Bored in the airport

DavidTO

I had the trip from hell over the holidays, and spent way too much time in the airport. Just about everything that can go wrong with travel happened to us, except we were always safe and we eventually did get our baggage.

To keep myself from going crazy I broke out my P&S camera and walked around, doing some shooting. I don't present these as high art, just as what I managed to capture while trying to stay sane. Mostly the airports I was in were on the boring side.

So close, yet so far. The airplane with the engine oil leak that caused me so much heartache. Albany Airport



Atlanta Airport is huge and extremely crowded.



A pilot at the end of his shift.



The sun in Atlanta Airport



Finally headed for baggage claim at LAX.

bfjr

Glad that adventure worked out for you in the end, Happy New Year!

Of these #2 & 3 interest me most.

I did feel that your text was at odds with your colorful presentation, hint, hint

M38A1

I think #3 is the strongest of the series. Nice job on the set-up and execution with the leading curved line which grabs your eye and takes you to the pilot who's perfectly straddling the white line with his black contrast form. I'm not understanding the blue shoes though.... An artifact from post?

Richard

I agree that #3 is the strongest of the set. Great composition and timing. I also like the first two. Glad to see that your time there wasn't a total waste. I'm old enough to remember when flying was fun, but we didn't have great P&S cameras then.

RSL

There's some good stuff there, David. I agree with Scott and Richard that #3 is the strongest shot in terms of immediate impact, but the composition in the escalator shot is exceptionally good. The diagonals make it dynamic, and capturing those two pedestrians in the smaller triangle was stroke of compositional wizardry, especially since I suspect you were on the escalator yourself and had less than a second to see it and compose. You also caught a person going down on that small escalator in the distance. Bet you didn't even see that guy when you tripped the shutter. As HCB said, "It's always luck." I'd vote for the escalator as best of the lot.

M38A1

In many respects upon further review (sheesh that sounds like Monday Night Football...) the escalator shot has the same feel as the artist who draws the 3-D images where you can't tell what plane items are in or if movement is up or down. That's pretty cool.

DavidTO

Thanks, all! You guys are great, I love the feedback I get here.

Scott, I normally process in LR/PS, but I've been playing lately with processing the family snaps in iPhoto, for a number of reasons. So, just an FYI that the processing given these was not in the software I'm most comfortable with, or most powerful, and also that I just didn't spend that much time on it for these. They were all processed along with the family snaps. I believe the blue is the reflection of the window behind me or the overhead lights in the black leather. I think it's accurate to the scene. Would I lose it if I spent more time on it? Maybe. I think I also may have boosted the saturation in iPhoto on the at shot a bit, and it's very possible I just went too far.

The escalator shot was definitely an "Oh sh*t, that's an awesome perspective" and a very quick snap. I had doubts about my comp, and took this second shot almost immediately afterwards, and it's a total bore next to the first one.

DavidTO

Here's another shot I got where the pilot shot was taken.

torags

I like the curiosity the image creates in #5

Trying to decipher #1 after a while I found it generating anxiety

Interesting effect (for me)

Good work David

Syncopation

There's some good stuff there, David. I agree with Scott and Richard that #3 is the strongest shot in terms of immediate impact, but the composition in the escalator shot is exceptionally good. The diagonals make it dynamic, and capturing those two pedestrians in the smaller triangle was stroke of compositional wizardry, especially since I suspect you were on the escalator yourself and had less than a second to see it and compose. You also caught a person going down on that small escalator in the distance. Bet you didn't even see that guy when you tripped the shutter. As HCB said, "It's always luck." I'd vote for the escalator as best of the lot.

I agree with Russ that the escalator shot is the best if the bunch for all the reasons given.

On a side note I think this is a great example of a constructive critique that explains why the image works which is something we can all learn from, both in terms of the image itself, and, how to critique. I'd like to see similarly constructive critiques for images that are not up to scratch e.g why they don't work.

Far better that our energies are utilised in this regard than wasted on taxonomies and definitions from which few derive any benefit.

