A Fisherman in Dardanelles 2

[ahmetmacitsahin]

[Shadowman]

Nicely exposed, certainly causes the viewer to ask questions, the what is apparent, the where is up for grabs. Is that a partial pier and if so where is the rest of it? Why is there a pot in the water? What is the purpose of all the lines?

[IzzieK]

+1 to john's remarks and questions...

[bnnrcn]

Hi Ahmet I think this image doesn't work very well in color as the light is a bit harsh and the composition looks crowded with a lot of elements such as reflections, ropes, birds,broken pieces of the pier and that concrete thing on the left. I think a B&W conversion might help for a plainer look as the elements of the composition will all look in the tones of grey. I have uploaded a quick conversion to give you an idea.(BTW the light is softer and warmer at later times. Shooting towards evening might give better results.)

[rpcrowe]

I thought that I would give this a go... I cropped it a bit differently and selected the fisherman with a control point in NIK Viveza. I then used the shadows slider. brightness slider and structure slider, tweaking them all to result in this. What do you think? I'd be happy with this if it were mine...

[bnnrcn]

I also like Richard's edit

[Round Tuit]

Ahmet,

I really like this photo. I like the way that the pier, if that is what it is, points to the fisherman. I like that the two birds form a virtual horizontal line along the bottom of the frame and create a nice triangle with the boat and the pier.

I seldom disagree with Binnur but in this case I think that the B & W version looses too many elements. Richard's edits bring out the fisherman very nicely but I prefer your original crop.

Well done.

Andre

[bnnrcn]

Hi again Ahmet and Andre,

The goal of the B&W conversion was to show an option to hide some of the elements in the composition and to put the emphasis more on the fisherman and the pier as the title is about a fisherman. If the title was (let's say) 'a quiet afternoon in Dardanelles' then I would keep the birds in sight as a part of the environment.Then I would expect the birds to stand not so close to the bottom frame though. Ahmet what I mean is that, it is better to concantrate on your main subject when framing a scene. If the composition about a quiet afternoon scene including the sea, a fisherman,a pier and the birds, then I would try to set up a better composition with the birds more in the scene. If the composition about the fisherman , then I would try not to include distracting elements in the composition. In your shot the birds swimming close to the bottom frame draw my attention and takes my eyes away from the main subject which is fisherman. I think Richard's goal was the same and that's why he cropped the color image to eliminate the distracting elements.

Otherwise, it is a nice image in general and my comments and edit are just to introduce you to some ways of thinking about composition when shooting

I would also recommend that you should read some books about composition and to watch a lot of images through internet in order to improve your compositions. Watching images is also a good way of inspiration

PS. BTW, the B&W conversion was a very quick one and it can be improved by further edits for a better look.

[Round Tuit]

Hi again Ahmet and Andre,

The goal of the B&W conversion was to show an option to hide some of the elements in the composition and to put the emphasis more on the fisherman and the pier as the title is about a fisherman. If the title was (let's say) 'a quiet afternoon in Dardanelles' then I would keep the birds in sight as a part of the environment.Then I would expect the birds to stand not so close to the bottom frame though. Ahmet what I mean is that, it is better to concantrate on your main subject when framing a scene. If the composition about a quiet afternoon scene including the sea, a fisherman,a pier and the birds, then I would try to set up a better composition with the birds more in the scene. If the composition about the fisherman , then I would try not to include distracting elements in the composition. In your shot the birds swimming close to the bottom frame draw my attention and takes my eyes away from the main subject which is fisherman. I think Richard's goal was the same and that's why he cropped the color image to eliminate the distracting elements.

Otherwise, it is a nice image in general and my comments and edit are just to introduce you to some ways of thinking about composition when shooting

I would also recommend that you should read some books about composition and to watch a lot of images through internet in order to improve your compositions. Watching images is also a good way of inspiration


PS. BTW, the B&W conversion was a very quick one and it can be improved by further edits for a better look.

Hello Ahmet,

What undoubtedly looks to you like contradictory advice coming from Binnur, Richard and myself is actually based on the same principle. That is: Eliminating distracting elements from your frame will result in a stronger composition. Conversely, adding supporting elements will do the same. The difference between Binnur's recommendation and mine is solely based on our different interpretation of what you intended your subject to be.

You gave us two clues as to your intentions. The first is the title which suggest that the fisherman is your subject. The second is the photo itself which does not really support the fisherman alone as being the main reason for this photo. I say this because the fisherman is dark, not well defined and most importantly very small in the frame. Richard addressed these characteristics by enhancing the local contrast of the fisherman, brightening him up and and making him more prominent by cropping the frame. Binnur's suggestion to go black and white de-emphasizes several elements in the frame(notice how the birds almost disappear) to make the fisherman more prominent. Both of these approaches help bring attention to the fisherman and both are valid ways to proceed. My main concern with the B & W approach is that I believe that the blue background behind the fisherman helps to make him stand out whereas it might be difficult to achieve the same separation with only the tonality. Of course I could be wrong since my skills at B & W conversion are very limited.

When I look at your image, my eyes go to the boat because it is the brightest thing in the picture. There, I discover the fisherman who capture my attention by virtue of being a human figure. My gaze then wanders down the pier, which provides context as well as interesting features, to the bird and back up to the fisherman. From there, it follows the fisherman's reflection to the bird on the right and then returns to the fisherman. I agree with Binnur that it would be better if the birds were not so close to the bottom of the frame. I don't see the birds as being distractions but rather as nice little gems to discover by exploring your composition along its leading lines.

Eliminating distracting elements from a composition will always strengthen it. The difficulty lies in determining if an element contributes positively or not. I would say: when in doubt, remove it.

Hope that this make sense.

Andre

[rpcrowe]

Binnur is correct in that I looked at this as an image of the fisherman with the pier and the lines (sailor-talk for rope) leading out to the boat.

There are many ways to effectively crop this image - none better than another but, perhaps a bit better in the eyes of one beholder or another.

That is the nice thing about photography and art... There are really no steadfast, cannot be broken, rules

Keep your images coming...

BTW: Here is a link to my images from the few days I spent in Istanbul. I loved it there and wish that I had two weeks there...

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Istanbul/