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Hector.O
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 10 15:47 - Edited by: Hector.O
Reply
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE WORKSHOP PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THE RULES BELOW:
1. Join the workgroup in this link: http://www.woophy.com/forum/12_4440_0.html . The of members list will be open all the time (to get in and to get out).
2. Each member of the workgroup agrees in being a critic for other members (not necessarily all them) and being criticized by the rest of members (not necessarily all them).
3. The main idea is to make a critic of a whole work from a photographer and not only of a picture. It’s aviced to browse to the whole collection of the photographer under critics (but it’s not obligatory, specially considering that there are some very large portafolios).
4. Nevertheless, a sample around 20 pictures selected by the photographer will be posted in the appropriate forum thread in order to highlight which pictures the photographer considers as the best examples of his/her photographic work. The critics will take specially these pictures into account, but all the collection can be browsed and used for the critic’s work.
5. All opinions must be accepted by all members, like it or not. The only limits for the critics is to be sincere, to be polite and to be constructive. This is supposed to be a workshop to learn... if you want flattery just have a look at the normal comments in your pictures.
6. All aspects of photography would be under critics: quality, quantity, originality, subject, composition, light, colour, white balance, edition, etc... But this doesn't mean that you must criticize all these things. Concerning the critics, you will find a very good summary in Miguel's blog here: ".Elements of Analysis
7. This workgroup doesn't intend to be an "exclusive club for experienced photographers". All members are wellcome, with all photographic levels... (If you don't know about white balance, depth of field, ISO, etc... just tell us "I like your collection or I don't like it at all and try to explain why with your own words...)
8. The strategy "you scratch my back and I scratch yours" is not accepted in such a workgroup... Let's be serious...
Now some ideas about the way to carry this out:
1st. Join the group in the forum linked before.
2nd. You will be in a queue and you will have to wait to your turn to post your own gallery in a new forum topic. There will be 4 members showing their collections at the same time for one week.
3rd. When it's your turn post a forum topic with the title: "CRITICS WORKSHOP: Member’s nickname gallery". In this topic you will cut and paste these rules and those written above and post around 20 pictures selected from your own collection. It would be nice also if you could write few words about your photographic work: what are you interested in, what do you want to transmit with your pictures, for how long you are a photographer... and whatever you think it’s important to consider for a critic.
About me:
I THINK I CAN "THINK VISUAL", BUT I'M VERY INAPT CONCERNING TECHNICS... I STILL GO ON PHOTOGRAPHING ON AUTO POSITION AND THEN I DO SOME WORK WITH PICASA AND HELICON PROGRAMS (FOR FRAMES)
I chose ten pictures from my worst rated pictures and ten of my top rated pictures for your appreciation:
IF YOU WANT TO TAKE PART IN THE WORKSHOP PLEASE READ CAREFULLY THE RULES BELOW:
1. Join the workgroup in this link: http://www.woophy.com/forum/12_4440_0.html . The of members list will be open all the time (to get in and to get out).
2. Each member of the workgroup agrees in being a critic for other members (not necessarily all them) and being criticized by the rest of members (not necessarily all them).
3. The main idea is to make a critic of a whole work from a photographer and not only of a picture. It’s aviced to browse to the whole collection of the photographer under critics (but it’s not obligatory, specially considering that there are some very large portafolios).
4. Nevertheless, a sample around 20 pictures selected by the photographer will be posted in the appropriate forum thread in order to highlight which pictures the photographer considers as the best examples of his/her photographic work. The critics will take specially these pictures into account, but all the collection can be browsed and used for the critic’s work.
5. All opinions must be accepted by all members, like it or not. The only limits for the critics is to be sincere, to be polite and to be constructive. This is supposed to be a workshop to learn... if you want flattery just have a look at the normal comments in your pictures.
6. All aspects of photography would be under critics: quality, quantity, originality, subject, composition, light, colour, white balance, edition, etc... But this doesn't mean that you must criticize all these things. Concerning the critics, you will find a very good summary in Miguel's blog here: ".Elements of Analysis
7. This workgroup doesn't intend to be an "exclusive club for experienced photographers". All members are wellcome, with all photographic levels... (If you don't know about white balance, depth of field, ISO, etc... just tell us "I like your collection or I don't like it at all and try to explain why with your own words...)
8. The strategy "you scratch my back and I scratch yours" is not accepted in such a workgroup... Let's be serious...
Now some ideas about the way to carry this out:
1st. Join the group in the forum linked before.
2nd. You will be in a queue and you will have to wait to your turn to post your own gallery in a new forum topic. There will be 4 members showing their collections at the same time for one week.
