Embedded Files
MMS 173 Assignment 2:
General Assessment
General Assessment
I'd intended to look at all the linked e-portfolios as I believe it's the best way to truly, fairly assess the overall ability of the class, and to satisfy my own personal curiosity (and data-gathering tendencies) regarding the prevalence of certain photographic subjects. However, I'd only managed to look through 129 portfolios, in reverse-chronological order of the self-introduction posts - 387 photographs all in all.
I think most of the class has a decent, at least intuitive grasp of the basics of composition and design. If I were to pinpoint a specific principle that needs the most improvement across the board, it would probably be emphasis, especially when I'd noticed that the most popular subject - consisting of 138, or about 36% of the total pictures - were environments: buildings, hallways, streets. These, I think, are the most prone to looking aimless without intention on the photographer's part, especially when they lack natural leading lines. Outside of environments, sometimes the "point" of a picture would be lost because of competing elements de-emphasizing them: awkward compositions where the subject is not quite following the grid, or obscured slightly by a different element, or colored such that it blends in with its surroundings.
When it comes to technical skill, I believe the strongest portfolios belonged to Aaron Ezra Cruz and Prince Jairo Paglinawan (unsurprisingly, considering they are among the number of professional photographers currently in the class). To my eye, their work are on par with Prof. Al's.
My three favorite portfolios, however, stuck in my memory because the character in their shots resonated with me. First, Ckiah Keil V. Balubal, as I enjoyed the sensibilities their portraits showed: a celebration of queerness and color. Second, Elvin Marco Loja, because the three choices of subject matter, especially with Pain is not the Answer, Faith is (depicting a hand holding a candle, covered in melted wax) communicated faith and warmth so authentically to me. And finally, the one that I enjoyed most, Eroll Dave Clemente's - for being so memorably creepy. Perhaps it's just my own personal love for horror (especially understated, urban horror) speaking, but I think the way he had framed a panaderia, saint statue, and mannequin - unintentionally or not - were together quietly unsettling in a way I remembered even after more than a hundred portfolios.
Additional photos that resonated with me were Marcus Andrew Villacorte's Wrath of Mayon capturing the eruption of Mayon Volcano, Brian Eugenio Caoili's The Ironic Wall for the irreverent attitude exuded by the funny graffiti and cool, desaturated coloring, Juliana Gabriella A. Imson's Welcome to 2025 for evoking both melancholy and excitement with the overly bright televisions depicting different shows in the dark, Allan Dale Gaspar's bright and dazzling use of lights in reflection in Burnham Park, Baguio City, and finally Charlize Jullianna E. Briones's lovely picture depicting their best friend's grave.
Critique
Critique
This was one of my favorite portraits that I'd seen. The slinky makes such a beautiful frame-within-a-frame, providing both depth and warm, slightly desaturated color as it emphasizes the eye of the subject as the immediate focal point of the picture. It doesn't look overly fussed-over as well, with the eye not being perfectly centered, the shadows from between the slinky casting over her eye, her blurred hand and the rest of her face still in the background.
I was immediately intrigued by this specific application of frame-within-a-frame - a picture of a picture, in this case a lockscreen - but felt the execution was lacking. The phone (the focal point) being too horizontal to be a dynamic diagonal, and the surrounding arms create an odd shape and distracting shadows that further draw attention away from the lockscreen.
If I were the photographer, I would take inspiration from a similar (and in my view technically better) picture - That Mirror Shot by Alexis Jemn Alviso, wherein the background (the IKEA) created an interesting storytelling element for the foreground and ultimate focal point (their mother in the electric bike mirror). The hymn paper and toga-clad arms provide similar, important storytelling details for Epili's picture; I would position myself as the photographer behind the subject so everything would be vertically-oriented. I would include the hands and lap in the frame. It takes away from the casualness of the original - its look of having glanced to the phone of the person beside you, largely because it's how the picture was taken - but I think more smoothly draws attention to the lockscreen.
The cats are placed quite awkwardly, giving the picture an unintentional, floating feeling - the white cat falls on the rule of thirds upper intersecting point but the tabby does not, they're not arranged to give a feeling of symmetry, the directional line made from one cat to the other goes against the diagonal lines of the floor tiles, such that even tactical cropping would not help the photo much.
In my opinion, the easiest fix would have been to shoot lower to the ground, perhaps even at the cats' eye level. Because Tique aimed for a peaceful, relaxed feel, I would position myself so the two cats either provide symmetry to the frame, or approach one of the cats so they overlap with the other. I would incorporate more of the environment in the shot to show what it is the cats are relaxing amidst.
I was intrigued by the choice to shoot underneath the flower, such that it was backlit by the sun, but in addition to the aspects Catalan had already mentioned - the metal bar and branches on the side being distractions (I am particularly frustrated by how its close position to the flower creates a visual tangent), the sun not being centered in the frame - I also dislike how the flower is positioned horizontally in the frame. The rhythm of the flower's shapes create energy, which is deadened by being parallel to the edge.
Honestly, as the photographer I would just nudge the camera so the distracting branches aren't in frame, and the flower was at a gentle diagonal.
I love this picture and I think what makes it quite awkward is also what makes it fun and memorable to me. The visible elements of the picture: the bakery, the bakery's reflection in the puddle, and the incoming headlights, are all pushed to the edges of the frame. Because the bakery is larger and brighter, the eye is lead first to its position on the right before sliding to the left of the frame, to the headlight, which is against the natural inclination of the eye to go from left to right; however, since the headlight if the only thing one can see on the left end of the frame, and one understands through the lines of the bakery that it's farther away in the street, it creates a subtle radial composition where the headlight is the center... again, up to the edge of the frame. The entire rest of the picture is swallowed up by complete darkness, especially the lower left corner and center, creating a lopsided feel. Potential fixes are relatively easy - cropping out the headlights, for example, and leaving only the panaderia and its reflection in the puddle, or going instead with a letterbox aspect ratio to provide more negative space so the visible lights aren't crammed to the frame edges. But they also take away the main appeal of the picture to me: its creepiness.
Things that are "creepy" often feel that way because they have a "vague wrongness" about them; additionally, we often fear the dark because of what could be hiding in it. The abundance of darkness in the picture, especially between the two points of light, made me wonder what could be hidden in that space. The bit of visual energy provided by the shooting angle - the panaderia isn't photographed head-on, such that it's not parallel with the frame edge - reinforces that the headlights are incoming. This could easily be a frame in a pensive drama or subtle horror.
Self-Assessment
Self-Assessment
I consider myself probably completely average relative to all the portfolios I'd seen - I have the insight to put together a picture of competent composition and harmony, but I wouldn't even come close to any of the professionals and aspiring professionals in the class for my lack of patience and eye for detail. To be honest, most pictures that don't have any egregious visual flaws and just have shallow depth of field already greatly impress me. I'm also a little embarrassed of my current equipment now that I've seen how other mere smartphone shots look much, much more polished than anything my own smartphone can shoot; even between identical, stunning compositions, the crisper picture will almost always be considered better.
I did consider how, through the process of looking at hundreds of pretty pictures that the ones I remember are the ones that I think of as having personality - interesting flaws or subject matters or framing. It's pretty telling of my sensibilities, I think, that one of the few photographers I can name (and hope to emulate) is Kimiko Nishimoto; her technical skills, as far as I can tell, are also about average, but her main creative decisions are anything but. And it is much harder to take a quirky picture than a pretty one.
Of course, no amount of personality can save a fundamentally deficient picture, so finding that balance is necessary for me, especially when I think I tend to use depth and diagonals as crutches.
Page updated
Report abuse