Helpful Critiques #4
Fearless Photographers founder Huy Nguyen and Tyler Wirken share their thoughts on anonymous work submitted by photographers in the Fearless community.
[ Tyler ]
This photo is by the same photographer. Pretty much the same issue, right? But just flip-flopped. Whenever you're given shapes, you really need to think about getting all of this shape. Like Sam Abell said: "it's either going to be all in or all out."
I don't know if that's necessarily the case for this but you've got all these round shapes - on the ground, outside of the tire, the wheel, the inside diameter... This would this feel better if it was a little bit looser. The photographer can take one step back and wait until the tire is in the center of that other round arc in the background. So it's arc arc, arc arc, right? And then you have those legs coming in. I think that that would make it feel better just because of the completing those shapes.
It's got great potential. Compositionally, the elements are there to play with, but now you just have to shoot through the moment and pay attention to the shape of that tire and then shoot through all of it. And then you can decide if you can let go of that shape or not, but if you don't have it, you can't get it back.
[ Huy ]
I don't think we need the right side of the tire. It's just nothing. I'm quite okay with this crop of the distance between the right side of the frame and the toes. That's fine. And actually I appreciate not cropping into the blue at the top. It's shot down so there's a super clean background. The thing that I would want is for the kid have a better moment - to laugh, or a better push - just more body language to look like he's working harder or having more fun. We only can hope that it happens and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.
[ Tyler ]
Exactly. I was just thinking about that because you and I are always like - we need more moment. And then it's like "that didn't happen." But again, you at least got to wish that something more is going to happen. That way you are in front of it and know that when it does happen, that's what you're needing in the picture.
Everything is there for this photo to succeed and it is a successful picture. It works. It's not like a throwaway picture, but to take it to that next level, you gotta get some sort of an expression off that kid. They probably did this for quite a few times. So you just sit there through the whole thing and just shoot the entire process of them doing this because you know that it's got potential, that it's something good. So that's when you commit to it and shoot through it.
[ Huy ]
Maybe the photographer knows this. We are just reaffirming something people know already. Yeah. But if they didn't know it, now they know to reach for the best. It's important that you know it so that you know what to reach for next time.
[ Tyler ]
Even where the thing gets away from the kid a little bit, like maybe, the swing gets away from his hands.
[ Huy ]
I see. So almost the tip of his fingers. Like he's almost releasing it or something.
[ Tyler ]
Yeah. Or you've got the bottom half of the legs and then maybe just his torso in the side of the frame with his hands reaching out just to make it a little bit more kind of crazy composition. That could be interesting to play with as well.
And that's why we keep shooting through it - to get that little bit of a difference to see if that might take it to a different level.
[ Huy ]
And then the tire would come back and then the kid would be going to the left and who knows what can happen?
[ Tyler ]
And who know? Maybe he's dodging the tire and laughing...
[ Huy ]
That's cool. I like those. Those are fun. The families photos are fun to give us a break from the weddings. Hopefully we'll get more of that and we can do more. People are photographing a lot of families these days so I would imagine so.
Thank you very much, my friend. Yeah, that was good. Thank you everyone for watching!
