An early morning group photoshoot. Getting started

[Gerry F]

#1
DSC06286 by gerald fraser, on Flickr


#2
DSC06309 by gerald fraser, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Nice efforts.

[Manfred M]

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to accomplish with these two images from a composition standpoint. The first one looks like a snapshot without any real thought having been put into the shot.

The second shot shows a lot more potential and had you concentrated on a smaller group of photographers and the interesting patterns made by the ground and sky, you would have had a much stronger image.

[Gerry F]

Thanks Manfred - I see what you mean. The first one I liked because of the mixture of headlights, first light of dawn and the clouds. In the second the blue-grey sky was an important feature as well as the silhouettes. The crop is also is powerful but really eliminates the sky and focuses only on the silhouettes.

[billtils]

Gerry, take a look at your original with the bottom 2/3 of the black at the bottom cropped out - it leaves us (well, me at any rate) in no doubt as to your intent.

[Manfred M]

Thanks Manfred - I see what you mean. The first one I liked because of the mixture of headlights, first light of dawn and the clouds. In the second the blue-grey sky was an important feature as well as the silhouettes. The crop is also is powerful but really eliminates the sky and focuses only on the silhouettes.

Gerry - when one looks at an image, one has to consider what was done and how effectively it works. Technical aspect, compositional aspects and how the image speaks to us on an emotional basis.

Other than you, none of us were standing beside you, so we don't know the constraints you were working under. We are also only able to comment on what you are showing us, rather than what could have been taken.

When it comes to composition, the main issue in the first image is that bright or light material that is close to the or over the edge of the frame tends to draw the viewer's eyes out of the picture and that is compositionally weak. Had you taken the shot so that material were well into the frame, that issue would not exist and the image would have been stronger.

Your comments on the second image are valid; the crop changes the character of the image. The silhouetted figures are a key element in the composition, but because they are so spread out, a tighter grouping gives a stronger composition. The sky by itself is not particularly interesting, but had you gotten closer to your subjects and shot from lower down, it could have been a strong element in the shot.