Adrian Schaub
August 2026 - Well DeservedBreak After 90 Minutes of Cleaning
Original
About the Image(s)
In my photography course we recently had an interesting discussion. The teacher felt that it is a no go to have numbers or characters on a photograph because the viewers eye is immediately attracted to it. Whilst I can follow the logic I disagreed to the apodictic nature of the rule. Attached an example in which I even play with it. I shot it through the window of my departing train. It shows railway cleaning men during a break sitting next to a commercial for a dishwasher and I linked them in the title.
What do you think about this “numbers and characters” rule?
Hasselblad X2D, XCD 30 f 3.5 ISO 400, 1 /125 sec ??“ bw conversion and little straightening, cropping and increased dynamics in LR
10 comments posted
Adrian
A nice slice of the working man's life here. They spaced themselves perfectly.
I understand your instructor's statement about characters but I need clarification about numbers. I think it depends on the scene, your picture would not have the same impact if the workers were inside having coffee...The same can be said of Chris Reinhold's image. What kind of image would make your instructor happy?
Thanks for sharing your photo class experience
Emil
Posted: 08/01/2026 15:14:19
A nice slice of the working man's life here. They spaced themselves perfectly.
I understand your instructor's statement about characters but I need clarification about numbers. I think it depends on the scene, your picture would not have the same impact if the workers were inside having coffee...The same can be said of Chris Reinhold's image. What kind of image would make your instructor happy?
Thanks for sharing your photo class experience
Emil
Posted: 08/01/2026 15:14:19
I understood the instructor that the picture should not contain any numbers or characters because the viewers attention is immediately drawn there.
Tks and br, a Posted: 08/12/2026 12:23:34
Tks and br, a Posted: 08/12/2026 12:23:34
If numbers and letters are not relevant to "the story," then I generally agree that they are distracting. In the case of your image, this isn't the case. The sign is a critical part of the story your photograph tells. This is especially true because of the title you used.
Frankly, I think it's a wonderful image, and the panoramic format works well. I do find that the man's completely black face on the left bothers me somewhat. With that in mind, I pulled out a bit of detail.
Posted: 08/01/2026 15:55:03
Frankly, I think it's a wonderful image, and the panoramic format works well. I do find that the man's completely black face on the left bothers me somewhat. With that in mind, I pulled out a bit of detail.
Posted: 08/01/2026 15:55:03
Thanks Pete and thanks for the improvement with the face. As "white facing" is pursued by the political correctness fanatics, we need to take care to lighten it only softly :-) Posted: 08/12/2026 12:25:13
Adrian - certainly the eye is always drawn to bright areas, bright colors, lettering and humans when viewing a picture. Of course if these are meant to be the focus point or subject of the picture then use them by all means.
I loved your concept and the resulting image - since the sign is of major significance i suggest to crop the image to show the sign as affixed to the wall instead of floating in the corner.
Cheers
Mike Posted: 08/02/2026 18:05:22
I loved your concept and the resulting image - since the sign is of major significance i suggest to crop the image to show the sign as affixed to the wall instead of floating in the corner.
Cheers
Mike Posted: 08/02/2026 18:05:22
Hi Mike - many thanks for your thoughts. I initally had a wider crop but then felt that there too many distracting elements (as eg the writings on the train). There is no right or wrong here, I guess.
Tks and br, A Posted: 08/12/2026 12:34:26
Tks and br, A Posted: 08/12/2026 12:34:26
Hi there, Adrian, I'm new to black and white so thank you for your image, which I think is a nice photojournalism picure - your title gives so much information as to what is happening. Given that, I like the lettering on the sign at the left -- it tells me it's not here in the U.S. - oh, I see, you live in Switzerland ! That explains a lot. I like your cropping and conversion to BW, with one exception - the man on the left. His face is so dark, and I would love to see it lightened enough to at least see some of his facial highlights. I can see that you like street photography. Great ! I do, also. Posted: 08/09/2026 22:24:13
Hi Donna - very warm welcome to the group and many thanks for your thoughts, to which I fully subscribe (ie the lightning up of the left face). And yes: I like street photography, since a couple of months I added the challenge of doing it in panorama format. all the best, A Posted: 08/12/2026 12:39:06
Hi Adrian,
Greetings my friend.
This is a classic street photography, peoples photography or working men photography experience. You did a wonderful job capturing this from the train. Was it parked or was it in on the motion? I mean the train, while you are capturing it.
By any defintion, you did an extra ordinary job to capture and convert it as it deem necessary. Your point remain valid about the numbers and charecters in the frame and I would suggest you to remove the number and charecters, which is actually a distraction. I always like some mystery in the image that I creat.
Well done.
Thanks and cheers.
Kamal. Posted: 08/23/2026 13:50:32
Greetings my friend.
This is a classic street photography, peoples photography or working men photography experience. You did a wonderful job capturing this from the train. Was it parked or was it in on the motion? I mean the train, while you are capturing it.
By any defintion, you did an extra ordinary job to capture and convert it as it deem necessary. Your point remain valid about the numbers and charecters in the frame and I would suggest you to remove the number and charecters, which is actually a distraction. I always like some mystery in the image that I creat.
Well done.
Thanks and cheers.
Kamal. Posted: 08/23/2026 13:50:32
Adrian, I like how you captured the workers in this scene. They are all doing the same thing in your image. The sign in German adds nicely to the scene and gives you the title. Nicely done. Posted: 08/25/2026 00:18:15