Lost In Thought C&C Welcomed

[flashback]

It's been a while since I went out hunting in the City, finally got out there today. Thoughts and comments appreciated.

[Shadowman]

Nice shot and title.

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Thanks John. In this case I believe the was lost in thought. Never changed his position while in my sight.

[Mike Buckley]

I like that you so nicely included the subject's environment and I like the subject's posture.

I don't like that I have to look so long to find the subject and, indeed, determine what the subject is. That's mostly because in a scene such as this we tend to see the bright areas first and the dark areas last. I might be able to offer suggestions if I see the color original.

I also don't like that the scene is a little crooked; I want it to be either straight or considerably more crooked.

[flashback]

Mike, thanks for the input. I've rotated the image a bit and lifted the dark tones a bit, let me know if it works.

[IzzieK]

The second one looks more better Jack...not as sinister and forbidding as the first one...although I should say the first one is more typical of the scenes I remember seeing at one of those Melbourne side streets, darkish, more real...most of the time, this kind of fellow works at a nearby restaurant just having a break. Your scene just goes to show that no matter what country you are in, side streets sometime looks the same...

[Mike Buckley]

The subject stands out better but the image is still tilted to the right. Brightening the subject's skin might help him stand out more.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Jack . My eyes went to the white car on the left as soon as I looked at #1 but #2 looks better after lifting the dark tones

[Rebel]

Yea my eyes went straight towards the white car and down the street. It has got potential though

[flashback]

Thanks Izzie. This is one of those bright side streets, plus it was a sunny day.

[flashback]

Mike...working on it

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Binnur and Matt,
I agree about the car. I do however like the depth in the image.
I have tweaked the image, darkening the bright(er) cars on the left, raised the mid tones on the man but slightly darkened his shirt, slight sharpening, slight gaussian blur and one final rotation to boot.

[Mike Buckley]

That last version looks by far the best to me at least in the small version. I don't like the gaussian blur, though, when viewing it in a larger size than displayed in the thread.

[flashback]

Ok final edit, I've removed the G blur.

[Mike Buckley]

There is such an improvement from the first one to the last one. Good work!

[flashback]

Thanks Mike, takes a village to make a good image :-)

[bnnrcn]

The last one looks best Jack. As Mike mentioned above the image improved a lot with your edits

[IzzieK]

We all have ways of looking at an image...I prefer the first edit maybe because I saw some human elements that added to the depth of the shot which I like very much. The slightly darkened shot has a guy by the door of the van far ahead whilst the third and last edit you removed the guy and the door of the van was left opened. You also removed the woman at the far end. I am not complaining but this doesn't resemble anymore of what I supposed the image of a darkened part of the street many countries have. Too much editing I think to make everything stand out but lost the elements from within. I have walked narrowed streets in Melbourne for years in search for something or going for a short road to get to another place or going to work and I always noticed little darkened streets and admired the shadows that different lighting conditions offered to the viewer. The lost in thoughts is still appropriate but please do not get carried away...thanks for reading my view, Jack.

[flashback]

Izzie, I agree with you 100%. Part of what I'm trying to find is what works best. I think if I were going for 'sinister' or 'dark' then indeed, my first image would work very well. But based on the man on the RHS, I agreed with the suggestions as I wanted the focus to be on him. And 'eliminating' the people in the distance added to the scene of contemplation.

[flashback]

Thank you again Binnur.