DavidTO

torags wrote: »

I like the curiosity the image creates in #5

Trying to decipher #1 after a while I found it generating anxiety

Interesting effect (for me)

Good work David

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad the shot elicited an emotion. Even if a negative one!

Syncopation wrote: »

I agree with Russ that the escalator shot is the best if the bunch for all the reasons given.

On a side note I think this is a great example of a constructive critique that explains why the image works which is something we can all learn from, both in terms of the image itself, and, how to critique.

Thanks! And I agree that it was some valuable critique.

RSL

One thing I forgot to mention: the diagonals of those hands on the escalator railing point directly to the two pedestrians on the lower level. A painter couldn't compose a picture that brings in more classic rules of composition than that.

Quincy T

I'll echo what others have said here, and say that the escalator shot is truly impressive. I'm glad you had the eye to grab that as it's a real treat to look at. I feel like #3 is your second best, but I won't say close second really because firstly, the escalator shot is so impressive and secondly, #3, even with great movement, lacks strong context I feel. If the pillar used to frame the walking pilot had more of an "airport" feel to it, I think that would really improve it.

Just my comments, but I feel those two are really great images anyway!

DavidTO

Sword and Scales wrote: »

I'll echo what others have said here, and say that the escalator shot is truly impressive. I'm glad you had the eye to grab that as it's a real treat to look at. I feel like #3 is your second best, but I won't say close second really because firstly, the escalator shot is so impressive and secondly, #3, even with great movement, lacks strong context I feel. If the pillar used to frame the walking pilot had more of an "airport" feel to it, I think that would really improve it.

Just my comments, but I feel those two are really great images anyway!

Wow, thank you so much!

I agree about the pilot and the airport feel.

I definitely know how I'm going to spend that I normally sit and do nothing in the airport!

Quincy T

DavidTO wrote: »

Wow, thank you so much!

I agree about the pilot and the airport feel.

I definitely know how I'm going to spend that I normally sit and do nothing in the airport!

The airport is often a great opportunity for emotive shots...there are few things as frustrating as being stuck, or as liberating as finally going home to see those you love. I posted a thread called "In Transit" and one called "Smartphones", both of those threads were dedicated to airport shots, and I'm really pleased with what I came away with.

SHAMELESS PLUGGING!

DavidTO

Sword and Scales wrote: »

SHAMELESS PLUGGING!

You'd be better off plugging if you included links!

Quincy T

DavidTO wrote: »

You'd be better off plugging if you included links!

Oh I will! I will!

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=212415

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=211997

DavidTO

I wonder if the escalator shot is better in B/W?

RSL

I don't think so. The arms on the escalator rail kind of get lost, David. But still, it's not bad.

BradfordBenn

Good stuff David. Giving me some ideas for the next few trips....

DavidTO

RSL wrote: »

I don't think so. The arms on the escalator rail kind of get lost, David. But still, it's not bad.

Thanks, Russ.

BradfordBenn wrote: »

Good stuff David. Giving me some ideas for the next few trips....

Awesome! Can't wait to see the results!

richardman

David, here's another suggestion, #5 is great, do not show us the companion one that didn't work out :-)

Only show your best, even if you don't know which ones are the better of the "best."

DavidTO

richardman wrote: »

David, here's another suggestion, #5 is great, do not show us the companion one that didn't work out :-)

Only show your best, even if you don't know which ones are the better of the "best."

RSL

Right, Richard. That should always be the watchword. "Only show us your best." As Scott pointed out in another thread, very little of the masters' prodigious output ever shows up in publications. As I said, the masters are master cullers.

Okay, I'll admit I haven't always followed my own advice.

bfjr

DavidTO wrote: »

I wonder if the escalator shot is better in B/W?

Well I feel the B&W is the right treatment for this one ................. but more contrast

DavidTO

bfjr wrote: »

Well I feel the B&W is the right treatment for this one ................. but more contrast

Thanks for the comment! It's interesting, since looking at your images I'd say that overall they're a tad too contrasty for my taste. Different strokes!

If I do stick with b/w I'll definitely rework it in LR instead of iPhoto and do more channel mixing magic, which may address the real issue with the conversion.