Gary Stiger
About the Image(s)
I took this shot about a year ago while on a most pleasurable cruise around the isles of Scotland. I wanted to see if I could put more emphasis on the couple and their dog rather than on the woman with the red raincoat – my eye was always drawn to her first, but what I really wanted was for the couple to be the stars of the show. The shot was taken in RAW format (f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO 125) and corrected with Camera RAW and fine-tuned with NIK’s Viveza 2. I converted it to monochrome using Silver Efex Pro 2, made some minor tonal adjustments and added a yellow filter which seemed to produce the maximum (and more pleasing) contrast between the gray tones of the image. I then painted a very light vignette around the edges. This is certainly not the greatest DD image I have ever submitted, but I think I kind of achieved what I wanted – what say you?
This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted
Like you, I find the woman with her back to the camera is distracting. I also was a bit bothered by the two sailboats that merge with the seated woman's hat. I wanted to see how it would look with the "back facing" woman cropped out and the two sailboats also eliminated. Oh, and I brightened the entire image a bit along with a soft bit of toning.
What do you think?
  Posted: 08/07/2019 11:20:30
  Posted: 08/12/2019 17:55:30
  Posted: 08/12/2019 17:57:31
Woman in red really attracts attention, but the boats did not notice, all due respect to Oliver.   Posted: 08/11/2019 02:36:29
  Posted: 08/12/2019 17:57:52
(Group 32)
But I also like the original because it contains a discussion about people each wrapped up in their own world. No faces are shown (except the dog--significant), and everyone turns their backs to each other. Even the couple do not face each other, nor do we see their faces. In color, it's about the seaside; in B/W, it's about non-interaction.   Posted: 08/13/2019 16:21:00
This is an excellent photo with a powerful story; I am jealous I didn't capture this shot!! So don't get discouraged Gary, take another look; this is an amazing image (2 photos in 1)!!
After reading Stephen's comments, I have to agree with his discussion on the two versions (with and without the woman in the red coat). Sad lives these folks seem to be living; was the man experiencing a tragedy or just looking at his cell phone. No conversation amongst themselves and even the dog is looking in a different direction--how sad is that. So you have a captivating expression in this photo that really draws the eye in many directions.
For edits, I agree once again with Oliver to remove the boats above the ladies hat, but for the women in the red raincoat, that is your choice either one will work. If you want, you could tone down the bag she is carrying but that is about it for my critique.
Nicely done. Best regards,
LuAnn   Posted: 08/25/2019 21:20:42