3rd. When it's your turn post a forum topic with the title: "CRITICS WORKSHOP: Member’s nickname gallery". In this topic you will cut and paste these rules and those written above and post around 20 pictures selected from your own collection. It would be nice also if you could write few words about your photographic work: what are you interested in, what do you want to transmit with your pictures, for how long you are a photographer... and whatever you think it’s important to consider for a critic.
About me
First time a get in woophy I did it in order to show everybody the beauties of Mexico, right now I do try to keep going with that and by the way share other kind of photos, I do like to catch life by the moments I live, I’m always trying to improve my skills, photo technicalities are important to me, but the most important is to develop the ability to transmit what a feel and see, I’m on the road, remembering Jack Kerouac?, so please tray to see a little bit ahead from technique
1. 
two girls
2. 
perspective
3. 
kids joy
4. 
Stairway to haven
5. 
Rufino Tamayo’s museum entrance
6. 
Sorrow
7. 
skiff
8. 
sunset
9. 
Bicycle, my on a window
10. 
Butterfly
11. 
boy
12. 
13. 
San Miguel de Allende city by night
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
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ortho158
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 10 15:57 - Edited by: ortho158
Reply
Hi Hector,
I nearly got an heart attack when I tried to post my reply, and it was refused because the forum entry didn't exist anymore. Luckily, the error message also showed my input, which I could copy. Phewww ...
What I really like in your pics, is the use of B&W and the importance of graphism.
On the other hand, I find that your conversions to b&w are not consistent: some are too soft, and others too harsh. About the composition: I think that you should pay more attention to the horizontality of your pics (2,6,7) and, even if you like to play with the DOF, I don't think that these experiments are always successful.
More specifically ...
 Strange compo. The bridge is not particularly interesting, and leads to nothing.
 my favorite (I remember having commented it a long time ago)
 I like the graphism, but not the empty sky. I think it would be better with the sky cropped out.
 I find the light too harsh.
  I like them both very much.
 The window (with your reflection) is sharp, but uninteresting (except you of course, but you are not very visible).It think that it would have been been better to pan on the cyclist.
   I don't like them. The compo with the butterfly is not very good, and the butterfly isn't sharp enough. I don't like colorized pics (but that's just my taste); the boy pic is an example of your experiments with DOF that I don't find successful.
 A good idea, but the boy is not sharp enough.
 The focus is on the metal fence, and everything else is blurred. I think that more DOF would have helped.
 I like it, but it is underexposed; you should adjust the histogram, whose right part is completely empty.
 This is one that I don't understand (another example of what I call the DOF experiments). I know that it has received a lot of good comments, but I really wonder what you wanted to show. I can't find where you took the focus: everything is blurred: the alley with the trees, and the man at the end.
I hope that you won't be mad with me ... If I hadn't found your pics interesting, I would never have commented them  And, anyway, you have now your opportunity to get revenge with my own collection 
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Hector.O
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 10 16:51
Reply
Dear Ortho
Let me tell you that a really appreciate your comments, that’s the idea, to have honest criticism, not get in to the popularity contests of woophy, comments like yours help me out to keep learning technique but most of all playing attention to details, I know technique have to be learned and forgotten in order to be natural, my budist way to live fits so good in photography, so, please don’t feel sorry, perfection is not a goal, it is a road, and with the help of positive criticism like yours for sure I will find the way, regards from México, Héctor
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TBM
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 10 22:40
Reply
Hi Hector,
you asked us to "be a little ahead from technique". But I am afraid that photography IS, first of all, technique...
The good news is that technique is not a very difficult issue. Just a matter of experience, and of havng time to read a couple of books.
The most difficult thing is having a good eye. Being able to spot an interesting scene. Finding the right instant to shoot. This is what I like in your pictures: many of them show that you are really looking for the "unusual sight". I like how you put the human figure in your street scenes - you are really near to the creation of a visual emotion in your pictures.
Pictures like nos. 1, 9, 11, 14, 15 (this one, my favourite!) show us something that goes beyond the plain meaning of the scene we are seeing.
The bigger problem is that almost all your pictures have a weak composition. Or, to be more precise, there are too many distracting elements in them.
"Two Girls", for instance: the figures against the reflecting water surface are an interesting subject, but they almost disapperar among all the other things you have let in the image - the bridge in the BG, the path on the left side, the trunk etc. I think that you should have looked for another POW and another crop.
Or "Kids Joy": well, I simply wish you let only ONE of the two kids in the picture! With two, side by side but not blended togheter in a strong composition shape, my eye keeps on going from one to another.
