Photography on the rooks

[mugge]

This was a grab shot taken on our latest trip. I had to wait for the photographer to move to a position more suitable as she kept crouching in various places where I did not want her to be. C&C welcome

Photography on the rooks by Ole Hansen, on Flickr

[Geoff F]

I wonder about a crop from the right side? Possibly end up with something like 4 x 5 ratio or square? That woman has become the main subject but she is currently well to the left of centre and is also looking towards the left, so the right side tends to become a distraction. If the woman wasn't there I think this current size would be fine. Or if she had been facing the other way around.

Everything else looks good to me and a potentially tricky exposure has worked well.

[Manfred M]

I was taught that every key element in an image has to play its role, otherwise why is it there? In this shot, the woman directs our attention to the lower left to where she is standing and visually we follow where she is looking, right out of the frame. If this is what you want as a photographer, great. If not, perhaps the image would be better without having her at all.

If I clone her and her reflection out, this is what the image looks like:



Now I'm attracted to the large rock in the top right hand corner, so a totally different view of the scene.

[mugge]

Thank you Geoff and Manfred for your comments. I do have a 4 x 5 ratio as Geoff suggested but I just do not want the woman to dominate. I never thought of Manfred's suggestion on cloning the woman out.

To me, the woman is incidental in the image, part of the rock and the sea.

[Manfred M]

Thank you Geoff and Manfred for your comments. I do have a 4 x 5 ratio as Geoff suggested but I just do not want the woman to dominate. I never thought of Manfred's suggestion on cloning the woman out.

To me, the woman is incidental in the image, part of the rock and the sea.

Ole - Open either your or my version in Lightbox and use the arrows to toggle between the two images. Look away from the screen for a few seconds and then look back at it and pay attention to the first thing that you notice. For me, it is quite different for the two versions of the image.

[escape]

The woman adds scale to the image which also enhances the depth. Without her, the image goes flat.

[FootLoose]

It would have worked if she had been facing the large rock top right. You should have called out to her to face the right way for your composition, Ole, I am sure as a fellow photographer she would have obliged.