critique pls on some street photography

[dubaiphil]

That's better - 5 people again, but we can see all their faces. The older generation dressed smartly with the younger generation dressed more casually and not engaging together but only with their smartphones.

The street's on a slope, as you can see from the horizontals of the brickwork, and if this image was cropped then maybe there is enough space to straighten those horizontals while not cropping Granny's leg.

Definitely not an image I'd convert to B&W though.

You've hit the nail on the head for problems faced by many street photographers - the smartphone!

[qaz]

thought u might find that photo more to your liking. my girlfriend loves it, she suggested that my camera hand may be feeling the influence of the well known street shooter martin parr, who frequents the same coffee shop [cafe] as us in bristol

id luv santa to gift me with some of those contact sheets

[Shadowman]

heres one u may find of interest, took it observing the techniques you mention above, [from the hip and waited for the moment with camera pre set etc] only thing was she spotted me and later came over and asked if i had taken a photo, i gave her a card and reassured her it was not for publication on social networking sites

i think it highlights the generation gap, and in some ways the sad preoccupation with electronic communication that kids have

I think the fact that she spotted you really makes the image. Nice capture, was that the extent of the exchange between you and the young lady, did she ask to see the image?

[tao2]

Shutter speed matters creatively and sticking at f16 can hamper that

Hi Phil,

Sunny 16 doesn't mean that ye should always use f16. It's a general guide tae using cameras without meters. Ye would, of course adapt the settings tae circumstances e.g. using 400 ISO at sunset would be 1/400th@f4 (converting the ISO tae the nearest reciprocal shutter speed ). f16 would be - sunny with obvious shadows, as the old aperture tables direct - and which are, still, pretty accurate.

It's not a set-in-stone rule.

[Manfred M]

I like your street shot with the Asian group much better than the one at the festival, mostly because it is a far better image.

I agree with Phil's comments about it and it is too bad that you missed a bit on the left side of the frame. Yes, the street is on a slope, but the building bricks are not, so straightening those to be level might be an option, but you would end up cutting off more of the woman on the left, which is not going to be a desireable outcome.

Let's look at why it works better for me than the one at the Bristol festival:

1. It is a far simple composition with minimal background (and foreground) noise. The most complex thing in the background is the window. In the fair one there is a clash of shades and colours.

2. The background (and foreground) colours are warm toned and compliment the skin tones of the people. I expect this is why Phil is suggesting this one works quite well as a colour image.

3. You have a tight grouping of people. One of whom is looking at you. The people are more or less facing the camera.

I also agree with Boab on the B&W conversion. One very important compositional tool is "simplification", and getting rid of the colours certainly simplifies any image. There are too many competing colours in the image, as it stands. The downside is that you throw away most of the information that your camera collected, so that is something I don't do unless I have to (and I started out as a B&W film photographer, so I know the genre quite well).

[dubaiphil]

If the shot was just of the old couple, I'd be tempted to convert to B&W or process in a Polaroid style, as it would have a bit of a '60s or '70s feel to it. I think the riot of colour from all the younger generation's clothing, along with the deck chairs, strengthens the image in this case though.

I know that sunny 16 is not always f16 shooting, but it does complicate itself somewhat as a rule when aperture changes. Far easier to just let auto ISO work for you on that huge DSLR ;-)

[qaz]

Manfred . nicely analised, [stupid spell checker, no smarter than me] all points noted, its really useful sometimes to bring these things to to conscious level [the sub conscious already knows from experience]. it is a crop so i can extend to left but there's an reason for the hard crop at left, will try to dig out original version

luv your pic of the Namibian car, looks like it drank some bad gasoline [from that pump]

she didn't want to see the pic, but then i don't understand Chinese language. like a clever girl she seemed aware of the Facebook danger with photos

[qaz]

heres the original, what do u guys think about a good crop for this. to the left i could include the complete bag and then clone in a brick to cover the guys elbow....maybe

