Require feedback. - Shoemaker

[arpanganguli]

Hi,

Would love to know your thoughts on this.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/arp...n/photostream/



Thanks!
Arpan.

[Donald]

Arpan - Unfortunately your image is not appearing.

To address problems in inserting images into posts, please read - HELP THREAD: How can I post images here?

Once you have resolved that problem, you may also like to read this thread - How to Get Effective Feedback for your Posted Images. By helping people focus upon the particular points you wish feedback on, you will help members provide the sort of feedback that you will find most helpful.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Arpan,

I converted your link to a url, which allowed me to see the image on the webpage.

Then I clicked to see it Large.
Then I right clicked and copied the image Location
Then I edited your post and pasted that into an IMG tag (as you had, but with wrong link).

Don't worry about getting things wrong when you're new here.

I also looked up the EXIF data and discovered;
Sony DSC-HX100V at 99mm, 1/320s, f/5 at 320 iso with +0.3 EC, processed in Picasa.

As with the night shot, this one is still a bit under exposed even with the +0.3 EC, probably about +1 would have done it.

For a small sensor camera like that, you have quite separation of subject from background with DoF.

With slightly better PP software (e.g. GIMP or Elements), you could clone out a few distracting background things though.

As you can see, to give you helpful advice, I had to do quite a bit of research, which is why it helps if you provide it

Cheers,

[arpanganguli]

Thanks Dave! And my sincere thanks for taking all the effort!!

It is interesting because when I shot it (I had a Sony HX-100V then. I now own a Nikon 3200D), I took 3 EVs apart. I chose the middle one and there was a darker one that I discarded. But, I guess I can darken it slightly using an image editor.

Also, can you please explain what you meant by this? (I am trying to understand the technicalities, so I might ask a few stupid questions!)

"For a small sensor camera like that, you have quite separation of subject from background with DoF."

[Dave Humphries]

It is interesting because when I shot it (I had a Sony HX-100V then. I now own a Nikon 3200D), I took 3 EVs apart. I chose the middle one and there was a darker one that I discarded. But, I guess I can darken it slightly using an image editor.

I would suggest the brighter one of the three would be better exposed.

I did a quick edit, I hope you don't mind.
Brightened overall, noise reduction, slight white balance adjustment, a little cloning, some dodging (brightening), burning (darkening) and desaturation applied in various places - click image to see in Lytebox, then use arrow keys to flip between them to 'spot-the-difference'.

Also, can you please explain what you meant by this? (I am trying to understand the technicalities, so I might ask a few stupid questions!)

"For a small sensor camera like that, you have quite separation of subject from background with DoF."

I don't know whether you have ever shot with a full frame 35mm camera in film days with their ubiquitous 50mm f/1.8 lens, but when shooting subjects like this, you'd normally use a wide aperture to get a narrow DoF (Depth of Field).

In comparison, the smaller sensor area of many digital cameras like the Sony give much greater DoF, here's a tutorial on the subject

Cheers,

[rpcrowe]

Hi Arpan.

Welcome to Cambridge in Colour, the best and friendliest digital photography site on the Internet...

I like your image quite a bit. I only wish that you had either shot this in the portrait configuration or had either physically stepped back a bit or shot with a somewhat wider focal length to include the entire shoe on which the man is working. Although the man is certainly the most important factor in this image, the concentration of him looking at the shoe combined with the shoe's placing in the image, makes the shoe also an intergral part of your photograph...

However, the image is very interesting. I love images of people...

A tip for shooting people in your area of the world. Using fill flash will often open up shadows. This is especially true in harsh sinlight and when shooting subjects with darker complexions. Fill flash is especially useful for opening shadows under eyebows and under hats or turbans and is quite easy to do, either with a hotshoe flash or even a small camera's built-in flash...

[Manfred M]

I really like this image. It has a lot of character.

I've had a bit of a go at your image as well.

I found it a bit too dark, so did a tiny bit of work to brighten it up. I found the background a bit distracting, so I made a selection and applied a bit of a gaussian blur to throw it even more out of focus than you had with your shot. I would tend to take this type of picture with a fast, long lens to try to throw the background out of focus so that the subject stands out a bit more. I did a bit of sharpening to the subject, played around a bit to remoce some of the harsh shadows in his face. I also burned out the yellow on the right side to give it more of the same tone family as the background on the left.