Lou McLove
June 2022 - It's Been A Long Day
Original
About the Image(s)
I took this image on a recent trip to New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival. Canon 5D IV, Tamron 28-300mm lens at 44mm, ISO 400, 1/125 at f 13. It was raining but the rain did not deter too many people, you can see the rain drops in the image. I like the image of these women and their kids, I cropped out what I considered to be the distracting parts of the image. In Lightroom I used the select subject masking tool to lighten the subject and de-saturate the background.
This round’s discussion is now closed!
16 comments posted
You got their faces perfectly! Wow so many different expressions. I wonder what each was thinking. Love the action and the rain! Neat capture! Posted: 06/04/2022 20:14:18
Thanks for the comments Marianne. Posted: 06/06/2022 16:59:29
Excellent! I like the facial expressions and the movement. You got their feet perfectly to show the movement. Also, good crop. A more shallow depth of field may have minimized the background and focused more attention on the subjects. Posted: 06/05/2022 09:09:05
Thanks for the comments Beth. I agree about the depth of field and background focus. Not sure why I shot at f13, I guess I just got too involved taking photos to notice the settings, that happens too often. Taking your advice regarding an out of focus background I used one of the PS filters to blur the background. I also removed the girls white bow which I found distracting (once I noticed it). Posted: 06/06/2022 16:58:29
Great shot, a real story I think de-saturating the background has done an excellent job as it still puts them in place without it being distracting. Good crop. Posted: 06/10/2022 05:15:14
Thanks for the comments Jill. Posted: 06/10/2022 07:54:56
The cropping is well done, and the expressions on all the faces are great - Blurring the background as suggested by others, does make the subjects stand out. - Personally I would not remove the girls white ribbon Posted: 06/17/2022 05:57:41
Thanks for the comments Ian. The ribbon is one of those things that I just don't know what to do with. It is just so bright, I wish it had some details. Posted: 06/17/2022 07:02:30
To my eye, the gals shoe splshing water made the shot. Sorry to see you took it all away.
Posted: 06/17/2022 08:20:46
Posted: 06/17/2022 08:20:46
I didn't realize I took the splashing away. I agree it is better with it in. Posted: 06/28/2022 08:37:30
(Groups 83 & 87)
Hello, Lou! The original capture is a very engaging and a contemplative scene! But let's talk about a few ideas that do not crop as much as you did....though the cropped image is engaging, there is an alternative version that hides elsewhere...
I suggest the original composition defines a more powerful one! Why?
As part of the allure of some street-photography is sometimes denoting the location: in these instances (and I suggest your work is one) defining a sense of "place" is most powerful in helping to form a narrative: use more of the surrounding space to help define a sense of place, including artifacts we first feel need to be omitted. (I gave a lecture on this three months ago).
In the original scene the background, including other people and architecture, very much help to define a sense of place. (I cropped it a little to pull out the van and bottom-left cone and left the rest).
I actually Dodged the background to help illuminate it, as apposed to shunting its details. With all this, these women are a strong supporting anchor; the subject, is in fact the the entire scene. A vernacular record that imbues a lot of feeling, emotion and the often busy activity of most New Orleans streets. Great capture, Lou!! Posted: 06/25/2022 12:30:30
I suggest the original composition defines a more powerful one! Why?
As part of the allure of some street-photography is sometimes denoting the location: in these instances (and I suggest your work is one) defining a sense of "place" is most powerful in helping to form a narrative: use more of the surrounding space to help define a sense of place, including artifacts we first feel need to be omitted. (I gave a lecture on this three months ago).
In the original scene the background, including other people and architecture, very much help to define a sense of place. (I cropped it a little to pull out the van and bottom-left cone and left the rest).
I actually Dodged the background to help illuminate it, as apposed to shunting its details. With all this, these women are a strong supporting anchor; the subject, is in fact the the entire scene. A vernacular record that imbues a lot of feeling, emotion and the often busy activity of most New Orleans streets. Great capture, Lou!! Posted: 06/25/2022 12:30:30
Thanks for the comments Lance, I can definitely see you point. I like the lesser cropped version and I think the brighter background works well with it. The two versions are really different animals to be sure. I like the story telling capacity of your version, I do think that some might object to the bright orange shirt however. Thanks again for taking the time to look at and analyze my image. Posted: 06/25/2022 19:54:31
(Groups 83 & 87)
...and if you slightly saturate the women's orange clothes it may balance (even better) with the guys orange shirt.
Example: In this Garry Winogrand shot, the yellow chair may be called by some as distracting, but instead, it anchors the rest of the picture. The guys orange shirt does a similar job in balancing the scene. Without it, well then the space the guys is occupying may be less than interesting and seem out of the main narrative. Posted: 06/25/2022 20:10:15
Example: In this Garry Winogrand shot, the yellow chair may be called by some as distracting, but instead, it anchors the rest of the picture. The guys orange shirt does a similar job in balancing the scene. Without it, well then the space the guys is occupying may be less than interesting and seem out of the main narrative. Posted: 06/25/2022 20:10:15
Yes, I see what you mean about the chair. Without it the image is really boring. I think many photographers, me included, start to create images for what the judges seem to like. I look forward to reading your article. Posted: 06/26/2022 07:03:40
(Groups 83 & 87)
Lou, you may be also interested in a short article on DD-83 Bulletin Board.."Who is Commenting on Our work"?... posted on 8/22/2021.
Scroll down and read it and the comments; I suggest you will find the conversation to your liking. Let me know your thoughts. Ciao. Posted: 06/26/2022 10:31:53
Scroll down and read it and the comments; I suggest you will find the conversation to your liking. Let me know your thoughts. Ciao. Posted: 06/26/2022 10:31:53
(Groups 83 & 87)
Lou, really appreciate your feedback...
In a lot of photography (and paintings) we are, more often than not, trying to create compositional Gestalt: in this sense, the artist is more interested in the "whole", rather than just individual parts within a given composition. (In fall or winter the PSA will publish an article I wrote on Gestalt theory). Posted: 06/25/2022 20:14:36
In a lot of photography (and paintings) we are, more often than not, trying to create compositional Gestalt: in this sense, the artist is more interested in the "whole", rather than just individual parts within a given composition. (In fall or winter the PSA will publish an article I wrote on Gestalt theory). Posted: 06/25/2022 20:14:36