Size matters

Pedro

torags

HA!.... that's a great title....

the image ain't too shabby either... are you in the mood for a little straightening

craig_d

Interesting shot. Nice B&W tones. The background blur is just right, too. I get the impression that you blew out the sky, but since it's B&W it hardly matters; in fact, the effect looks really good. The sidewalk texture is cool, too.

One thing I need to work more on is figuring out when a bit of camera tilt is appropriate. I think you've got it right here. I probably would have shot it perfectly vertical and it would have seemed more static than this.

Richard

Nice capture. Another film one, I'm guessing. The tilt doesn't bother me, but I don't think it adds anything either. So it just depends on how obsessive-compulsive you are--fix it, leave it, whatever.

Is that Lisboa?

Pedro

Yep. It's a film photo. If it were a digital capture I would most probably have straighten it up.

With film I like the fillet (black border) generated from the negative - and to have that, I must skip recomposing.

It was shot in down town Lisbon - an area called Chiado.

bdcolen

Pedro wrote:

Yep. It's a film photo. If it were a digital capture I would most probably have straighten it up.

With film I like the fillet (black border) generated from the negative - and to have that, I must skip recomposing.

It was shot in down town Lisbon - an area called Chiado.

It's nice, Pedro - But I would crop and straighten it - then stick a thin black border on it. I'd also work on the curve to brighten it up a bit. There's something about this one that doesn't quite work for me the way the earlier shot did. But I'm not sure what. Actually maybe I do...I think perhaps that what attracts us to this is the fact that it's a black and white film shot, rather than the content of the image. That is, it's a photo of a guy making big bubbles. But what's the point? Guy. Bubbles. People way in the background. It just doesn't engage us. At least I think that's my problem.:ivar :ivar

craig_d

Interesting that everyone seems to disagree with me about the slight tilt of this picture. I think the reason I like it is that the leftward tilt is opposed by the bubbles themselves (the upper one seems slightly to the right of the lower one, and the line coming off the intersection of the two rods leans toward the right as well), along with the higher and more prominent of the two rods the man is holding.

Straightened, it would still be a perfectly fine picture, but I think the tilt adds a sense of the dynamic instability of what he's doing.

B.D.: "But what's the point?" I see it as a photo of a street performance in context, just as if the guy were a mime or a musician. The size of the bubbles, the light playing on them, and his evident concentration on what he's doing are what make the shot for me. I think you're right that it could stand to be brightened up, but only a little; I'd be wary of losing the quality of the light, and I happen to like this kind of look as long as the important details can be seen clearly, as I think they can here.

HoofClix

The tilt here doesn't bother me either, and I'm a straightener.... But what's missing here for me is the lack of any idea of motion in one direction or another. It's not that I would have shot a lower shutter speed, but that he just seems to be standing there with the bubbles drooping. Was there an instant while you were there when he might have been twisting or turning?

But I do like it, and go Sporting...

bdcolen

craig_d wrote:

Interesting that everyone seems to disagree with me about the slight tilt of this picture. I think the reason I like it is that the leftward tilt is opposed by the bubbles themselves (the upper one seems slightly to the right of the lower one, and the line coming off the intersection of the two rods leans toward the right as well), along with the higher and more prominent of the two rods the man is holding.

Straightened, it would still be a perfectly fine picture, but I think the tilt adds a sense of the dynamic instability of what he's doing.

B.D.: "But what's the point?" I see it as a photo of a street performance in context, just as if the guy were a mime or a musician. The size of the bubbles, the light playing on them, and his evident concentration on what he's doing are what make the shot for me. I think you're right that it could stand to be brightened up, but only a little; I'd be wary of losing the quality of the light, and I happen to like this kind of look as long as the important details can be seen clearly, as I think they can here.

But is it just a look qua look? What makes this image special?

Pedro

I agree the photo it's not special.

Basically I like the typical Lisbon floor and the big bubbles contrasting with the dark figure. The bw film look & feel is also refreshingly different (vs digital capture). But that's all.

Straightening or manipulating exposure / contrast would not make this a super photo. So, I decided to live it natural, without plastic surgery.