Feeback Please

[Bryan Gregson]

Hey all…..
I have been fiddling around with different “fly” pics. I would love some feedback/constructive criticism. Sometimes I get in a rut, feedback helps to direct my path so to speak, gives me specifics to work on.  I do not shoot pics of fly patterns that often, only a few times really. I tend to lean away from the standard “vise grip” shots, not that there is anything wrong with those, its just not my style. Anyway…. the fly seems to loose its detail being in the middle of the shot. Although I could have shot it with the foreground in focus but its kinda arcade. SO…this is what I came up with.

Please share your likes/dislikes….. What can I do different? Is it too much?… not too worry, I have thick skin ; )
Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1bg/3388564127/

[dusty montgomery]

BG,
Very new to this myself, but I will share my initial thoughts: I immediately found the blurry mass in the foreground to be very distracting. My eye was first drawn to it, then I made it to the flies. I do, however, really like how you put the recipe on the image. Great idea! Did you shoot them on a mirror, or some other similar surface?
How many lights are you using?

Thanks for sharing!
D.

[Steve K.]

Bryan,

Take this with a grain of salt…as I’m way behind the curve compared to most of the folks here.

#1 I agree with Dusty…..the beads in the foreground are distracting. Maybe remove them and leave the ones in the background although they tend to catch my attention as well.

#2 Major style points for presentation with the recipe to the left! I like it.

#3 I like the fact that you have multiple flies in the photo.

[John Bennett]

Yeah, there foreground flies are very distracting. Outside of that I really like it.

Lights good and it looks like you vignetted it a bit? Like that touch to.

If you cared t re-shoot it, i’d probably like to see the main arrangment in the bottom right intersection per rule of thirds and then the back ground flies, almost like a crumb trail taking us up and out of the frame. Sort of what of you already have, but just change your critical focus to the lower (front) flies.

J

[cole m.]

Honestly, I think the flies in the front of the main subject and behind it are very distracting. It drags the eyes directly to them. Other then that, I like the recipe and the style.

[john michael white]

I like the flies out of focus in the background (and a lot of them).

[Bryan Gregson]

THANK YOU ALL!! I really appreciate the feedback!

Dusty – I did shoot on a reflective surface, the mirror thing was too much, the reflective light blew everything out. I used (2) lights.

Steve & Cole  – Thanks for the helpful honest feedback! It’s tuff to get sometimes.

John B – Great ideas, thank you….Yes, I added a bit of vignetting. I was hoping to tone it down enough that the focus was on the center without making it too obvious. Guess that failed ; )

Overall.. what for I am hearing, is the “out of focus” flies are very distracting. I do like John Bennett’s “cookie crumb” thought, I tried a slight variation of that but I my result sucked (user error).

Back to the drawing board…er..light box ; )

[anonymous]

Bryan –
I like the overall design concept and feel. Would agree with the above on ” focus”

[Bryan Gregson]

John Michael White – thanks for thoughts!!

Will – thanks for the idea

[Bryan Gregson]

OK… Test run #2

Thoughts? Better? Worse?

(Please note I did not see the chip in the bead until after I shot it…oops!!!… and I don’t know enough about photoshop to fix it.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1bg/3395778201/">
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1bg/3395778201/

[Mike McKeown]

I like that much more, however…

I think both pictures could be far better with less flies in the pic, just a thought.

pic 1 – just have one fly in front and 2 or 3 behind, with 3 or 4 in focus.

pic 2 – spread the flies out a little and then have less flies in the back ground…

??? just a thought…

[John Bennett]

I like that, seems to pull it all together.

[john michael white]

I like #2 better.

[Rich Kovars]

#2 looks much better.

[Corey Kruitbosch]

I like the latest iteration best, but I did like how much the main flies stood out in the first pic. I might try the “Ralphy Bomb” text aligned to the left with the recipe text.

[Zach Matthews]

I like it period.

[Neal Osborn]

I wanted to comment on these shots early in the weekend but got sidetracked.

[Bryan Gregson]

Thanks for the constructive help, y’all are too kind!

There’s a lot of great stuff here, it gives me many areas and ideas to work towards. I have not spent much time shooting with a light box, it been an interesting learning experience…and I have had a fun time along the way.

I really appreciate all the helpful comments. thanks again!

[Author]

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