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Author Topic: Observer  (Read 4868 times)

seamus finn

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Observer
« on: August 15, 2012, 04:25:17 pm »

Watching:

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RSL

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Re: Observer
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2012, 09:32:19 pm »

HCB would love the graphics in this one, Seamus. I do too. Very nice. Bravo!
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Jeremy Roussak

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Re: Observer
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2012, 03:37:49 am »

Watching:


Very nice, although even after compensating mentally for the various angles I get the feeling that it's sloping downwards to the right.

Jeremy
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Rob C

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Re: Observer
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2012, 03:44:59 am »

Very nice, although even after compensating mentally for the various angles I get the feeling that it's sloping downwards to the right.

Jeremy


That's extreme western European architecture and optics at play, Jeremy.

;-)

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stamper

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Re: Observer
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2012, 03:55:32 am »

IMO this type of image should be as simple as possible without any clutter that will draw your eye away from the dominating shape that is the heart of the image. There is clutter at the bottom that catches the eye and spoils the image. If the guy - bottom right - had been climbing the stairs on the left then it would have been better and the clutter at the bottom could have been cropped out.

seamus finn

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Re: Observer
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2012, 05:22:34 am »

Quote
If the guy - bottom right - had been climbing the stairs



If - the biggest word in the English language.  ;D
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RSL

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Re: Observer
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2012, 10:17:42 am »

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Rob C

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Re: Observer
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2012, 10:43:29 am »

Stamper, Check http://www.henricartierbresson.org/publi/redimg/photo.jpg.


Nope, Russ, it doesn't fly: the tilt's the wrong way!

;-)

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RSL

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Re: Observer
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2012, 11:05:38 am »

And the clutter's higher up on the right.
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seamus finn

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Re: Observer
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2012, 11:58:50 am »

 Hell, the so-called tilt is not an issue - it can be fixed in a jiffy. What I don't get is the reference to clutter. That too, can be removed instantly. To my eye, the presence of those items, especially the dolphin figure, gives the image a certain surrealism that would be otherwise missing if the the crop began further up, eliminating all the 'clutter' completely.Then it's just another 'figure and steps' thing. Just as I took the picture, the second man walked into the frame - a piece of serendipity as far as I'm concerned. What attracted me in the first place was the colour of the scene.
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RSL

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Re: Observer
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2012, 12:22:32 pm »

I should have written "clutter." The color's interesting, but to me the geometry is what makes the picture, including the "clutter."
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Russ Lewis  www.russ-lewis.com.

Rob C

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Re: Observer
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2012, 01:18:34 pm »

Far prefer it in b/w Seamus; the white, on my monitor at least, looks like delicious ice cream and good enough to lick! The slope doesn't bother me at all - means nothing within the genre of this image.

Rob C

stamper

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Re: Observer
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2012, 03:51:05 am »

Quote

Then it's just another 'figure and steps' thing.

Unquote.

In reality that is what it is? The bottom half - imo - doesn't add anything overall to the image and detracts from it. I like images such as this to be as simple as possible. Two persons and a shape that is a staircase.  :) BTW I think making it B&W was the best decision.

seamus finn

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Re: Observer
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2012, 05:16:43 am »


Just for the sake of the discussion, Stamper, here's a version with no 'clutter'. The second figure in the original stepped suddenly into the picture from nowhere just before I took the shot. walked quickly across the bottom of the frame and disappeared stage left in a straight line, so there was no way I could have included him without the dolphin etc. which probably would have been my instinct if he'd gone higher. After he went, I took this:


 
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stamper

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Re: Observer
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2012, 05:33:42 am »

That is what I visualised.  :)

RSL

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Re: Observer
« Reply #15 on: August 18, 2012, 08:08:41 am »

It's a completely different picture, Seamus, and the original is much better. That guy in the lower right needs to be there to complete the composition, and the dolphin gives a sense of place. The original is good street. The revision is a tourist snapshot.
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Jaffy

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Re: Observer
« Reply #16 on: August 18, 2012, 05:43:24 pm »

I don’t normally comment but as RSL says the first is great.
The potential interaction between the 2 figures allows a viewer to create loads of scenarios from the full picture. The top man can hear but not see the lower so when he comes into view will there be relief or resignation? Or a nod and a shot?…
As the photographer you know the outcome but as a viewer there is a great ambiguity in poses, haircuts and location which is a good basis for lots of short stories or imaginings.
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stamper

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Re: Observer
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2012, 04:15:35 am »

It's a completely different picture, Seamus, and the original is much better. That guy in the lower right needs to be there to complete the composition, and the dolphin gives a sense of place. The original is good street. The revision is a tourist snapshot.

I don't have a problem with the man being there it certainly helps but the dolphin brings nothing to the image imo. We beg to differ. :)

Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Observer
« Reply #18 on: August 19, 2012, 02:02:04 pm »

I prefer the original shoot, in B&W.

Starting at the top, I see the man first, then my eye follows the staircase down, and so far it all makes a (mildly boring) kind of sense.
Then I get to the bottom, where we have the other guy and the dolphin, and suddenly I'm in a surrealist world were dolphins climb stairs.
It no longer makes "obvious" sense, and I think that's why I like it.

As usual, my comments probably say more about the viewer than about the photograph.
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seamus finn

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Re: Observer
« Reply #19 on: August 19, 2012, 03:27:41 pm »

Quote
Starting at the top, I see the man first, then my eye follows the staircase down, and so far it all makes a (mildly boring) kind of sense.
Then I get to the bottom, where we have the other guy and the dolphin, and suddenly I'm in a surrealist world were dolphins climb stairs.
It no longer makes "obvious" sense, and I think that's why I like it.

Now you're talking, Eric
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