Looking in

PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
edited November 15, 2009 in Street and Documentary
Not sure that this store window shot belongs here. I'm interested to know if it works for anyone or evokes anything for you. It evoked an eery, nightmarish vibe for me. I'm not sure I captured that feeling. Feel free to tell me to sod off.

712535029_LbJUi-L.jpg
The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
... I'm still peeling potatoes.

patti hinton photography

Comments

  • thoththoth Registered Users Posts: 1,085 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    I think this is a miss, Patti. There are some interesting elements such as the diagonal shadows through the frame and the shadowy evolution of clowns in the background. However, the shot is just a little too hodgepodge to have any real power for me. I think it would have been much closer to working had the boxes not been there.

    Belonging in this forum is really a state of mind. If you intend for this shot to express some part of the human condition then I believe it belongs, even if the people aren't real. That is only my opinion, of course, and my self-imposed power is really quite meaningless, so take it with a grain of salt. :D
    Travis
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    The strong abstract composition drew me into this shot and then I liked what I saw. Pretty creepy in its way.

    The forum categories are pretty arbitrary, especially the distinctions between "Other Cool Shots", "People", and "Street & PJ". You reach a different audience depending. I'd say you are probably reaching the audience you want to with this shot in this forum.
    If not now, when?
  • Jack'll doJack'll do Registered Users Posts: 2,977 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    The more I look at this, the eerier it gets. I think the shadows falling across the clowns and projected on the wall creates the creepy feeling. One can imagine it as a still from a horror movie in which after bedtime they come to life and wreak havoc on humankind. :D
    jrg.smugmug.com

    Jack
    (My real name is John but Jack'll do)
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,967 moderator
    edited November 14, 2009
    Patti wrote:
    I'm interested to know if it works for anyone or evokes anything for you. It evoked an eery, nightmarish vibe for me. I'm not sure I captured that feeling.

    I think it does just what you wanted. It's creepy in an interesting way. My main nit is that the face of the clown in the center is in a rather dark shadow, though I guess some might find that it adds to the spookiness. The shadows in the background are neat.
    My Pics
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    Richard wrote:
    I think it does just what you wanted. It's creepy in an interesting way. My main nit is that the face of the clown in the center is in a rather dark shadow, though I guess some might find that it adds to the spookiness. The shadows in the background are neat.

    This image is very nice as is, but once you open Pandora's box, there are some post processing nits that you can fuss with. I downloaded and couldn't find a true black point nor a true white point. You can increase the contrast significantly by lightening up the big white spot which really has no detail. And you can pull the dark end of the curve in just a touch to get better blacks. A touch of shadow/highlight before will keep this all from plugging the shadows too much and also preserve the highlight details. But no reason to redo this image until it's your first magazine cover.
    If not now, when?
  • rainbowrainbow Registered Users Posts: 2,765 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    I think you achieved a scary, eerie look. Recently, my grown son told me that when you are a kid, clowns are incredibly scary. Here, they are obviously trying to look inanimate, but the glance of the dummy in the pic in the bottom right gives them away: they just killed the panda! Meanwhile the clowns are laying low because the shadows of the masked thieves skulking across the store are keeping them from more mischief. If you had taken another pic a minute later, you would have noticed similar, but slightly different positioning of these evil creatures. Bwah-ha-ha-ha....

    :yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    rainbow wrote:
    I think you achieved a scary, eerie look. Recently, my grown son told me that when you are a kid, clowns are incredibly scary. Here, they are obviously trying to look inanimate, but the glance of the dummy in the pic in the bottom right gives them away: they just killed the panda! Meanwhile the clowns are laying low because the shadows of the masked thieves skulking across the store are keeping them from more mischief. If you had taken another pic a minute later, you would have noticed similar, but slightly different positioning of these evil creatures. Bwah-ha-ha-ha....

    :yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes:yikes

    Laughing.gif! Poor Panda. Do you suppose this will result in the extinction of panda??

    I know clowns are scary for a lot of children. I had a recurrent nightmare about toy clowns, not unlike the one next to the panda, running back and forth outside my bedroom window, laughing with a terribly frightening laugh.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    thoth wrote:
    I think this is a miss, Patti. There are some interesting elements such as the diagonal shadows through the frame and the shadowy evolution of clowns in the background. However, the shot is just a little too hodgepodge to have any real power for me. I think it would have been much closer to working had the boxes not been there.

    Belonging in this forum is really a state of mind. If you intend for this shot to express some part of the human condition then I believe it belongs, even if the people aren't real. That is only my opinion, of course, and my self-imposed power is really quite meaningless, so take it with a grain of salt. :D

    That's what concerned me, that the photo was too cluttered and distracting without a strong enough focus. Your self-imposed power is very helpful so thank you for your truthfulness, conveyed gently.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 14, 2009
    Thanks rutt, Jack and Richard. I've not learned the Zone theory really although I've done a bit of reading about it. I look forward to learning a lot from comments about my attempts and discussion about others' contributions.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    I've tried a tighter crop that I think improves the strength of the shot despite cutting out some of the shadows going up the wall.

    713632535_6hKqL-L.jpg
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    I prefer the uncropped version with the logo on the case and the final shadow.

    I think I'm going to have to describe my B&W conversion workflow in detail including curves and sharpening. It's really very simple once learned, and I think it gets better results almost always than anything else.
    If not now, when?
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    rutt wrote:
    I prefer the uncropped version with the logo on the case and the final shadow.

    I think I'm going to have to describe my B&W conversion workflow in detail including curves and sharpening. It's really very simple once learned, and I think it gets better results almost always than anything else.

    Is that the green channel approach? I saw it mentioned but know nothing about it. A description would be great.

    Thanks for your thoughts on this crop vs. the original. You don't find the first one too busy?
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    Well, there is this thread and this tutorial. I suspect the later is more relevant to this shot.

    But neither really captures what I'm suggesting for this shot. Learning to use curves after conversion would probably be really fun and useful for you. It really opens a new area of creativity.
    If not now, when?
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    rutt wrote:
    Well, there is this thread and this tutorial. I suspect the later is more relevant to this shot.

    But neither really captures what I'm suggesting for this shot. Learning to use curves after conversion would probably be really fun and useful for you. It really opens a new area of creativity.


    Thanks rutt. This is a film shot so I can't try your conversion on this one. I've applied BD's conversion to digital photos but I don't have the fine tuning bit down at all as you can see. I've used curves in LR2 for quite awhile but not with any particular technical knowledge, just going by gut till it looks ok to me. Minimal knowledge of Zone etc. here.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    Don't worry about zones.

    Do you have Photoshop?
    If not now, when?
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    Here is another link that might help. It might not seem that relevant to B&W or if you are using curves in LR instead of PS, but really it is. Skip ahead to the part that starts "Fine, onto the L channel." Writing curves for the L channel is just like writing curves for a B&W image.
    If not now, when?
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited November 15, 2009
    Yes rutt, I've got CS4 but really haven't had the time to study up and learn to use it beyond a bit of high pass filter. I've also downloaded the beta of LR3 which I'm told has some interesting B&W conversion improvements.

    I'll study up. Thanks for the links.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
Sign In or Register to comment.