The Good, The Bad and the Blurry: Photo Critique

Photo from LBPost.com

 

The colors in this photo were impressive but the crowd's silhouette taking up half of the photo was distracting. The focus of the photo was taken up by the crowd which doesn't add anything except that, yes, there were people at the Gay Latino Festival. As for the rest of the image, the dancers seem to be a bit blurry and out of focus. Also, the dancer on the far left is almost completely being blocked by someone's head and the same almost happened to the dancer in the middle.

Photo by Kenneth Bachor.

 This photo also had problems with objects obstructing the view of the performers. I understand that the photographer may have wanted to give a more artsy perspective of the band, the Crystal Castles, onstage with the effects of the lights, colors and smoke but it just gives the feeling that the photo was take with a cell phone from the crowd just for fun.

Photo by David Wolff-Patrick

Shooting photos of a concert is always tricky, especially when musicians are running around stage with instruments in hand but, in in this case, the photographer got a clear shot of Refused lead singer Dennis Lyxzen doing a splits jump with microphone stand in hand. The lighting is pretty good and the smoke doesn't distract you from what is happening on stage. The rule of thirds is also taken into consideration. Even the guitarist and the bass drum with "Free Pussy Riot" on it are clear enough to see but don't overshadow each other.

Photo by Denis Doyle

This photo, first of all, is very powerful. It may be graphic for some but it's emotional and sends out a message. The bloodied woman, a protestor, is detained by Madrid riot police and it shows how brutal people can be treated during demonstrations. She is obviously the focus of the photo but the smaller things in the photo add to the chilling image: the woman pleading behind her, the hand holding the fire arm on the right and the onlookers taking their own photos.