In the second of his photo critiques, photographer and entertainer Chip Simons picks out a selection of photos which celebrate the craft, and the emotion, of photography.

Photo by Suraj Matthew

Other images I picked have something to do with the "craft" of photography ... they are better quality, which I applaud ... especially in this world that is bloated with images that were done by the camera or Photoshop and are shaky, noisy and with poor optics. What looks like a good picture often turns out to be garbage just because of the same criteria that made traditional photography better or worse. Some of the other images show me a place that I have never seen and it is obviously a very beautiful yet contradictory place to live. It has contrasts on every level: visual, psychological, and social. I like that for the reasons we have always liked photography ... it shows us something we have never seen.

Photo by Debashis

I am a little bit unusual in the world of photography. I have discovered so much about who I am and how the mechanisms of taking pictures can be manipulated to express my feelings and thoughts in ever-changing ways. I am conceptual for the most part. I am a comedian and an entertainer too. This is why I reject 90% of all photography as just another photograph that looks like another photograph that looks like another photograph. It is all fine ... it is all part of a process ... and it is a recording device first and foremost ... it is a memory tool ... you don't have to be a crazy artist-like thinker. Imitating pictures that you like and getting great results makes you excited and more confident to dive deeper into the craft and the mistakes you make along the way are what lead to discoveries.

Photo by Santu

As I look at the images again, I still think about my original comments that "photography is more about what you don't see" than what you are being presumed to be shown.  Photography, for me, came from emotion. I went through years of crafting pictures for everyone and anyone, but now I am returning selfishly to my roots. These photos that I have chosen show that same diversity of emotion versus craft. While most of them are emotional, ironically, the most professional (and the one taken with the most expensively priced photo equipment etc.) is also the one that is nearly void of emotion and is almost purely craft. I think this should be an inspirational point for those contemplating if it is their camera ...or their mind and heart that is in need of an upgrade.

Other photos Chip has commented on: -

Rakesh Syal | Rakesh Syal | N. Jagadeesh

Stalin Ramesh | Somenath Bakshi | Abhijit Nandi

Debashis| Debashis

Chip Simons has been a professional photographer for more than twenty-seven years. He is known for his creative and humorous photography.

Chip Simons' website | See our interview with Chip Simons | Fotoflock Gallery

The landscape photographer and Hasselblad winner Hans Strand offers some technical tips on how a photo of a winding wintry road could be made more dramatic.

To have your photo critiqued, send us a link of the photo in the Fotoflock.com Gallery to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Renowned photojournalist Fawzan Husain comments on a photo that he thinks is perfect for a photostory and explains how it could be improved.

This photo is very nice and would work well as a photostory of 8-10 portraits. However, as a single photo, it needs a little more background, more ambience – the frame needs to be a little looser. I can see a stony background but the frame is too tight – it could be anywhere. I’d like to see a little more street. Having said that, the apathy of the child comes out very well. The choice of black and white works well as we associate black and white with apathy and negativity but it could have worked equally well in colour.

Fawzan Husain is a renowned photojournalist and a fan of street photography. He specialises in editorial photography and has covered subjects as diverse as Saddam Hussein’s Presidential Referendum in 2002 and mass marriages in India. His latest project documents the tribal and folk artists of India.

Note from the photographer:
I am Ashok Shah, a Nepali national. I completed my BA in Journalism in 2008.

Here is a boy begging on the streets of Bangalore. He has no other choice than to do this everyday to feed his two-year-old sister. I happened to click this while I was returning from an inter-collegiate photo contest in March last year. And the image, its composition, theme and the time, all managed with a Kodak Easyshare 6MP digicam, my only photo-tool, is one of my best works as an aspiring photojournalist.

Fawzan’s website | See our interview with Fawzan Husain | Photo by Ashok Shah | Fotoflock Gallery

David Zimmerman comments on a series of portraits by Shuva Brata Deb , picking out two which he thinks tell worthwhile stories and explaining why photographs of “happy faces” don’t interest him.

Your other image also has a story which is worthwhile. There is something quite "human" about the scene & the gestures.

Themes are important in your photography. Discover a theme that appeals to you and dive into it.

Your other images fall short of these two however. They lack a story and are more about "happy faces" and are not nearly as interesting. Search for more human interest than just smiling faces.

If you're serious about your photography please avoid shooting jpgs and sRGB whenever possible. And keep your ISO as low as practical.

Keep shooting.

David Zimmerman is known for his still life and high speed liquid images. Much sought-after for his advertising work, his clients include Pepsi Cola, Unilever, IBM and Mercedes-Benz. He also takes on landscape, environmental and documentary projects.

See the other images David has mentioned.

David's Website | See our interview with David | Photo by Shuva Brata Deb | Fotoflock Gallery