Albuquerque Tea Party

Matt518

Several thousand residents in Albuquerque gathered at a popular intersection to protest their dissatisfaction with the current administration's tax and spending policies.



Those in attendance ranged in age from senior citizens to young children.

afev0602

You had a lot of very interesting subjects to point your camera at....I can imagine in that setting things are a bit hectic but it seems you may have just taken the shots too quick without thinking the end result out.

1. I think it could use some processing -, the color seems off--maybe it's the white balance and the washed out sky...

2. I think a different vantage point on this or different crop maybe?? The sign she is carrying is so large I think I would have gotten her full form in the shot.

3.Most all of your subjects in your shots are centered in the frame, try moving a bit off center with them.

I can see the sun wasn't helping you in some of these shots and the last shot of the Marine would have been interested in seeing more of the bagpipes in the shot.

Matt518

I appreciate your response, but I wasn't taking the shots too quick.

A few things to explain - I was a little shaken up at the time. I almost got hit (while on my motorcycle) by a car speeding through the parking lost just moments before the pics were taken. I literally locked up the rear brake, stood up on the pegs and stopped a few feet from the car.

There were people and traffic everywhere; many of the pics I was actually standing in the street (or crossing the street) avoiding traffic - both vehicular and human.

I'm also having an issue with my 50mm prime. I took several test shots beforehand and felt the settings were adequate. It doesn't meter with my camera so for some reason the pics look perfect when viewed on the LCD, but when I upload them the backgrounds are washed out.

These were just a few; there are many others that turned out better but I'm using those for other purposes. This was thread was for information purposes, not really a request for C&C, but I do appreciate your input.

Toshido

Matt...

From my understanding this is a photography forum, not a political forum.

We discuss pictures here, hence the comments on the pictures.

So my understanding is that "Information" threads should be informing about photography.

That said...

1...Might get lucky with a graduated filter type of effect to bring back the sky a little. I personally use the adjustement brush in Lightroom for this.
Composition wise, the bus ruins it completely. The bus draws me to it and i feel like it should be the focus point, not the protesters.
The backlit flag seems really washed out as well. Again an adjustement brush in lightroom and I would have dropped the exposure on it to bing some colour and details back to it.

2.... Seems overexposed to me. Losing details in hair. Likely her sunglasses in her left hand poking out from behind sign, distracting.
Worse part is the cut off sign though.

3... Again with the cut off sign.


4... is likely the strongest in my opinion. Makes a nice statement about the professed poor still have many for beer and cigarettes. Both of the young women have a cigarette and the one on the left even wrote her sign on a beer box.
I like how they have money for luxuries like beer and cigarettes but still have to protest like this.

Would love to be able to read the bottom of the green sign though.

5 & 6... They both look pretty good to me. Wit the exception that again I would like to see more at the bottom. Either the whole sign, or as mentioned before more bagpipe.

Matt518

Thanks for the response, although you may be misconstruing the purpose of this thread. This forum is "People, PJ, Street." There were people, and they were on the street. I was there for the sole purpose of photographing the event. I did not post this thread to make any personal political statements, and if that is the consensus then I ask this thread be deleted. I also don't buy that the only purpose for this forum is for comments and critique; I think it's also about sharing experiences, and this is one of mine that I chose to share. I posted this thread in a "PJ" style for that reason.

The issue of exposure has been addressed. The pictures looked fine on the LCD when I took them, but for some reason there was some over-exposure when I viewed them on the computer. I'm also using a laptop, which we all know isn't the ideal platform for image editing/ color correction, so it's possible they look different on mine than some others.

I used an older manual 50mm on a crop body camera, hence some pictures being cut off. I have a tendency to overlook that when framing - attribute it to getting caught up in the events. I'll have to pay more attention to that in the future.

It's nearly impossible to take pictures that nobody will find faults in, so I don't try to.

afev0602

It's nearly impossible to take pictures that nobody will find faults in, so I don't try to.

My error, I visit this site to look hard at photo's and learn from the folks around here. It's pretty amazing what I've learned from other peoples photo's on this forum--both good and bad.

When I do post photos on this forum it's usually because I'm so enamored with the shot I've taken that I probably am not seeing it right and am looking for a reality check--haha (this happens pretty frequently when I photograph the grandbaby)

So, my comments were not intended to step on your toes....

Toshido

I post pictures here to learn.

If all I wanted a slap on the ass and a "great shot" comment I would post on Flickr.

Matt518

afev0602 wrote:

So, my comments were not intended to step on your toes....

They didn't. I wasn't offended. Sometimes I just want to share and C&C isn't necessary.

tijoseph

Matt, thanks for sharing these pictures.

What I really would have liked to see, is the look on your face as you hit your bike's brakes!

I almost got hit today on mine too! I know what you mean.

Tango

Toshido wrote:

I post pictures here to learn.

If all I wanted a slap on the ass and a "great shot" comment I would post on Flickr.

Matt518

Toshido wrote:

I post pictures here to learn.

If all I wanted a slap on the ass and a "great shot" comment I would post on Flickr.

Good to know. I'm here to learn, to share and to help whenever possible. I don't limit or restrict my purpose for being here, but to each his own.

Matt518

tijoseph wrote:

Matt, thanks for sharing these pictures.

What I really would have liked to see, is the look on your face as you hit your bike's brakes!

I almost got hit today on mine too! I know what you mean.

It's terrible having to deal with inattentive drivers. I stopped riding on the street 12 years ago because I had too many close calls. I'm sure pics of me wouldn't have been that great; it was more of an aggravated, frustrated kind of look, coupled with a few obscenities echoing from within my helmet. I tried to keep my cool as she had young children in the car with her. Be safe out there.

kenglade

Matt518 wrote:

I appreciate your response, but I wasn't taking the shots too quick.

A few things to explain - I was a little shaken up at the time. I almost got hit (while on my motorcycle) by a car speeding through the parking lost just moments before the pics were taken. I literally locked up the rear brake, stood up on the pegs and stopped a few feet from the car.

There were people and traffic everywhere; many of the pics I was actually standing in the street (or crossing the street) avoiding traffic - both vehicular and human.

I'm also having an issue with my 50mm prime. I took several test shots beforehand and felt the settings were adequate. It doesn't meter with my camera so for some reason the pics look perfect when viewed on the LCD, but when I upload them the backgrounds are washed out.

These were just a few; there are many others that turned out better but I'm using those for other purposes. This was thread was for information purposes, not really a request for C&C, but I do appreciate your input.

Hey, that's photojournalism. The object is to come back with the pix.

Matt518

kenglade wrote:

Hey, that's photojournalism. The object is to come back with the pix.

Yep, and I loved every minute of it. Even though I almost died (ok, not really) and the pics didn't turn out great, I had a blast just being there and photographing everything.

kenglade

Matt518 wrote:

Yep, and I loved every minute of it. Even though I almost died (ok, not really) and the pics didn't turn out great, I had a blast just being there and photographing everything.

The joys of photojournalism!