CH33 Rapture

Lucky Hack

Any suggestions?

-Ian

fish

wow. Rockin' image!

PeterGar

Yah.. a lot to absorb in that... very nice!

aero-nut

Very bright image. I like the contrast of colors. It's almost too much to take in at once. I'd say in this case, all of the bright colors distract a little from the emotion on the face. Still a cool image though!

canonguy

I love it. The blue in the feathers is stunning. What is the story behind this shot?

Lucky Hack

canonguy wrote:

I love it. The blue in the feathers is stunning. What is the story behind this shot?

Well, as usual, I got lucky. Originally I had gone down to Union Station in Downtown LA in the hopes of getting "the shot" for the competion. I got a couple nice portraits while I was there (I'll post 'em when I get a chance) but nothing that really bespoke emotion, then my wife called and we met up at Olivera St. for lunch. Again I tried to get some pictures of the vendors there, but nothing that was worthy. Just when we were about to leave we heard these crazy drum beats and we followed the sound to a patio where this guy and his troupe of dancers were performing. He was hard to shoot cause he was dancing all around, but I shot until I ran out of space on my card (gotta get a bigger one) and out of 70 some photos, this was one of three where you can see his expression. This isn't even a crop, this is the full frame shot! Luck strikes again!

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

anybody know how to retain the exif data in a photo, it's a pain typing that all in...

DoctorIt

As promised...

The reason I think this photo wasn't a winner, is that it's not technically as perfect as the soccer scene. The composition is good, but pretty central... eh, that could be overlooked by the great colors. What I notice most is that his face is OOF. I think your camera picked up on the headdress somewhere. So while it's a great shot, that's why I wouldn't have voted for it.

When I vote for the winner, I tend to first narrow down to perfect technical execution, then I look at fitting the theme, and so on. So unfortunately, I would have ruled yours out in the first cut for that.

Is that what you were looking for?

Don't feel bad at all man, you made the voting! Thats better than at least 30 other people who entered the challenge, and countless others who came up empty (like me).

Lucky Hack

DoctorIt wrote:

As promised...

The reason I think this photo wasn't a winner, is that it's not technically as perfect as the soccer scene. The composition is good, but pretty central... eh, that could be overlooked by the great colors. What I notice most is that his face is OOF. I think your camera picked up on the headdress somewhere. So while it's a great shot, that's why I wouldn't have voted for it.

When I vote for the winner, I tend to first narrow down to perfect technical execution, then I look at fitting the theme, and so on. So unfortunately, I would have ruled yours out in the first cut for that.

Is that what you were looking for?

Don't feel bad at all man, you made the voting! Thats better than at least 30 other people who entered the challenge, and countless others who came up empty (like me).

Thanks, I knew i could count on the Doc. I think you're right on all counts, I guess I was hoping people would overlook the tech. Don't worry, it wasn't self pity I was feeling, I was flattered to have made the cut, I was just curious about peoples reasons for their choices... Thanks again Erik.

hoping this message finds you well -Ian

Nee7x7

Here's where Doc and I differ...
When I look at entries in the challenges, I look for if a photo fits the theme first and then at the technical aspects, but in the case of challenge 33, also the emotional aspects. I'm getting to the point where I've seen a LOT of technically perfect photos, but the ones that stick with me are the ones that pull on me emotionally...the ones that make me FEEL something. The only area where I look for absolute technical perfection is in landscapes and studio portraiture.

OK, that being said...I would have to agree that here your pic was good, but missed in some regards. With subjects in motion, you either want to make a blur intentionally, or get the important parts (such as faces) in focus. I would have loved to see you take some slow shutter shots to really capture the motion (and mood) of the dancer. The main flaw with your photo is that your shutter speed wasn't quite fast enough to stop the action, nor slow enough to really capitalize on it.

The other thing that might have been problematic was that the emotion doesn't quite come across with his facial expression. I see a guy with his eyes closed...and not necessarily rapture. Including more of his body language might have conveyed the feeling a little better...but as you said, it was a very difficult shooting situation, so in that regard, give yourself a pat on the back! I've been in similar situations and come home empty handed. At least you got something to show for it, and not too shabby a pic at that!

As we have all learned the hard way from participating in this challenge, capturing emotion is not a very easy thing to do! We'll often project our own feelings about the situation where perhaps our photos don't really convey them quite as well...because other folks looking at our photos weren't there like we were. I thought my pics of my grandson eating ice cream were pretty darn cute, but of course that's just another case of my own emotional attachment going on there...since my entry didn't make it in the finals either, !

Anyhow, I'd really love to see more of the pics you took at the scene where this dancer was performing. Hope you'll post a few more...it's always neat seeing different cultures being presented and the Aztec culture is so colorful and interesting. I hope we'll be seeing some more~

Cheers!
~Nee

wxwax

I agree with what doc said. I'd also add that unfortunately his eyes are closed. That's a big deal in people shots.

fish

wxwax wrote:

I agree with what doc said. I'd also add that unfortunately his eyes are closed. That's a big deal in people shots.

he's got eyes?



:lol j/k


Yeah, eyes are a big deal in people shots, but also in animal shots. In fact, if it's got eyes, you gotta shoot them. Because, after you shoot them, you can just prop the eyes open with toothpicks. ewww...that was sick. must be pui tuesday.