I might be wrong, but I think that the same can be said fom many other pics in your collection.
So, my advice is simply to follow the old wise rule: "less is better"...
Take care
Mario/TBM
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zoidberg
Moderator
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# Posted: 9 Feb 10 23:06
Reply
First of all, I'm very happy that Alain and also his comment are recovered from the shock!
After this:
Hola Héctor,
First thing I liked in your pictures was that you show with a very delicate eye your country, most of your pictures shows us people and places from México in a very peaceful way. I also like you usually choose b&w in your editions, anyway I see some of them doesn't have the right contrast (I have to thanks Abílio and TBM that noticed me this on one of my pictures, before that I never realized about this). So, I see same mistake on some of your bw editions, for example (with this picture I also agree with Alain's comment) and (more contrast would emphasize all the lines in the picture imo).
Another aspect that I think you can improve are the compositions, that sometimes seems a little flat as in  , (where there's also a little tilt and the light is too strong and makes difficult to see man's face).  where I think I would try a different pov, that I think it needs more space at left, or that has the horizon in the middle, so I would crop some sky.
I like this picture but I'm not sure if have boy's face focussed were better or not (in this style, I prefer ) and I also like this one but the sky is overburned, so maybe the crop suggested by Alain is a good idea.
My favorite pictures in this selection are (a very beautiful moment great cached)  (simple and wonderful. I also like very much your bw choice in this one, although I wonder how must look in color). This one is also very beautiful , as also this funny scene . I also like very much this one  specially because of the "harlequin" windows.
And as usual, I also like to post some other pictures from your portfolio don't selected, but that I like very much:  (you had a great idea with this color edition),  ,  and  (how to smile both with the face and the body, as I said in the picture comment)
Un abrazo! 
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la rafale
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 10 22:45
Reply
holà, Hector,
I don't forget you and will soon come here and comment your work ;
amisdades
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la rafale
Member
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# Posted: 16 Feb 10 11:23
Reply
Holà, Hector,
bueno, vamonos!
I will make a rather short comment because almost all was already said about your selection.
I agree overall about too many distracting elements in a great part of your shots although you can manage to show many situations and a lot of details specific to your country to see , for example in this, imo, very good  .
Yet, I must disagree TBM about your : here, i'm not disturbed at all, looking at each kid and "vice versa", on the contrary! for me, it's a perfect shared moment and you need to be at least two to share something (well, it could be one kid and the viewer but not for me).
Sometimes, your images lack contrast ( as previously said) anf here, for example, you lost the effect you wanted to show  . Nevertheless, you're able to do better, for example in this  in which the strong contrast enhances at the same time perspective and effect of the lady who seems to go out from the pic to meet us.
I read on one of your old posts that you "never touch your photos" but I see the adage " never say never" is verified in your case and its really good because, in another case, we would never see your excellent .
And, to conclude, I'll add that it's always a pleasure, even when they aren't technically excellent, to look at your shots, showing your beautiful country (hope I'll come back one day!) and its inhabitants, always with tact and respect.
amisdades,
brigitte
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Jan Hemels
Moderator
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# Posted: 21 Feb 10 22:23
Reply
Hi Hector,
Having visisted Mexico quite a few times I always watch you pictures with great interest bringing back nice memories with them.
My favourite picture is the childrens' portrait nr. 3. To me it is perfect and so overwhelmingly spontaneous!
Other favourites are 13, 20, 5, 15, 14 and 16 in that sequence.
Some of the other compositions are not so successful in my opinion. It is sometimes difficult to explain but Alain did a good job in that respect. I would suggest that leaving more room around your prime subject would certainly help.
On the burning issue (too much light) it is difficult to advise you as we do not know which photogear you use nor which software. In general I would say you should focus (if possible) more on the lighter areas to prevent this from happening, adding light is always easier than reducing.
Screening your portfolio for gems I would like to show:
 
Le deseo mucha suerte en esta maravillosa afición !
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Dieneke Boonstra
Member
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# Posted: 25 Feb 10 21:53
Reply
Hi Hector,
Your portofolio is a great document of Mexico!!! When I think of Mexico,although I've never been there, I see colours! So I am a little surprised how little colour you show in the pictures you choose for this workshop.
For example the first one, I really liked it better in colour.And I would love to see no.12 in colour, such a special place.My favorite in your selection is no.3: so spontaneous and happy.
The rest is for me not so interesting, because there are so many other pictures that let me see more of your country! For example:      
Hope to see many more photo's of your beautiful Mexico!
Best Regards Dieneke
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