Advice on PP please!

[mjrichardson]

Hello there.

I have got the composition I was looking for, the focus on the snotty kid, the elbow behind and the other kid peering through, I like the blown out top left as well. I'm trying to put across a feel for the place, the heat, poverty, starkness of the contrast between what we in the west consider life and the reality of growing up poor in Southern Sudan.

Is that what is coming across or are you just seeing an over processed mess? I have gone high contrast on purpose but maybe it's a fraction too much?

Any suggestions from the collective would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mat.
[attachment=11791:_MG_1195_Edit.jpg]

[Jim Pascoe]

Hi Matt

I can see what you are at here and the childs face tells a story.  Personally I do find the elbow distracting and the bright sky too pale.  The shallow depth of field is great, but neither the eyes nor the snot are sharp.  The focus point seems to be between the two.  For me, I would rather have seen a bit more of the background to help tell the story, or less distractions and bang on focus to make the face really strong.  I am sure the picture evokes strong memories of your visit, and as one in a series of images about those people it would be great.  Don't get me wrong, it is a good picture.  I am just looking to be constructive.

Jim

[mjrichardson]

Hi Jim!

Thanks for taking the time to comment and for the constructive critique!

I guess it's a little out of context on it's own, it's one of a series of around 20 I took of this small group of kids. Originally I dismissed the shot because I had caught the focus point on the forehead and not the eyes or the snot! But whilst messing about with it, trying different processing techniques it seemed to work and evoked a sense of what I was after.

Do you have any views on the processing itself? It's slightly different to what I normally do with my images but want to do a number of shots in the same way to tie the series together.

Thanks again for your views, all appreciated.

Mat

[ddk]

Hello there.

I have got the composition I was looking for, the focus on the snotty kid, the elbow behind and the other kid peering through, I like the blown out top left as well. I'm trying to put across a feel for the place, the heat, poverty, starkness of the contrast between what we in the west consider life and the reality of growing up poor in Southern Sudan.

Is that what is coming across or are you just seeing an over processed mess? I have gone high contrast on purpose but maybe it's a fraction too much?

Any suggestions from the collective would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mat.
[attachment=11791:_MG_1195_Edit.jpg]

Hi Mat,
I think that you can still make it work, I too find the elbow and the background very distracting, you can always lower the contrast, lighten it up and blur it a touch more more. The shirt and the necklace could use less sharpening than the face, so as not to compete with it.

[mjrichardson]

Hi David!

That's great advice, thanks very much. I think I'll have a play a bit more and see whether I can add more focus to the kid and separate the background a little, without making it look false!

Cheers.

Mat