Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Chris Calohan on December 26, 2012, 07:16:25 pm

Title: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 26, 2012, 07:16:25 pm
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8216/8312831494_c418d0f2d6_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 27, 2012, 08:27:41 am
Changed the crop factor to eliminate extraneous detail. One of the interesting things about shooting in a foreign country is the desire to keep everything in context. I liked the way the curved wall led the viewer back into the dusty lane but in the end, felt it didn't translate to a better shot.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8498/8314577956_35d8319b73_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 27, 2012, 09:30:11 am
Russ may disagree, but this time I think cropping was the way to go. It works nicely now.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: francois on December 27, 2012, 09:44:36 am
I like the cropped version, it's simpler…
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: RSL on December 27, 2012, 09:59:26 am
I don't disagree, Eric, but Chris's camera should have been swung more to the right in the first place. The girl's still too close to the center of the frame, and an extension of the wall behind her would have given more context. But here I go doing what I just got through complaining about. On the other hand, I'll forgive myself because this isn't the kind of street shot that requires an instant response. I don't know what was farther right, but assuming it was a continuation of the wall I'd have included just enough at the left to catch the full width of that interesting tree trunk. That would have placed the girl just about a third of the way from the left side of the frame, which is where she should be. There often are reasons to break away from rules of composition, but when there aren't any reasons, doing that is unreasonable.

But in general I like this shot a lot, Chris.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 27, 2012, 10:08:31 am
I was still in the back of a moving horse carriage, so taking time to compose wasn't as certain as I would have liked it to be. I did take three quick shots and will go back to see if I can set her position a little better.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 27, 2012, 10:39:30 am
None of the other shots did as well as the original choice but the original does allow the latitiude of a crop which places the girl on the right third quadrant and the middle of the tree on the left third. The sense of the road curling back to the left is preserved and still allows enough contectual information to be preserved.

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8313883379_baaae10c60_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Rob C on December 27, 2012, 11:37:49 am
I prefer the original; you weren't going to be close, so using the first crop gives a really good sense of environment, which I think matters.

IMO.

Rob C
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: RSL on December 27, 2012, 12:17:13 pm
I'd agree, provided the wall on the extreme left disappears.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 27, 2012, 11:13:11 pm
Gone!

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8355/8316034741_17fa67777b_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 28, 2012, 06:59:41 am
I'd agree, provided the wall on the extreme left disappears.
Me too.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: seamus finn on December 28, 2012, 10:28:51 am

That's better.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Rob C on December 28, 2012, 05:01:04 pm
And she didn't move a muscle! Wow, that's so cool!

Rob C
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: WalterEG on December 28, 2012, 05:05:16 pm
Too many cooks always manage to spoil the broth.

What started as a descriptive tableau with a girl waiting for a bus has been reduced to a portrait of a tree with extraneous walking protein.

Well, that's how I see it at least.

Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Bruce Cox on December 28, 2012, 08:25:34 pm
Too many cooks always manage to spoil the broth.

What started as a descriptive tableau with a girl waiting for a bus has been reduced to a portrait of a tree with extraneous walking protein.

Well, that's how I see it at least.



Fallowing your line of thought, which makes you one of the cooks, I put the girl in the middle so that she can lead again.

Bruce
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 28, 2012, 09:31:08 pm
I like this crop. Cropping can be a strange beast..it can eat up valuable space, take away unneeded space or change the visual aspect of how one perceives what the photographer initially had in mind. I like this edit best because I feel it keeps the initial dialogue I was trying to preserve yet rids itself of the unneeded wall.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: WalterEG on December 29, 2012, 01:13:30 am
Bruce,

You are clearly more a chef then a cook.  I think you have nailed it.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: mac_paolo on December 29, 2012, 04:36:16 am
Same as the other one as the guy with a tons of hats.
Sometimes you have to look for a background even more than for the subject.
The girl is almost silhouette, which is not a wrong decision per se, but the wall is almost as lit as a sun. Too much distraction to me. The top of the wall is also partially cutting the girls head.

Going further, why having everything in focus? Does the perfectly sharp wall and houses add anything to the scene? To me it's the opposite.
What's the subject? What are going to express with the picture?

