Portfolio Analysis

Runner Up Portfolios

Travis Haughton

The general focus of his portfolio is photojournalism because all of the shots are of people that seem to have a story behind them

Three problems:
In the photograph of a woman sitting at a desk, the back of her head dominating the photo while talking to an hearing impaired boy the judges said the pictures with the back of somebody's head are off-putting to the photograph

There is a photograph of a woman holding a sign and the judges said pictures of sign are bad, if you can read it you don't need it in a picture.

There is a photograph of a wrestler holding his coach, they judges said that the photograph would be a lot better if you could see the coach's face instead of his arm covering his whole face which really hurts the picture.

What the judges liked:
The photograph of the gymnastics studio was well liked because of all the different levels occurring in the photograph

The photograph of a worker at a carnival with cotton candy on his head was said to be interestingly weird.

My opinion:
I liked the photographer and thought he captured the basic things we see every single day, but showed them from different angels and lighting which made them more interesting to look at.



Carlos Delgado
The general focus of his portfolio are stories and sports.

Three problems:
The judges made several comments about cluttered backgrounds and indecisive color choices.

In the photograph of the people playing darts, it is unclear what the people are looking at and there is no focus point.

The captions the judges were provided with did not match the photo, many of the things mentioned in the caption were not present in the photo.

What the judges liked:
The photograph of the boy helping his mom was said to have good content.

The judges liked the photo of the young man lighting up a cigarette with his mother blurred out in the background

My opinion:
I thought the portfolio was good, but it wasn't my favorite. Many of the photos were cliches and were too simple to tell any story of message.



Daryl Delgado
The general focus of his portfolio photojournalism tied in with stories, because he is capturing many people that can create interesting stories.

Three problems:
In the photograph of the man on the diving board with his arms sticking out was not liked because it is too easily staged and easy to capture

The judges did not like the photographs of the seniors because they were too simply shot.

They seemed not to look many of the photographs the person took in Peru because they lacked good composition

What the judges liked:
They liked the photograph of the room where it is half lit and half dim (a wall separating the different lighting) because there is a nice balance of color and there is a story being told

They liked the photograph of the man sitting in the auditorium all alone with the strobe right on him, because of the good lighting.

My opinion:
I liked this photographer because he was able to capture emotion within people in his photographs, and I really liked his picture stories even though the judges didn't seem to be too happy with it.



Winning Portfolio: Dustin Snipes
What the judges noted as strengths while looking at the portfolio was the color and composition of the photos and subjects being shot from different angles (making you seem more involved in the photograph). There was one photo they commented on, it was five girls sitting on a bench and their coach kneeling down, they were very impressed because ever person in the photograph had a notable facial expression and the moment was captured perfectly.

The strengths that I saw were the blurry photos he had in his portfolio, I think they manipulated the subject and made you see it in a completely different way. I also thought angles were one of his strong suits (my favorite were the photos shot from up high, being able to see a large area of space of athletes) because you were seeing the subjects in a way you've never seen them before. I did not see any weaknesses, all of the photos were clean and had great composition.



Contest Recap
The process the judges went through when picking a winner was looking at all the photos of a specific portfolio at once and evaluating the pictures, seeing if they work together as a whole but also striving for diversity.



Part 2- Individual Pictures

Part 1
I agree with the judges making the rugby photo first place. The photograph has a nice balance to it with two guys on the side of the main subject, there's a lot of emotion and action happening, capturing a key moment when the opposing team is poking the subject's eye, it is something that can't be planned and has to be shot at the perfect moment.

I don't agree with the judges on the photo of the surfer falling off his board and being upside down in the wave. I think it is a very good picture because of the fact the man in so small compared to the enormous wave. One of the judges also said he wished the head of the man was touching the wave, I disagree, because it would create a merger, that the man is growing out of the wave.

Part 2
I agree with the judges when they say the baseball photograph of the three players framed by the blue frame is not the strongest because they say the photograph itself is good, but when you take the three individual frames of the players, they're not as good. The parts that make up the photograph are not strong, but when it does come together, it becomes an interesting picture.

I don't agree with the judges when they showed likings towards the black and white photograph of the man holding a basketball. I think it's very cluttered and the man walking behind the main subject is taking away from the intensity of the image.

Part 3
I agree with the judges when they call the photograph with the little girl boxing out. It is a very simple and plain photograph with no composition in it, it is easy to plan and shoot and there is no action or emotions.

I don't agree when the judges call the photograph of the people running in the rain out. I think it's very interestingly shot and the rain adds a texture to the photograph. Also I liked what the judges did not like, that the photograph was shot vertically. I think it makes it very interesting and adds a certain angle to it, and the photo tells a story of two dedicated runners running in the worst of weather.

Part 4
I really liked the photograph of the dogs side by side in a race in the first place picture story. It was well shot and cropped because you are only seeing the heads of the dogs, but are still able to see action occurring. Another strong point of the photograph is the plain background which brings a higher focus to the dogs.

I don't agree with the judges liking the first photograph of the third place picture story (arrow type drawing on a plain background reoccurring in a pattern). It is very simple and weak, having no emotion and making it unclear of what the photo is even showing.

Part 5
I agree with the judges on liking the photograph of the woman in the tub like small pool next to a bigger pool. The picture has some interesting and bold shapes and also a subtle, consistent color scheme. It is a very unique and thought out, and the angle of the camera captures all the necessary elements.

I don't agree with the judges when they like the photograph of the girl and the goose. I think the moment is very memorable and it is for sure a key moment, but the way the picture was taken does not display elements of photography and becomes very plain and simple.

Part 6
I agree when the judges like the escalator pictures. It is unique, it's original and the composition is is also great. I think the photographer was wise to make the photo black and white because it really makes you focus on what is occurring rather than the color scheme. The photo has emotion to it, being humorous and bringing elements of surprise.

I don't agree with the likings of the goose photograph. It is simply getting lucky and taking a shot at the correct moment, but it does not say much about the quality of the photographer. It was not thought out and it was a spontaneous shot.