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Boardwalk
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I was having a bit of a brainless wander around the city last easter time, and I took this on the boardwalk along the Liffey, I liked it but couldn’t do anything with it at the time, since then I’ve learned alot more about photoshop plus I’ve been pretty inspired by different photographers (Noah Grey & Ciaran Whyte)and I’ve finally got around to editing it.
I would love to hear what you think …
Lorraine
I like the expression of the face.
The top background (houses?) is disturbing….also maybe less contrast? … make softer the picture?….my feelings.For me it’s too contrasty, and I like contrasty shots. The other thing would be the buildings at the top of the frame, because the contrast is so high their white bits really stand out and draw the eye away from what they should be focussing on. personally I’d draw a line from the top of the wall on the left side of the frame and crop to that height. My 2c inanyways.
Thanks guys. I completely agree about the line of houses and the book – the way the light areas take your eye completely from the face – I might try to fiddle with it again.
To be honest the more I look at this photo the more I see wrong with it … which I suppose is good because I have a better idea of how to go about getting it next time. :)
I appreiacte you taking the time to comment.. ;)
Ta
Lorraine
Think most creatives are like that with their work, Lorraine, you’re not the only one.
:lol:
Thanks Mick …. good to know I’m not completely loosing my mind ..
Lorraine
I like this shot, the subject is something I need to get a bit of experience at.
In regard to the contrast, it works (for me), to an extent, but his hand is a bit blown out, I also think that a closer crop can easily exclude the background noise, and will also show the intense concentration.
There was one thing about it bugging me, and its nothing you could have done anything about. There is some sort of bump in the wall near his mouth and it looks like he is smoking a fag, which he is, but he’s holding it in his hand!!
I think with a little bit of work you could have a cracking shot.
Rgds
Kevin
The shot is very contrasty with blocked up blacks and some blown highlights. Normal conventions dictate that these are bad things, but in small doses or in areas where detail isn’t important I think people can get away with it. However on the subject itself, your high contrast adjustments have meant the areas of the book/hand are blown white and large portions of the persons coat are pure black.
Our eyes are drawn naturally to areas of contrast and in this case that means the book more than the persons face, which is the true subject.
The overall image is soft from handholding a 70mm focal length (effectively a 105mm on film) at only 1/40″. You would need to have used a shutter speed of 1/125 and considering you shot at f14, this is more than feasible by simply opening up the aperture a stop or two. You’ve then over sharpened blurred lettering which leads to the jaggies.
The good news is that these are technical things in the taking of the photograph and the post processing. These are the easy bits to fix and learn. You did really well to capture and compose the shot. Next time just watch out for your choice of aperture and shutter speed and be careful to retain detail in the important parts of the scene.
Technically, perhaps not nailed, but I like the feel of the shot. And that does look like a cigarette in his mouth!
Thanks again for the advice ;) I do appreicate it
I’ve developed a nasty habit of metering when I take shots as opposed to thinking of exposure, so I have found that quite a few of the shots i’ve taken I’ve made this mistake and been on completely innapropriate settings for the photograph i want :cry: … I’m working on it though :D
The contrasty look to the shot , I do like it – I think I did overcook it (ehem just a little)
If I get the chance – I’m going to take it again – This guy is often on the boardwalk and I’ve been known to prowl along there at lunch times so fingers crossed
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine,
For me, the strongest line in the shot is that between his eyes and the book. the rest is background. I would be interested in seeing a tight crop with this line on the diagonal, especially if you can get his eye or book on one of the “Golden-mean” points, as discussed in Ciaran’s article. A 1.618:1 portrait crop (you will lose some of the head and book probably) might be interesting.
Have fun and thanks for posting.
Si
I had another go – thanks Simon for the suggestions .. As I said to you ..I’d never spotted that line before but I like it alot :) – Its a shame i missed so badly on the shutter speed . Grrrr!!
But who knows.. might teach me a lesson :shock:
L
lorraine
I love this photo. You are crazy to worry about the shot not being pin sharp, photos don’t have to be totally sharp to work, just look at some of the pulitzer prize winning images. First objective has always got to be to get the shot, period. i am sure theres millions of award winning photos that were never taken because people think they have got to have it technically perfect, so miss the opportunity.
I often work on jobs with some well known press photographers who actually shoot with their cameras on fully automatic (exposure, focus etc..) but they get the shots time and time again.
I like the contrasty look, it works for the subject (its a gritty look), just dont blow the highlights on his hands and book (they look fine on your cropped version), The shadows are not as important.
I like your original crop better, it gives him a bit of space ‘to be thinking in’. I would just crop the top a bit, take out the buildings behind the wall and go in a bit on the top of his head.
You can NEVER take that photo again, but i don’t think you need to!Burt.
Without going into the compositional aspects I love the deep blacks and whites. Noah Grey’s work would not fit in with normal convention (whatever that is) but it is brilliant. As you say you were inspired by his work and you have gone some way towards realising his style. Have a look at his work again and notice how he has a lot of pure black emptiness.
Banishing the houses in this blackness would have helped refocus the subject. Having a chat with him on boards, he mentioned that he always worked from a blank black canvas and then “painted” in what he felt was important. I’d love to have the time to experiment more on this type of stuff myself. As I mentioned on another thread I find working with RAW, as Noah does, and doing the conversion within Rawshooter I can get the deep blacks I like.
I don’t want to be pimping my pics, they are no great shakes anyway, but they can be found here. They were my attempt, in most cases, to recreate Noah’s style. I have a long way to go but it’s fun.
Somebody said that Noah is a member here. He’s definitely on boards (Greysoul), and he is very giving with advice. A really nice guy.
On another note I am nearly sure that this guy in the pic is Con Houlihan the legendary sports reporter with the defunct Evening Press. An Oxford don and one of the best writers we have produced. I think you have caught a celebrity :)
Valentia wrote:
… I am nearly sure that this guy in the pic is Con Houlihan the legendary sports reporter…
Funny! That’s exactly who I thought it was when I saw the pic first!
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