Bad Pix

This is the 89th Carnival of Hurricane Relief. The first was hosted by Glenn Reynolds at the urging of Hugh Hewitt with the support of N.Z. Bear in direct response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in 2005. It also includes areas damaged by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma.

Hosts are needed! Posts are needed! Pictures are needed!

See the CoHR homepage for details.

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

Computers and communications gear are highly sellable stock photography subjects, but this specimen doesn’t get over the bar because of sloppy framing. Someone should smack the photographer and tell her to square up to her subject! (I guess I won’t hold myself responsible for the prevailing dark black color scheme — that’s the fault of the equipment designer!)

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

As part of ongoing tests, expansion, pokes, prods, head-scratching and shoulder-shrugs, I am testing software that provides an easy way to roll out an online shop.

My latest online shop has a section themed to each of my blogs plus a front page that allows me to feature a single item, according to whim or season.

The section themed to this blog currently features digital SLR photography.

You are cordially invited to visit, poke around, and let me hear what you think.

This new online shop is independent from the Bleape & Cackle Shop. You are also welcome to visit there.

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

This photograph tries to capture a feeling of work-in-progress that this painter’s pallette represented. That’s why the frame is not tightly drawn to the pallette itself but rather includes some of the workman’s clutter surrounding it. The attempt fails because the focus is diffused. The extra included elements aren’t all that interesting or compelling, and including them required also including the boring cabinet front and walls. Perhaps better to have staged the photo by placing the pallette on a drop cloth, with a wadded rag and a can of paint or thinner, maybe a corner of the cardboard intruding.

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

The blah and distracting background from yesterday’s photo is gone from today’s photo, so I can pick out other problems.

Ambient florouscent lighting was used, and it’s bad, although because ceiling light panels stretched to the horizon there are no harsh shadows. Attention is now centered on the optic cables, but the plastic wrappers create a distracting glare especially in the blurred-out background. Better to unwrap the cables before taking the photo. The top half of this vertically-oriented shot is left nicely blurred for possible use as a background for text — leaving voids like this should always be kept in mind while shooting stock photos.

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

The blah and distracting background sinks this photography. Attention should be on the piles and piles (and piles) of fiber optic cables. The viewer shouldn’t be wondering why the boring white wall and odd assortment of boxes were included in the frame. They shouldn’t have been!

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

Ha! Not another Christmas photograph!

Back to photo critiquing. I was trying for a stock image of hardware, which these metal connectors certainly are. But besides being out-of-focus and out-of-kilter, the photograph is also blah in just about every way imaginable. A more dynamic and inviting composition might have been to turn that plastic bin on its side, with the connectors spilling out… maybe a hand reaching for one to provide proof-of-life and scale.

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

This photo was taken at the same site as yesterday’s photo. I have returned to the gold glitter ball and bubble light from a different angle, fixing two of the problems in the earlier photograph. This photograph still doesn’t get a passing grade, though, because the gold garland slashes the frame at an odd place, leaving a dark corner at the lower right.

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

This photo was taken at the same site as yesterday’s photo. This is pretty well composed, except for that dark area on the far right. The sparkly garland isn’t overly obtrusive. It’s in focus. (I set the camera on a stack of books on a chair.) I would almost give it a pass — but in the full-size version the gold ball mirrors the photographer and her equipment, such as it is. The green ball does also, but not as clearly.

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)

Taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT.

This photo was taken at the same site as yesterday’s photo.

The composition has the right idea: shove everything to one side to leave room for overlays by a graphic designer, but the shiny gold garland gets in the way and the glitter ball looks speared or balanced by the bubble light. The other major problem is the overexposure of the bottom of the bubble light, in real life a mellow glow rather than the glare shown here. I exposed for the glittery gold ball, and got a raging run below it!

Ennnh!

(You are invited to explore my entire website — kick off your shoes, sample a cookie, flip through the photo album, stroll through the shops and check seasonal promotions and specials, read up on national and local news, sneak a peek at the latest inside information — stay as long as you like.)