Back to basics

Richard

C&C always appreciated.

saikano

1st is coool :P I would crop the top part a little bit though :P

Richard

saikano wrote: »

1st is coool :P I would crop the top part a little bit though :P

Thanks. I really like the poster so I don't want to lose any of it.

bfjr

That's quite a stride in #1

and contrasts well with #2, at least for me

Richard

bfjr wrote: »

That's quite a stride in #1

and contrasts well with #2, at least for me

I would like to think that each pic stands alone, but I liked the idea of grouping them.

michswiss

I agree with the idea that we need to get back to some basics.

I see what you did with #1 (at least I think I do) and it adds an additional layer. Don't get rid of the poster, it makes the shot.

I also see the contrast in #2, but it leaves me flat as an image.

rainbow

I like #2 with the look of fatigue/resignation/struggle of the person (I often guess wrong on the gender) contrasted with the guy in the midground (who incidentally has a longish awkward looking stride). This is one that I would have preferred you to be closer (tighter crop?)

Richard

Thanks for commenting, Jenn.

Here's a different crop on #2:



I also tried a square one, but didn't care for it much. The problem with getting closer by cropping in this one is that the guy on the right is overexposed and the bigger he gets, the more obvious it becomes.

Flowerman

Both shots - original - are great and tell their story immediately. My nitpic with the first one is can there be some additional space to the left for the person to be walking to? Don't loose any of the sign. The second one is most powerful for me. It shows life and perhaps the crulety of age. The young guy walking with a long stride and the old guy needing assistance to walk.
Whenever I look at newly taken photos - which I think these are, I wonder if the color version would have more impact.
Ed

www.Photoman74.smugmug.com

bdcolen

Richard wrote: »

Thanks. I really like the poster so I don't want to lose any of it.

Especially given that it makes the photo! rofl

Richard

Flowerman wrote: »

Both shots - original - are great and tell their story immediately. My nitpic with the first one is can there be some additional space to the left for the person to be walking to? Don't loose any of the sign. The second one is most powerful for me. It shows life and perhaps the crulety of age. The young guy walking with a long stride and the old guy needing assistance to walk.
Whenever I look at newly taken photos - which I think these are, I wonder if the color version would have more impact.
Ed

www.Photoman74.smugmug.com

Thanks Ed. I agree that some space to the left in #1 would have helped, but the pic is uncropped so it's too late now. I went straight to B&W on both of these. The original colors weren't especially ugly, but they didn't add anything of value either.

Flowerman

Richard, I agree and like the fact that the shots are direct w/o that dreaded Photoshop.
One question of a general nature for you and all who post in Street & PJ - Is it scarasant to post in color? I know most of the old photos were B&W by the very nature at first color was very slow and shifted within a short period of time. - but now with Digital IMHO color adds to the drama. In my early years one had to use B&W to be able to work on the shot in the darkroom, but I was so tired of doing it because I see in color and love to record in color. My new camera, a Panasonic DMC-LX3 shoots in B&W but I don't like the result.
O.K. that is enough of ranting. Thanks.
ED

michswiss

Flowerman wrote: »

Richard, I agree and like the fact that the shots are direct w/o that dreaded Photoshop.
One question of a general nature for you and all who post in Street & PJ - Is it scarasant to post in color? I know most of the old photos were B&W by the very nature at first color was very slow and shifted within a short period of time. - but now with Digital IMHO color adds to the drama. In my early years one had to use B&W to be able to work on the shot in the darkroom, but I was so tired of doing it because I see in color and love to record in color. My new camera, a Panasonic DMC-LX3 shoots in B&W but I don't like the result.
O.K. that is enough of ranting. Thanks.
ED

I think this has been done to death. B&W is an aesthetic decision that is consistent with street and documentary photography tradition as well as an excellent vehicle to learn storytelling through images. And sometimes it just works better.

That said, have you been checking my recent images? B.D.'s? Others? I've been working in colour a lot recently and enjoying it. It's a deliberate decision. Not just because my camera happens to capture a full spectrum with each shutter release. B&W is still an excellent option.

Richard

Flowerman wrote: »

Richard, I agree and like the fact that the shots are direct w/o that dreaded Photoshop.
One question of a general nature for you and all who post in Street & PJ - Is it scarasant to post in color? I know most of the old photos were B&W by the very nature at first color was very slow and shifted within a short period of time. - but now with Digital IMHO color adds to the drama. In my early years one had to use B&W to be able to work on the shot in the darkroom, but I was so tired of doing it because I see in color and love to record in color. My new camera, a Panasonic DMC-LX3 shoots in B&W but I don't like the result.
O.K. that is enough of ranting. Thanks.
ED

As Jenn said, this topic has received a lot of discussion. You might want to have a look at this thread, which covers it pretty well. The bottom line for me is that one should choose whatever works best for the particular image. Color can add to the drama or beauty but it can also distract. I think Dgrinner seastack put it well in this post: in street shooting, color is simply harder to get right.

As for Photoshop (or other processing software--LightRoom, Aperture, etc.) you would be well advised to use something that lets you control the conversion to B&W rather than rely on what any digital camera produces directly. The reason is simple: all digital camera record images in color and use a fixed formula to convert the RGB values to gray scale. The formula is designed to work on "average" images, and that is exactly what it produces: average images--lacking in contrast and drama. You will want a different mixture based on the colors in the image and what you are trying to do with it. PS and other programs leave the channel mixture entirely up to you. Also keep in mind that if you don't download the raw image as well as the camera-produced B&W jpg, you lose the color information forever. I always shoot raw only, and in fact my B&Ws have about the same amount of post processing as my color shots.