Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: tom w on March 02, 2012, 11:52:06 pm
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Nothing special, but I couldn't pass it by.
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Perfect timing for the light.
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Hi Tom,
Nice image with very nice pastel tones and please forgive me for the small crop I have applied to your image, but I think by removing the slightly distracting shadow on the lower part of the image, it will allow the viewer to concentrate on the main content of the image, rather than getting stuck by following the line of the shadow from left to right and back again.
Dave
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Dave,
I think your crop is the right thing to do. This image is cropped from a slightly larger pic. I wanted to give some locale context to the image by leaving in bit of the sidewalk, but I agree the shadow is distracting.
Thanks.
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Excuse me for being the odd sonofabitch out again, but I think that by removing that dark shadow of the lamp at the foot, you've killed the image dead. It says nothing now. It just floats weakly in space - hung on the wall, so to speak.
The first one had balls; this V.2 hasn't.
Rob C
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Sorry Dave,
I am with Rob,
The crop is a shocker. Perhaps clone out the shadow if it is a distraction but the pavement provides a base to the wall and places it all more in context.
The real trick is to see the final crop when you are shooting and make it all final from the start.
Cheers,
W
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Croppers almost always come a cropper.
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This is the image as it came out of ACR.
I didn't have a lot of time with this shot because I had to step out into the middle of a fairly busy street to make it.
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I like the first version a lot. Engaging and humorous.
Scott
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I think that if you work up this third version (the complete shot) you'll probably get the best picture of the set.
As Russ indicated, the uncropped shot is often the best because it's what attracted the shooter in the first place. Having said that, if you use a cellphone in sunshine, cropping becomes de rigueur snce it's the only way to remove the guesswork!
;-)
Rob C
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Guesswork, Rob? No guess work with mine.
I always crop in the camera and frankly I far prefer the full shot. It is more descriptive to me whereas the crop becomes a catalogue shot.
Just my $0.20¢
W
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I agree with Rob and Russ; the crop removes the wall from its surroundings pretty much completely. I don't even agree that the shadow is a distraction. For me, it frames the shot at the bottom and keeps the eye inside.
Jeremy
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I also prefer the uncropped shot, which places the storefront in its context. I only wish there was something more interesting on the sidewalk than a shadow.
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Guesswork, Rob? No guess work with mine.
I always crop in the camera and frankly I far prefer the full shot. It is more descriptive to me whereas the crop becomes a catalogue shot.
Just my $0.20¢
W
My cell's a Samsung Galaxy Ace - aka S5830, and I can assure you that outdoors, in the usual sunshine, it's impossible to see much of anything at all. Shooting into the light, the only indication I have of content is where I can pick up some highlight on the sea, and I extrapolate content sideways and vertically from there, which since I'm always guessing the acceptance angle of the thing, isn't a huge help. It's perfectly ok indoors, but definitely not so most of the time outside. Ironic, since it has a lovely big sreen! I'd have imagined (and did!) that shooting into the light, which means that the dark side of the world is behind one, would have made viewing acceptable, but no. These things need a viewfinder!
I don't like cropping, either - the result of much 35mm working.
;-)
Rob C
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I'm not sure how cell phones came into this discussion. This was shot with an X100. I was driving by and it was the yellow store front which caught my eye. I parked near by and had to watch the traffic as I stood in the street. So, it was a quick couple of shots. This is the result of a little bit of straightening and a minimal crop.
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Cellphones: haven't you noticed? They ring all the time, everywhere you go.
Rob C
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I'm not sure how cell phones came into this discussion.
If that's something you want this discussion to be about then comment on it; but if that's not something you want the discussion to be about then don't bring it up at all - doing so will just generate a bunch more comments about what you didn't want to discuss. (Like this one.)
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Tom,
I am about to purchase a Fuji X100 precisely for this kind of shooting. I'd be curious to learn your opinion of how suited the camera is for this.
Despite comments regarding cropping this remains a wonderful piece of urban eccentricity which is a recurring theme for me.
W
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If that's something you want this discussion to be about then comment on it; but if that's not something you want the discussion to be about then don't bring it up at all - doing so will just generate a bunch more comments about what you didn't want to discuss. (Like this one.)
Getting there Isaac, getting there!
I'm typing wearing woollen gloves - don't ask - and it's very confusing for the fingers and also, I note, the keyboard.
Rob C
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Tom,
I am about to purchase a Fuji X100 precisely for this kind of shooting. I'd be curious to learn your opinion of how suited the camera is for this.
Despite comments regarding cropping this remains a wonderful piece of urban eccentricity which is a recurring theme for me.
W
Walter, how many cameras does that make?
;-)
Rob C
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Sorry Dave,
I am with Rob,
The crop is a shocker. Perhaps clone out the shadow if it is a distraction but the pavement provides a base to the wall and places it all more in context.
The real trick is to see the final crop when you are shooting and make it all final from the start.
Cheers,
W
OK everyone fair doos ::) I am big enough to say that I might be wrong this time and yes I would have also preferred the shot with some side walk in front of it, to allow the viewer to travel into the image, but I seemed to get stuck on the shadow rather than looking at the rest of the image, so thought it might help the composition by cropping it out. But as everyone here also seems to agree, it is better to crop in the camera and to achieve this, I would have walked further into the shot (waiting for the traffic to leave enough time for me to do so of course), to find a composition that removed the shadow but also made more of the side walk without a shadow, but perhaps that is just my style of working.
Dave
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Tom,
I am about to purchase a Fuji X100 precisely for this kind of shooting. I'd be curious to learn your opinion of how suited the camera is for this.
Despite comments regarding cropping this remains a wonderful piece of urban eccentricity which is a recurring theme for me.
W
I am thoroughly enjoying the X100. Many people complain about navigating the menus and slow auto-focus, but this has not been an issue for me. Most of the subjects I shoot with it are not going to move and I have the camera set-up the way I prefer and do not have to mess much with menus. I find the IQ to be really good. I can take it anywhere. And for me the fixed lens is more liberating than limiting. If I want a choice of focal lengths I can go to my K5.
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It seems we a re like peas in a pod Tom,
Even my trusty 5D which I have had since its release has only ever been set to RAW, M, and manual Kº. I only use the centre AF point. Menus may be important to some, but not me. And as you say, the ability to see the world largely in terms of a single field of view is indeed liberating.
Comforting to know I am not alone.
W