It's been shot at 1/1000s, ƒ/9 at ISO 500. An ISO 100/200 with a larger f-stop would have been a better choice to me. Far better.

As for the crop I definitely like the last ones with the whole tree and without that bit of the wall on the left and the rest of the empty space around.

Paolo
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Rob C on December 29, 2012, 05:56:04 am
Sheesh! It was a grabbed shot!

If I may enter the kitchen, then: concentrate on the girl as in the original recipe and cut off much top and bottom of the rest of the ingredients, throw 'em away into the trash bin and add a little spice of tree branches to the right, gently add a soupçon of Gaussian to the distance and cook up a longer, wider dish. Et voilà! - a quality meal in a moment.

Rob C
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: mac_paolo on December 29, 2012, 06:52:58 am
Sheesh! It was a grabbed shot!
So…? :)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 29, 2012, 08:52:55 am
mac_paolo

So, post something of your own, taken from the back of a horse drawn carriage where the light and density of population is changing constantly and you're shooting for the best of all worlds rather than narrowing it down to a precious few "perfect" shots. Post something of your own, period, because I can't seem to find anything posted from you, at least in a photographic sense. I learn from those who can show me, not those who have an extra three cents in their critique bag but nothing to show example toward. It was three quick frames, two of which simply weren't usable because she was flicking that stick about.

For a "street shot" and that's what it is, it is pretty well exposed and composed. I went from that shot to this shot

(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8498/8322042020_64a3c702ab_o.jpg)

in less than ten seconds and while I like the shot, it has more problems than I have time to fix at this point. There was a lot to shoot. The hat man came around a corner and gave me a two shot opportunity before he disappeared into a maze of other street vendors. For me, it's making the best of what's served to you. Others may feel differently but for the most part they offer constructive criticism by example.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: mac_paolo on December 29, 2012, 09:27:30 am
So, post something of your own, taken from the back of a horse drawn carriage where the light and density of population is changing constantly and you're shooting for the best of all worlds rather than narrowing it down to a precious few "perfect" shots.
That's exactly why I've got 200 photos publicly available on my Flickr account while almost none on forums; or why I weekly project some in front of real people.
Some people tend to get it personally. -I- don't like your photos = -YOU-'ve got wrong/-YOU-'re not skilled enough.
No, I won't play you're (puerile) game. Too old for it. I'll let this provocation end here.

Others may feel differently but for the most part they offer constructive criticism by example.
I did, with technical data and photographic arguments. You just didn't like them.
Peace. :)

Paolo
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Chris Calohan on December 29, 2012, 10:32:00 am
Well, let's see four or five of the 200 in a street shot genre. I know I am not skilled enough in a lot of areas but until you show me you are much better, I'll trust you'll make no further comments on my work.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Rob C on December 29, 2012, 11:36:56 am
So…? :)




So, he was in the back of a horse carriage and there were more important duties to hand than just snaps of folks awaiting busses. That he got what he got is quite enough, I'd have thought; clearly, you know something I don't so I won't argue or disturb your peace.

Ciao -

Rob C
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: amolitor on December 31, 2012, 07:34:47 am
We can judge a work on its merits, and really it's not fair to do otherwise. We don't have to be jerks about it, of course, but just because circumstances were difficult does not make the work any better.

The closely allied thing we should avoid is judging a work based on what we think it ought to be. I frequently see, on the internet, critique that boils down to something like 'this candid is a very poor portrait' and 'that portrait is a very poor landscape'. We need to judge a photo based on its own merits, and how well it succeeds at being what it is.

I quite like all the variants of the girl that have been posted here, interestingly. This is, basically, because I like the girl, and she is an ornament to whatever framing you drop her in to.
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: mac_paolo on December 31, 2012, 08:51:38 am
clearly, you know something I don't so I won't argue or disturb your peace.
What an pointless inspiring comment.
Arrivederci Rob. ;)
Title: Re: Standing in the Shade, Waiting for the Bus
Post by: Rob C on December 31, 2012, 12:24:31 pm
What an pointless inspiring comment.
Arrivederci Rob. ;)


There you are! A fraction of a second's thought and you saw the light!

Ciao - tanti auguri per 2013.

;-)

Rob C