Ticket Collector

[John 2]

Another one from the other afternoon. A very nice person that I fell into conversation with while he was waiting for departure time and I asked him if he had any problem being in a photograph that might end up being displayed in a competition for instance. He misunderstood me, stepped back and posed. It resulted in this. Not really competition fare but he was such a pleasant individual I took his photograph anyway. Again, because of the very dull conditions I have applied some HDR but only to the background, not to him. Does it work?? I guess it's another one that depends on taste.

[Geoff F]

Works fine, all the angles have come together nicely.

Maybe, I would try selectively slightly darkening the bright patch of sky towards the top left corner and you might get away with adding a fraction of extra brightness to his face.

[John 2]

Think you could be right Geoff. I've taken some of the tint out of his specs as well. Something like this?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John,

The second version is better for the two areas you addressed.
The only two things that 'worry me' now about this are;
He unfortunately has his body facing out of shot, although it could be said this gives the shot a bit of action; e.g. he paused and posed on way past.
The colour/texture of the nearest coach body doesn't look real to me, which may be just a side effect of the way the light is catching it, or perhaps an issue with sharpening.

I do like going to these kind of places on the less busy days; fewer people getting in shot and more time to engage with the volunteers/staff.

Hope that helps,

[John 2]

Thanks for the comment Dave. Yes he is facing out of the shot but he is also looking into the shot and I thought that was strong enough to hold the composition together. The colour and texture in the coach isn't real. As I explained, it turned into a very dull day and so I have applied an HDR effect to the background to try and liven the image up a bit and that has exaggerated the colour and the blemishes. Might not have worked but you have to try these things.

[Geoff F]

Yes I did wonder slightly about the ticket collector's angle of view; but he is looking more or less straight ahead and the strong perspective effect from the carriages seems to balance any negative worries for me.

If it was a plain flat background, I agree that he would be looking in the wrong direction.

[John 2]

Thanks Geoff.

[Dave Humphries]

As I explained, it turned into a very dull day and so I have applied an HDR effect to the background to try and liven the image up a bit and that has exaggerated the colour and the blemishes.

Ah sorry John, I misread that (in first post) as "only to the sky"