focusing is used to advantage and helps make the
picture work.
Dan Petre 1
An interesting idea supported by good composition. But there's no reason for
any of this picture to be OOF.
MG Cake
Good color and technique, but I don't care much for the composition. The
cartoon characters compete for attention, and the cake appears in danger of
being dragged out of the picture by an unseen hand.
Chemiker 2
I have no idea why I like this one, but I do. The elements don't go together,
and focusing is problematical at the top (and at the bottom too, though it
matters less). But the reflection in the pendant is moderately interesting,
and the colors work together really well. Some will probably hate it, but not
I.
Otter 1
Surely nobody with only two hands and one mouth could possibly deal with that
monstrosity, but the picture isn't bad. The foreground and background work
well together, and the non-Siskerized sky is handled with aplomb. I might not
have truncated it quite so close at the bottom, but that's a minor quibble.
Bob Flint 1
A feast of calories and cholesterol. The picture is nicely rendered, but
doesn't say much.
Bob Flint 2
See Bob Flint 1, although the steamed vegetables, at least, are less of a
heart hazard.
Bob Flint 3
Technically correct but carelessly cropped. The chicken is very appetizing,
but the picture, like the others, says little.
Tony Cooper 1 & 2
Neither of those guys strike me as friends of yours, but you might be able to
outrun them if they were to object to your depiction of their considerable
girth. You say you prefer to include people in your pictures. I have to say
that these two pictures do little to justify that preference.
Tony Cooper 3
Quite simply, the best of the lot. What's not to like? Tony even bought the
model's lunch, which I'll bet he didn't do with his other two pictures.
Martha Coe 1
The caption got lost in the shuffle, but I guess it's obvious that these
denuded cobs and shriveling husks form the bottom layer of the summer's first
compost pile. Martha reads articles on composting and actually does what they
say to do, with very good results most years.
Peter Newman 1
Maybe the iPhone's camera isn't up to the twilight conditions, but this
picture looks murky and oversharpened.
Peter Newman 2
OK, forks. I guess they evoke the notion of food, but the picture doesn't say
much.
Peter Newman 3
A pretty good attempt; but the picture doesn't look quite level, and the
background is distracting.
Bob Coe x
Who? Me? I didn't make the cut this time. Late Sunday afternoon, while mowing
the lawn, I finally decided to try to capture an apple tree that blew down in
a hurricane last fall and which I haven't had time to reduce to firewood. But
all the pictures I took were terminally boring and will be consigned to that
great recycling bin on the desktop. I'll try again next time.
Bob
Similar Threads
