You have a great eye for the people moment. The concentration that is directed at making fresh pasta adds to the image (and makes me glad I buy mine in a packet). The quality of the light is like a classic painting and the background could only be found in Italy!
The only improvement I would suggest would be a reflector to put some more light onto the face (maybe a little up from the LH side of the image?) although this would destroy the spontaneity of the capture.
Make me want to go to Italy again!   Posted: 08/09/2022 16:33:11

Paul
I agree with Neil about the face light, I also think it would change the mood completely.
I love it. She has such an intense air about her. I also like how the background draws my eyes to the words in the background but not as a distraction. You could definitely make a street photographer.   Posted: 08/13/2022 17:18:48

I like the way you have captured the intensity on the face of the pasta maker, for me that is what makes this photo. I also think you have made good advantage of the lighting with the most light on the "work at hand" while still maintaining good lighting on the worker's face (but I do agree with Neil and Darcy that a slight bit of more light on the face could be beneficial). For my eye the focus is very sharp and spot-on and I like that the background is also in sharp focus as it defines the environment for the activity.

I did find the brass item on the right side a bit distracting so, if you don't mind, I took the liberty of cropping it out.

The only real problem I have with this photo is that it makes me want some pasta, which I can't have because of my diabeties.   Posted: 08/13/2022 17:45:30

Great capture of everyday life making pasta! There are many elements that help drive the story - where her hands are, the large sheet of pasta going through to make what looks like pappardelle, the pile of pasta next to it, and the machine and scale. I keep looking all over the image, find new things in it, and then go back to the pasta maker herself. I think you did a great job with the light you had.   Posted: 08/14/2022 10:15:42

As usual, reviewing after viewing only the image and its title, but not the accompanying description.

I find the image sustains my interest, primarily through the subject matter. The brightness of the table and its contents pulls me eye there first, so I quickly conclude that "pasta making" is the subject. My eye does, of course, soon explore the person in the image, especially the face. The look of intense concentration helps with the story, and establishes the pasta maker (the person, not the machine) is a secondary character in the story. I speculate that the image might have been more compelling had the lighting been such that attention is drawn first to the person and only afterwards to the machinery and so on. I "fiddled" with the image a bit to try to achieve that effect. While I was at it, I brushed in an adjustment to tone down the intensity of the shiny reflection, which my eye kept returning to.

I like the balance in the composition, with the person standing on a golden-ratio vertical. The arrangement creates a nice triangular array of visually interesting elements, brighter than the background.

I find the perspective tilt of the background to be quite disturbing, and I doubt that that was intentional. While "fiddling" I leveled them. The result, I feel, is to heighten the emphasis on the subject. I also found the bright bottom of the table to be distracting, as well as the cluttered right-hand edge, so I cropped them out.
  Posted: 08/17/2022 09:09:37