After the siesta

[Andres Bonilla]

This town goes quiet fro a couple of hours, its people retreat to their houses and come out at 5 PM . All the coffee shops and restaurants open again, here are a few photos from them after their relaxing time.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The people (and the cat) all look well-rested and serene after siesta.
Nice images.

[francois]

The people (and the cat) all look well-rested and serene after siesta.
Nice images.

Very nice shot… Indeed, people look like they are ready for the second part of the day.
Eric, I probably need some rest because I can't spot the cat…

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Very nice shot… Indeed, people look like they are ready for the second part of the day.
Eric, I probably need some rest because I can't spot the cat…

It's the little black object on the ledge in the lower right of the last image.

[GrahamBy]

It's noticeable that the subjects tend to be smack-bang in the centre of each image, and loosely framed. Something you might want to think about if it wasn't a deliberate choice.

[Andres Bonilla]

The people (and the cat) all look well-rested and serene after siesta.
Nice images.

Thanks! Ha I did not see the cat, I thought it was a hole in the wall!

[Andres Bonilla]

Very nice shot… Indeed, people look like they are ready for the second part of the day.
Eric, I probably need some rest because I can't spot the cat…

Yeah, a totally different pace than Los Angeles! No rush.

[Andres Bonilla]

It's noticeable that the subjects tend to be smack-bang in the centre of each image, and loosely framed. Something you might want to think about if it wasn't a deliberate choice.

Thanks, yeah I have been trying to frame a bit different, not as close. At one time I tried putting subjects off center, sometimes with lots of headroom.....no one like it. Perhaps a happy medium between the two.

[RSL]

Andres, what matters is leaving some space in the right place. In #1 it would have helped if you'd pulled the camera a bit to the left, giving the subject room in the direction of his gaze. In #3 better to pull the frame to the right, for the same reason. In #4 I don't know what you were after unless it was just a picture of a wall with a couple windows and a lamp, so I can't critique it. It's a question of composition.

[Andres Bonilla]

Andres, what matters is leaving some space in the right place. In #1 it would have helped if you'd pulled the camera a bit to the left, giving the subject room in the direction of his gaze. In #3 better to pull the frame to the right, for the same reason. In #4 I don't know what you were after unless it was just a picture of a wall with a couple windows and a lamp, so I can't critique it. It's a question of composition.

Thanks Russ! Yeah the first one , the nose room as we call it on TV, it was a framing done to avoid perhaps a leg of a obscured resident, or a Vespa that in my eye, did not add anything; the third one I actually cropped a bit from the right because they were cars parked and the licenses plates drew  to much attention in my eye. The last one I thought it was intriguing the woman you barely see in the window but perhaps she is lost with everything going on in the photo.

[RSL]

Believe me, Andres, I understand the problem with trash in the frame that you want to get out of the frame. Far too often it restricts what you can do. In any case, I like the pictures. I guess I like just about any pictures that aren't straight on shots of lakes, trees, hills, mountains, cats, dogs, etc., and that include humans. I think a lot of people who confine their shooting to "landscape" and pets are simply afraid to shoot humans. I guess they're afraid they'll be chased or shouted at. The fact that the best subjects for a camera are people interacting with other people and with their surroundings, demonstrated by people like Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson, and Frank, is being obscured by that hesitation.

[Andres Bonilla]

Believe me, Andres, I understand the problem with trash in the frame that you want to get out of the frame. Far too often it restricts what you can do. In any case, I like the pictures. I guess I like just about any pictures that aren't straight on shots of lakes, trees, hills, mountains, cats, dogs, etc., and that include humans. I think a lot of people who confine their shooting to "landscape" and pets are simply afraid to shoot humans. I guess they're afraid they'll be chased or shouted at. The fact that the best subjects for a camera are people interacting with other people and with their surroundings, demonstrated by people like Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson, and Frank, is being obscured by that hesitation.

Thanks Russ,  great information to widen my perspective as a photographer. Here are a few I tried to convey the feeling of ease and tranquility of the residents.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

What the people in these images all have in common is that the subjects are not rushing to do something "important." They are taking time to listen, to think, or just to relax and perhaps meditate.

Russ's suggestions about composition are good, but what carries the images is the attitudes of the people in them.

You make a good case for taking Siesta!

-Eric

[francois]

I love the last one, with the group of people!

[RSL]

The last three are street shots that I think would get a thumbs-up from HCB.