Quick Critique

For today's lesson, let's critique the following photo. . .

The Veljkovich's at Sunken Meadow Beach, Long Island, circa 1954

I have taken the liberty of noting directly on the photo its basic flaws. The photographer had admirable goals. He achieved some of them. He wanted to depict a happy young family (mine), and give the photo some atmosphere. He wanted to tell a story. In this regard, he succeeded.

We find the young family at the beach. The father and older son are wearing bathing suits, and are therefore capable of swimming. The mother and younger son (me) are not. The mother has a strong fashion sense. This is a beach where boats are used. The water is calm, so it is probably not the ocean. There are other bathers. Three of the family members look happy, especially the parents. The older son seems to have been instructed to smile. The younger son is too young to follow the photographer's instructions, and seems uncomfortable because there is sun in his face. This leads to the main problem with the picture.

The photographer should not have placed his subjects in direct sunlight. It is a mistake many amateurs make. They think that direct sun illuminates the subject best. If the subject is a human being, they are wrong. As we can see, the children in this photo are uncomfortable because of the harshness of the light. The photographer was lucky, because the parents look relatively good, although the father has a spot of sun on his nose. There appears to be clouds, which helped prevent the photo from looking washed out. If there had been more clouds, the photo would have been more successful, because the light would be evenly distributed.

Many amateurs do not realize that cloudy days make for better photos. The sun stimulates their senses, so they grab their camera. Wait for clouds, my friends, or photograph early or late in the day, when the sun is low on the horizon.

There are two other minor flaws to this photo. The boat is a nice idea, adding to the story-telling aspect. However, the ropes are too numerous and distracting. They block the legs of the mother and older son.

Also, the lady in the water, although again adding a story-telling aspect, unfortunately also distracts the eye.

My tip to this photographer, had he or his subject insisted on a photograph being immediately taken, would have been to change the location of the subjects. Perhaps they should have been placed under an umbrella, or tree, or other nearby structure. If he had done this, he would be "taking better photos."