Rain

PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
edited May 20, 2010 in Street and Documentary
866571800_QJQye-L.jpg
crop out the bus? I like it there - context, balances the building on the right. Opinions?
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

  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited May 14, 2010
    Patti wrote: »
    crop out the bus? I like it there - context, balances the building on the right. Opinions?

    First of all, I really like this shot. clap.gif The bus doesn't bother me at all, but it would still be a great shot without it so I think it doesn't matter much which way you go. The most important things are the three guys trying to get out of the rain and the screaming kid. If it were mine, I would leave the bus but correct the slight clockwise tilt.
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Thanks Richard. Bit of a typo in the title too I see. Must have been my blurry early morning eyes when I posted this. I thought I'd straightened it but all evidence to the contrary. Laughing.gif
    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
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited May 14, 2010
    Patti wrote: »
    Bit of a typo in the title too I see.

    I fixed that for you...I hope you meant "rain." :D
  • black mambablack mamba Registered Users Posts: 8,323 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Hi Patti,

    This shot really appeals to me. I vote for keeping all the present elements in the shot. I don't often like shots with so much grain in them but, in this case, I think it helps to make the picture. Well done.

    Tom
    I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Rain
    Richard wrote:

    I fixed that for you...I hope you meant "rain." :D
    I was noticing that too! I was looking for the dog. rolleyes1.gif

    I like it!

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook
    .
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Patti wrote: »
    Thanks Richard. Bit of a typo in the title too I see. Must have been my blurry early morning eyes when I posted this. I thought I'd straightened it but all evidence to the contrary. Laughing.gif

    Patti, this is on it's way to being a killer image! I would definitely crop because I see the child as the main subject, and the men on the right as very important elements. Having the bus on the left takes over the image. Also, I'd burn in the sidewalk more for the puddles, reflections and shadows, and dodge/screen Mom's coat and the area under the umbrella. But it's all a matter of taste. rolleyes1.gif
    P.S. the "x" is multiply

    crying child-000093.jpg
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Good one Don. I'll look for some 'tin'
    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 May 14, 2010
    I'm going to tackle those edits you suggested BD. Thanks for the feedback. I'll get back with it as soon as I can. Talk amongst yourselves. Laughing.gif
    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
  • BrewsterBrewster Registered Users Posts: 117 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    Patti
    I'm torn.
    In the original, my attention is drawn to the girl looking directly at the camera. I seem to always focus on the eyes, but thats me, and she is grabbing my attention by looking directly at the camera. The bus works, balancing the shot. I LOVE the grain.

    And then, I look at the edit suggested by bd. hmmmm.

    Either way, VERY nice catch.
  • bfjrbfjr Registered Users Posts: 10,980 Major grins
    edited May 14, 2010
    I like the original. It's a good one and every time I go back I see more.
    Like the feel and texture of it all and I definitely like it better then the one with
    the squiggly red lines rolleyes1.gif
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2010
    My amateur attempt at BD's suggested edits. Opinions gladly welcomed. I did this in LR2 because my knowledge of CS4 is pretty limited.

    869689876_HN9Na-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
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,961 moderator
    edited May 17, 2010
    I almost hate to say it after all the work, but I prefer the original. It took me a while to figure out why, but I think it is because the bus adds a feeling of oppression that goes nicely with a screaming kid and seeking shelter from the rain. Without the bus, it is more open--I tend to look past the kid rather than settling there. If that's what you want, then it's fine, but it has less impact for me. ne_nau.gif
  • FlowermanFlowerman Registered Users Posts: 141 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2010
    Patti: Don certainly has it - but I have limited ability with Photoshop. IMHO a crop will do it - take out all above the base of the sign "Wellington" and to the left of the "Umbrella", what you will have left is the child demanding the "Lolli pop and all onlookers saying - nasty Mom". Great shot as it tells the story in a glance.
    ED

    www.photoman74.smugmug.com
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2010
    Flowerman wrote: »
    Patti: Don certainly has it - but I have limited ability with Photoshop. IMHO a crop will do it - take out all above the base of the sign "Wellington" and to the left of the "Umbrella", what you will have left is the child demanding the "Lolli pop and all onlookers saying - nasty Mom". Great shot as it tells the story in a glance.
    ED

    www.photoman74.smugmug.com
    That would certainly be another 'take' on this image, although the girl on the far lef taht you want to crop out, now that ou mentions it, could be seen as also reacting to the mother and child. headscratch.gifdunno

    As to me (if you mean me) and Photoshop, I am pretty strictly an LR man! :D Maybe you meant B.D.?

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook
    .
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 17, 2010
    I like aspects of both. BD's edit draws more attention to the men looking at the crying child for me but it feels off balance to me, like something is missing on the left. A bus perhaps??? I like the compressing feeling of the bus and the context it adds (mother rushing child toward the bus) in the original and although the men aren't quite as prominent, I feel my eye wandering around the circle of activity and seeing more.
    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
  • FlowermanFlowerman Registered Users Posts: 141 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2010
    Patti: You are correct IMO the "Original" shot with the bus tells a complete story - eventho it diminishes the need for the men.
    I like the original - best.
    ED

    P.S. I finally got out to do some shooting - will post shortly.



    www.photoman74.smugMug.com
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2010
    I too like the original more.
    Can't really say why--it just feels right.
    Liz A.
    _________
  • Jack'll doJack'll do Registered Users Posts: 2,977 Major grins
    edited May 19, 2010
    I think the bus and the granite building on the right being angled in, create a funnel effect that draws my eyes down the sidewalk slowly taking in all of the people. In the cropped version, my eyes go right to the woman with the umbrella and stop there. The cropped version has less of a feeling of depth for me.

    Jack
    (My real name is John but Jack'll do)
  • AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited May 20, 2010
    Patti wrote: »
    My amateur attempt at BD's suggested edits. Opinions gladly welcomed. I did this in LR2 because my knowledge of CS4 is pretty limited.

    869689876_HN9Na-S.jpg

    I think this version is better than the original. BD's advice on dodging very good. Here you're blacks are not so saturated and you gain some detail in the jackets. And the loss of the bus concentrates focus on the people. There's still plenty of content to define this as urban without being hit over the head.

    My problem with the shot is the camera's POV. It appears you're shooting over the heads of the central figures. Combined with the man on the right / foreground, the center figure seem like miniatures. Were you elevated in some way when shooting this?

    .
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2010
    Angelo wrote: »
    I think this version is better than the original. BD's advice on dodging very good. Here you're blacks are not so saturated and you gain some detail in the jackets. And the loss of the bus concentrates focus on the people. There's still plenty of content to define this as urban without being hit over the head.

    My problem with the shot is the camera's POV. It appears you're shooting over the heads of the central figures. Combined with the man on the right / foreground, the center figure seem like miniatures. Were you elevated in some way when shooting this?

    .

    No, I was standing on the sidewalk and I'm only 5'2". Thanks for your comments Angelo. I appreciate your feedback.
    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
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