Gary Stiger  

Decisions, Decisions! by Gary Stiger

March 2019 - Decisions, Decisions!

March 2019 - Gary Stiger

Original

About the Image(s)

I always liked this one, especially since I was sneaky with this capture. We were having breakfast in a Dublin restaurant late last August, sitting at an isle table - and saw this lady come up to speculate on a confectionery item. As you all know, some decisions in life are more important than others (especially early morning ones with a cup of hot coffee waiting). I was just trying to kill some time and took a shot from the hip (actually the lap - I suspect I was set up for shutter priority). Back home I downloaded into PS, adjusted some exposure, contrast and tonality in Camera Raw then converted to B&W using the NIK filters, lightly burned around the corners/edges to maintain attention on the subject, and did a minor amount of sharpening with NIK’s output sharpener. That’s about it for the shot, but I will add that those lemon-cream tarts are almost as good as the French ones.... almost.

Nikon D800, 1/50 sec, ISO 1000, f/4

This round’s discussion is now closed!
5 comments posted

Oliver Morton   Oliver Morton
Gary, I really like the story that your image tells. It's clear that she is savoring the potential taste of each bakery item. Just looking at it makes my mouth water! I really like the fact that you made it a monochrome image. To me it is much more appealing than the color photograph. And the tonal range in the final image is wonderful.

I found the man and others in the background a bit distracting. So, I took a shot at removing them and also slightly modified the brightness in some of the areas. Your thoughts?


  Posted: 03/06/2019 16:44:51
Comment Image
LuAnn Thatcher   LuAnn Thatcher
Gary, I love the story this image tells-I have been in the position this woman is in drooling over what appears to be bakery items filled with delicious (and toxic) sugar-Yikes!

I like this image with the man in the shot because I think it adds to the story that she has been pondering in making her decision. He is a distance ahead of her so perhaps she has been considering her choice for a bit. With my love of street photography, I tend not to disrupt the storyline by removing people. But, it is an artistic decision, and I believe both choices to leave the people in the back in or remove them is ok.

The only thing I would change is to gradually make the back (vanishing point) a little darker as space moves away from the woman to enhance the feel of bokeh that way the light on the woman makes her stand out in this image.

Excellent capture my friend you have a real eye for street photography!

Best regards,
LuAnn   Posted: 03/10/2019 20:03:51
 
Thanks LuAnn. I probably like Oliver's take, but maybe should have cropped it a little tighter on the left and eliminated the overhead lights - kind of looks like some bright balloons up there. Good suggestion on darkening up the background somewhat - thanks much - I will give it a try.   Posted: 03/10/2019 21:32:16
 
I agree on Oliver's removal, due to the person was actually walking away. If he was another customer staring at the goodies, might be a different story. Agree on darken the background too. I like the story presented here. Great capture.   Posted: 03/18/2019 00:00:40
 
Great street photo Gary. The back and white image really does help to put the focus on your subject. You have an interesting leading line in you photo, but it leads away from your subject to guy walking out the door. Oliver's solution was to clone the guy out. My recommendation would be a tighter crop on the left and maybe a little off the top. What is left is a great candid capture of a hungy woman with a dietary conflict.   Posted: 03/18/2019 20:20:21