shooting a subject in environment : can you comment on this picture ?

[deleuze3]

Some photographers are known to be among the greatest.
I'm reading articles and books about photography.
Some say when you shoot a subject in an environment, a good tip is to use a shallow depht of field, in order to ignore a bit of the environment and focus on the subject.

In this picture, it seems to go exactly to the opposite of this tip.
Plus, the photographer used wide lenses. Maybe it could be a good thing for enhancing the fitness model.

What do you think of the picture ?

 

[Liam Hall]

The choice of location doesn't work with the subject. It's a messy composition and lacks balance. Plus, you need to pay attention to the details - check her left hand, looks like she's missing a few fingers...

 

[Michael Carter]

Just looks wrong to me. The composition fights between pushing your eye to the distant windows and the muscles on her back.

But, bigger picture - do you like it or not? There's a lot of emperor's new clothes out there. Millions of people like Justin Beiber. Figure out what you like and don't like.

Then the next step is do everything you can to clearly enunciate "why". Everyone's a critic, if being a critic means saying "awesome" or "eh". Those who can make a case as to why something affects them have an advantage in developing their own styles.

 

[egproductions]

Maybe the photographer was trying to distract the viewer =/

 

[deleuze3]

thanks for the comments, it's highly appreciated

 

[Andrius Simutis]

The light on the model is doing a good job of accenting the muscle structure. By shooting from behind you do a good job of that without worrying about that same light not flattering the face.
For the composition however, the eye is drawn to the vanishing point…the windows, and the deep depth of field enhances that distraction. The model seems to be looking not quite at that point either. There's a lot of symmetry in the location and the model's pose, but the image isn't taking advantage of it but fighting it with the subject off to the side being intersected by the lines of the wall.
Now, imagine this image taking advantage of the symmetry by just moving to the middle of the alley. The lines of the buildings would converge on the model bringing your attention to her. The windows at the end of the alley wouldn't be seen so there wouldn't be any other subjects fighting for your eyes attention.

 

[egproductions]

The way you phrased your original question seems odd to me...almost as if you need us to tell you whether it's a good picture or not.

Almost all of us in today's world are experts in photography without even realizing it. We are exposed to imagery everywhere we look and can easily tell whether a photograph is quality or not (although some might not be able to articulate what makes it a successful image).

With that in mind, what do you think? Is it a good picture?

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

In this picture, it seems to go exactly to the opposite of this tip.
Plus, the photographer used wide lenses. Maybe it could be a good thing for enhancing the fitness model.

I would have placed the bodybuilder in the same body position but flat against the wall. or alternatively, across the grating of the window arch.

I prefer deep focus, and would not ordinarily used a shallow DoF to 'cover' for bad/confusing background.

 

[ggrantly]

The model is ok, the lighting is ok, but the framing is all wrong IMHO. Even just shifting to the center of the alley and using the buildings as a picture frame would have been a simple improvement.

Grant