Centered silhouette

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

I’m not sure what I’ve really done wrong here but for some reason this image just doesn’t sit right with me. Would love some comments specifically on the composition but whatever you come up with.

[Patrick]

I like it Rob to be honest ,

For ST

The negative Space Around the Figures ?

While the figures are a clear focal point, the amount of open space directly around them (especially to their left and right on the pier) is quite large. This contributes to their smallness and the sense of isolation, which might be the intent, but could also contribute to the feeling of something being off ,  will see what others think though.

I want to reiterate that this is a strong photograph. The mood, the leading lines, and the choice of black and white are all excellent mate.

[Dahlia Ambrose]

I personally like this photo Rob. Maybe too much space in the foreground? That and a bit more crop on the sides may improve it 🙂

[LightandShadow]

I agree about the need for a somewhat tighter crop. The darkness in the clouds and the walk of adult and child sets up a contradictory moods for me—pleasant day out vs. ominous threat. The fairly obvious ND grad also affects the tone in the sky.  The transition appears a bit abrupt.  The castle keep also seems a bit off to the scene.

When I go b&w with puffy white clouds against a blue sky, I usually edit the photo to emphasize the white and then darken the blue channel to create more contrast in the sky. It usually seems to work better than the ND grad effect. When I do use that effect in Lightroom, I often find myself using a very narrow grad to make less of a transition. I find it easier to control when the sky’s lighting is actually fairly uniform.

You have maintained the classic b&w dynamic range of near pure white to near pure black. There’s another style that has less contrast and a resulting softer feel (that I have never achieved) that might change the mood from child abduction threat (well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration) to father/son outing.

I do like that winding path and the idea of a place to walk. Maybe a crop to portrait? It would emphasize the idea of a walk rather than standing on the path. That might also eliminate the foreground lens distortion of the railings.

There are a lot of elements here that are nearly classic that are competing with each other? Of course, a lot of this feedback also competes within itself.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Thanks for all of these ideas folks. I might post another one with some updated edits.

[Ellie]

I’m new here so I hope I’m not stepping on any toes by resurrecting and older post. This photo really caught my eye – there’s a lot to like about it with the leading lines, the dynamic range, and the foreground/background comparison.

Despite this, for me, it feels slightly “uncomfortable” when I look at it – with my own photos, I’ve figured that this is almost always because the geometry is a little off. On closer examination, the verticals on the walkway uprights aren’t quite vertical and the walkway planks aren’t horizontal – the whole thing feels a bit like it’s pitching me toward the bottom-right corner. I wonder if you corrected that, and then cropped to portrait (which would probably be needed anyway to counter the corrections), you’d end up taking a more comfortable journey through the picture?f I’ve eyeballed it correctly, it might also place that point at which the walkway turns left and disappears on the upper third line, which is an added bonus.

[LightandShadow]

I agree about the distortion. The wide angle not only added a lot of extraneous bits calling for a tighter crop but also made the verticals non-vertical and the horizontals seem to want us to walk on the right side of the boardwalk.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Keisha might have to get out the Lightroom distortion tools! Use them for quite a while actually.

[Stefanie Markham]

Overall, I like the shot and what it is trying to portray.  I agree about a tighter crop.  There are also a lot of extraneous distractions, i. e. light poles and cars on the shore.  I don’t mind the foreground as is, to me it adds depth.  The shore just fades into a solid mass and could use more definition.

[Retired Grunt]

I’d agree with less foreground. A crop, say to about 20-25 feet of foreground. Photo would be more in a pano range of dimensions. Maybe crop up to where the 2nd post on the right and the 1st post on the left are removed.

I held a sheet of paper up to the image, seems a cropping in on the right side would be needed to center the railings.

[Anne Hornsby]

At first glance, the background looked like a bit of an island to me.  So I found the rest of the background distracting.  Here’s one idea for a crop – crop left up to the boulder, crop right to the circular bend.   I actually like the long pier and this crop loses that.  I did straighten the pier boards.

[lee kivi]

My first reaction is the sky and clouds are too dark, like stated by Lightandshadow I think it gives an ominous feel that doesn’t fit the rest of the scene. Also I wonder if a vertical crop would work.

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Yeah it’s kinda screaming for a vertical crop now you mention it @elkay

[bucweeet]

You have sooo many choices for a good image here, Rob.

The problem that my eyes have is… what is the story?… or purpose of the image? My eyes have problems trying to discern what it is.

I have lightened the land mass in the background bringing a bit more texture to it. I also found that this seemed to lighten the image overall with regards to ‘visual weight’ as my eyes now move easier between the background/foreground. I also find that it highlights the people a little easier.

But the important part is the crop… This is what gives you all sorts of good images within the picture. I feel it definitely need to be tighter… As such I would try different crop sizes in LR, and then move the crop around so the people are highlighted in different parts of the image. Have more sky and less boardwalk… reduce the amount of sky and keep more board walk.

Add the “Crop Overlay” tool when you are cropping and try the different placing the people in different positions according to the crop overlay tool. Shift the crop tool around in its various options (shift+o) so that the people are located in the various highlighted points.

The below images are similar in that they use a 16×9 aspect but one is using the ‘Thirds’ option and has placed the people centrally on the RH line… the remaining images are using the ‘Golden Spiral’ and have placed the people on the 4 different positions in the image.

As you can see, all the images are slightly different and somewhat tell a different story. Take you time and experiment with the crop… aspect ratios, crop overlays, horizontal, vertical. You’ll find several that you like.

 

 

 

 

 

[bucweeet]

I deleted my comment/reply.  It was originally regarding the 4th image above not displaying (which it now does… I think it was due to my browser).

[Rob Wood (Admin)]

Wow, what a response and I actually think that first one is way better. Thanks for taking the time to do this, mate.

[Author]

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