Morning Paper

PhotoDavid78

Central Park - NYC

michswiss

I'm pretty sure I've wandered over those rocks before. I like the shot the way you've cropped. Although I might play with lifting the shadows or dodging a little to help the bloke having his morning read stand out more.

PhotoDavid78

Thanks for looking and thanks for the tip. This area is right along Central Park South.

anonymouscuban

michswiss wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I've wandered over those rocks before. I like the shot the way you've cropped. Although I might play with lifting the shadows or dodging a little to help the bloke having his morning read stand out more.

Agreed. Took me a few to actually see him in the composition. I wouldn't change the way you composed the shot. I think you need the trees to really make this shot. I'd just dodge him a bit and maybe add a slight vignette around him so the BG recedes a bit.

Here is a quick tip... open the photo in Photoshop. Add a curves adjustment layer. Take the curve just below where the midtones end and the shadows start. Pull it down so you create a nice bow shape with he curve. Not too steep of a bow though. Now select the gradient tool and set it to a circular gradient. Choose black from the color picker. Now drag the gradient from the dude in the picture towards the trees. This will add a nice vignette with him in the center of it. You can play with the length of the gradient and/or the opacity of the layer to your liking.

PhotoDavid78

ok. here is a re-edit. not sure the vignette works because it takes the detail out of the trees.

Richard

Yeah, the trees got a little too dark for me. If you want to go for a vignette, you might try centering the brightest part on the guy, not the building in the background. Dunno, might look contrived, but I'd give it a shot to see.