[dubaiphil]

I would:

Straighten the brickwork and mortar lines to horizontal

Use Transform and Distort in Photoshop to adjust the vertical and horizontal perspective issues (effectively flattening the plane of the image)

Crop pretty much as before, including the lady's bag and removing part of the guy on the left

Use Content Aware Fill to get rid of the remains of the guy on the left

Use cloning tools to remove any lines from the content aware fill and clean up the brickwork

Do whatever PP you'd see fit

Add a slight vignette to draw the viewer's eyes towards the centre of the frame

[Shadowman]

heres the original, what do u guys think about a good crop for this. to the left i could include the complete bag and then clone in a brick to cover the guys elbow....maybe

The woman's packages don't really add anything to the scene, although I would prefer seeing more of the gentleman in the gray trousers. Nice contrast between the relatively clean area; with that odd splash of white at the feet of the girl who spotted you. The methods of communication between each group member is still a significant element of the image.

[qaz]

ok, sounds good but can you tell me what Content Aware Fill is

thanks


Content Aware Fill

I would:

Straighten the brickwork and mortar lines to horizontal

Use Transform and Distort in Photoshop to adjust the vertical and horizontal perspective issues (effectively flattening the plane of the image)

Crop pretty much as before, including the lady's bag and removing part of the guy on the left

Use Content Aware Fill to get rid of the remains of the guy on the left

Use cloning tools to remove any lines from the content aware fill and clean up the brickwork

Do whatever PP you'd see fit

Add a slight vignette to draw the viewer's eyes towards the centre of the frame

[qaz]

heres a new crop with a rough removal of guy on left. thew bricks are technically straight but not so good, what does one use as a reference for straightening, bricks, window or ....

[Shadowman]

heres a new crop with a rough removal of guy on left. thew bricks are technically straight but not so good, what does one use as a reference for straightening, bricks, window or ....

Most editing software has a grid which you can use when rotating the image.

[qaz]

thats what i used, thats why i say the bricks are technically straight. but i think other things are now not straight

[vaez]

i agree with Manfred Mueller

[dje]

Hi Mark

The thing I really like about this shot (latest crop) is how it depicts two different generations. The older couple are inter-acting with each other, the others ones are not. Oh and I like the centre girl's cap - she's not leaving anything to chance is she

Dave

[qaz]

I would:

Straighten the brickwork and mortar lines to horizontal

Use Transform and Distort in Photoshop to adjust the vertical and horizontal perspective issues (effectively flattening the plane of the image)

Crop pretty much as before, including the lady's bag and removing part of the guy on the left

Use Content Aware Fill to get rid of the remains of the guy on the left

Use cloning tools to remove any lines from the content aware fill and clean up the brickwork

Do whatever PP you'd see fit

ok, sounds good but can you tell me what Content Aware Fill is

thanks
Add a slight vignette to draw the viewer's eyes towards the centre of the frame

[qaz]

I would:

Straighten the brickwork and mortar lines to horizontal

Use Transform and Distort in Photoshop to adjust the vertical and horizontal perspective issues (effectively flattening the plane of the image)

Crop pretty much as before, including the lady's bag and removing part of the guy on the left

Use Content Aware Fill to get rid of the remains of the guy on the left

Use cloning tools to remove any lines from the content aware fill and clean up the brickwork

Do whatever PP you'd see fit

ok, sounds good but can you tell me what Content Aware Fill is

thanks
Add a slight vignette to draw the viewer's eyes towards the centre of the frame

[qaz]

Dave . indeed she lets u know shes a girl. it was at a harbor festival not an asian gathering as one might think

[Shadowman]

thats what i used, thats why i say the bricks are technically straight. but i think other things are now not straight

Mark,

Your are probably right, notice how the window frame doesn't line up with the rows of bricks, on the left the middle frame it lines up with top of the bricks and on the right the bottom of the frame lines up.