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Author Topic: Night Work  (Read 1308 times)

RSL

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Night Work
« on: February 20, 2013, 10:21:58 am »

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RedwoodGuy

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2013, 10:31:55 am »

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I really love everything about this photo. It is intriguing and just a little mysterious while being direct and in the open stylistically. Only a little of the characters is shown, and yet it tells a big story. The lighting is almost opposite of what I might expect for a photo like this, but it works perfectly. The small fixings like the white screened TV and the sombrero are great details to browse. Even the pattern of the chair finials is visually delightful. Very nice photo in every way.
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2013, 11:08:56 am »

Very satisfying, with just enough mystery.
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amolitor

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2013, 11:33:34 am »

It almost works for me. I agree that there's a lot of visually interesting stuff to look at in here, but what's missing for me is any coherent image.

Where others see mystery, I see cut-off figures. I can't tell if there's proper ambiguity of human interaction there, or if you just chopped off the parts that would make it all clear and uninteresting. The dense collection of visual stuff is nice, but a bit too chaotic for my taste. The table on the right is trying to be the subject, by its position and size, but can't be the subject, being the least interesting thing in the picture (I think?).

Finally, the relatively low angle of view bothers me. This is probably only because as a guy who pushes a shutter button from time to time I am tuned in to the ethics of shooting people unawares, but this is the second one in a couple of days that appears to have been shot from a surreptitious angle. If the "view from a hidden camera" aethetic served the image in any way, I'd be more willing to accept it, but I'm not feelin it here.
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RedwoodGuy

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2013, 11:52:43 am »

..... I am tuned in to the ethics of shooting people unawares, but this is the second one in a couple of days that appears to have been shot from a surreptitious angle. If the "view from a hidden camera" aethetic served the image in any way, I'd be more willing to accept it, but I'm not feelin it here.


A thorny question, and a good one to raise.
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RSL

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2013, 12:07:25 pm »

Sorry Andrew, but I think calling a shot made from a table where you're having a drink and dinner a "surreptitious angle" is a bit over the top. I shoot from restaurant seats all the time. Here's another one. I've posted it before, but I think that was before you came on LuLa. Is this one shot from a "surreptitious angle" too?
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amolitor

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2013, 12:10:43 pm »

Sorry, I was unclear, perhaps?

I don't mean to accuse you of being particularly sneaky. What I meant to say, and should have said, was that the apparent angle of view feels like a hidden camera, a camera used in secrecy. Certainly the angle of view is consistent with a camera set on a table as well (whether that's "sneaky" is a completely separate discussion, and not one where I have an opinion one way or the other).

I think I would find the image more comfortable if there was a little expanse of table in the foreground. This would have the effect of totally changing the image, and perhaps it's worth thinking about why that is.
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Riaan van Wyk

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2013, 12:16:16 pm »

Very satisfying, with just enough mystery.

I agree Russ, wish full thinking on my part is to have hoped there was a pair of high heels on the lady..I saw her ankle first.

amolitor

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #8 on: February 20, 2013, 12:19:16 pm »

The second one actually seems to me to be from a higher angle, Russ. It looks like it was taken perhaps from the eye level of a seated man. Still a little "oddly low" but not "spy camera" low. As such, I react more naturally to it.

Is any of this making sense?
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RSL

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Re: Night Work
« Reply #9 on: February 20, 2013, 01:57:27 pm »

I'm not complaining about your assessment, Andrew, and I see what you mean. All I can do is assure you that in both cases I was sitting, and I don't think I've been growing taller since the first shot. I don't remember, but it's quite possible that in the first case I was sitting in a booth with a fairly low seat. I remember the second situation. I was in a booth then too. I just looked up the exif for the first shot. I used a Nikon ES400. That was, I think, a 5 megapixel point-and-shoot. The lens was zoomed at a 35mm equivalent of 28mm, so obviously I was in very close. I don't need the exif for the second shot. I remember it well. I was in a booth again, but I was shooting with my E-P1 and a Summilux that's the equivalent of 50mm on a full-frame camera. I think that's part of it. But the other thing is that the bar in the first picture is raised quite high above the tables and booths, so I was shooting upward, close in. In the second pic the target booth was at the same level as my camera. So, yes, the first one looks as if it's from a lower point of view. That's just the way geometry works.
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