CC: Adelaide Arcade

[ThirstyDursty]

Would like a little feedback.

First is the shot as I originally composed it and worked hard to get all the lines and balance right.



But felt the girl was not prominent enough...but not sure

Two options of a recomposition.
1) a little tighter

2) lots tighter and rule of thirds, rather then symmetrical balance.


Think of reshooting the photo...but appreciate some ideas of how to mature the idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jeremy Roussak]

I'm finding it hard to comment because I really can't work out what you're trying to achieve. The original is a photo of a girl standing in front of an interesting arched window and a possibly interesting, shiny floor. The last has lost all the interest of the window and floor: it's wholly different.

I think unless you work out what you hope to end up with, you're going to fall into Ansel Adams's now clichéd remark: a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

Jeremy

[ThirstyDursty]

Thanks Jeremy.

I was originally going for the large heritage arch window being the main element...with the girl looking out being a reward as you looked deeper...and to create an emotive element. The floor and cornice was to drive you eyes in with converging lines.

But I felt after processing it that the lines (especially cornices) just distracted...and that the girl was perhaps proportionally to small to be noticeable from any viewing distance, except super close.

I like to have rewards for looking longer...but felt that from across the room the photo was boring and not emotive.

Thus I experimented with some alternatives to see if they yielded a tighter or different idea.

Mainly because the original idea didn't turn out as powerful as I had hoped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stamper]

I'm finding it hard to comment because I really can't work out what you're trying to achieve. The original is a photo of a girl standing in front of an interesting arched window and a possibly interesting, shiny floor. The last has lost all the interest of the window and floor: it's wholly different.

I think unless you work out what you hope to end up with, you're going to fall into Ansel Adams's now clichéd remark: a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

Jeremy

Taking several images and then deciding afterwards which is " best" is a worthwhile workflow imo. When I process an image I might crop it in different ways. A purist might say the original vision is best but being flexible will bring more rewards. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what you do with an image, all that counts is the end result. Asking members which crop they prefer is passing the buck. It is your image and you decide.

[brandtb]

It is a little different way of saying what the great photographers Jay Maisel and Jim Richardson have said often.. first find something that is really worth shooting, then worry about the idea(s). Ideas and over-thinking rarely make good pictures...good subjects do. As an architect who has dealt with historic building styles such as this for years... I don't find anything compelling about the structure...and most all of it is under lit...except for parts of the modern shiny rubber floor which is really distracting. As an architectural tableau it doesn't work. The first take has so much information that isn't interesting and again mostly all in shade or shadow...together it is just stuff in a frame. That said of all the things going on in the sample you posted the last has the beginnings of a potentially powerful image and I think you are definitely heading in the right direction there. The elements of the the girl with her hand on door facing outward and the interesting glass door panels with those varied muntins revealing the buildings beyond...these things are the important and memorable subjects...and have some power. I don't think you can get something out of this particular shot via crop...but I would be looking for something like this. If you were going to try and work on that last crop I would take most of the yellow out and add saturation to terracotta brick in background and change hue of it so it is more red and relating to girls pants. And bring shadows a good bit. /B

[ThirstyDursty]

Thanks for all the input...wasn't trying to "pass the buck"....but get some idea 1) if the failings I felt, resonated with others 2) if people could help me articulate those failings, so as I can give more thought in the future.

If I was to run with the final image...I'd reshoot. There just isn't enough left in 16mp when you crop over 50%...especially when it would be easy to repeat the shoot...although child cooperation is a different issue.

Good little experiment for me.

As a boss once told me "an imperfect thing done, is better then a perfect thing never done"

I'd generally agree about the "rubber floor" and unremarkable  nature of the heritage architecture....however it is a significant and important local landmark....part of a series I'm work

Thanks for all the input.

I do generally bracket and either ETTR or blend a few exposures


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BobDavid]

I like the first picture the best. Screw the rule of 2/3rds. Have you ever watched Wes Anderson's films? If not, check out the Grand Budapest Hotel. He breaks all of the rules and yet his movies are beautifully photographed. My only nit is that the color balance is off and there are a lot of parts of the picture that will benefit from judicious curves adjustments.

[ThirstyDursty]

Love Wes Anderson and agree about the rules.

I've been trying lately to create images with near symmetrical balance and lines.

The colour balance May in fact be off...as I'm colour blind and find that specific aspect of processing difficult. As a result historically I've shot lots of B&W....but trying to see if some practice can overcome my deficit.

That said the heritage colour palette in the building is that off yellow colour.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BobDavid]

Love Wes Anderson and agree about the rules.

I've been trying lately to create images with near symmetrical balance and lines.

The colour balance May in fact be off...as I'm colour blind and find that specific aspect of processing difficult. As a result historically I've shot lots of B&W....but trying to see if some practice can overcome my deficit.

That said the heritage colour palette in the building is that off yellow colour.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That you mentioned you are color blind is no surprise. Dichromats see blue and yellow very well. Shades of red/green are at best highly muted and at worst, non existent. I think this is a great image. Maybe I'll have a go at it and see what happens.

[ThirstyDursty]

Red, green brown can all look the same depending on hue. Blue and purple can at times, as can yellow and orange. Basically anytime a colour is the result of adding red to another colour...at the boarders of the hue transition I can't tell the difference.

However that said I think my "skill" in colour is low as I avoided it and felt defeated as a child...while my biological vision can't change, there is some capacity to learn what is in my capabilities and some patterns/rules for what is outside.

Just a quick try...will clean it up and tone it better...but think I'll go this direction.

 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dale Villeponteaux]

The color in the first picture is fine. I think I understand the concept, something like trapped in a world of squares and trying to escape. If you plan to reshoot, you might  shoot from further back, showing more architecture and making the girl smaller and more vulnerable.

Regards,
Dale

[ThirstyDursty]

Dale that's actually a really good idea...the arcade is probably 100+ m long. I could probably shoot all the way from the other end or at one of the two bridges and keep the symmetry. Possibly use a tele to compress and keep her from disappearing altogether with distance.

As for the first shot...I'd probably just desaturate the yellow globally a little and many locally the red in the floor. Just a bit. Could maybe just drop the temp a little in LR as well.

The shot was candid...my daughter and I were exploring...but as I saw it when it happened...Idea was old and new with the youth trying to escape to outside...the building across the street is even bottom old top new.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk