Truth

[lovelife65]

This is an old photo I decided to put out there, even though I'm still not convinced it works nor is that interesting.
This was a group in Victoria, BC protesting food manufacturing practices (in this case, chicken).

The lighting makes it a little tough to read a couple of the signs, and it may be a bit too busy.


The videos were pretty graphic.
Thanks for peeking

[Donald]

Well done for putting up an image that you say is not perfect and inviting comments. That is the way to learn.

You have already highlighted what you feel are the weaknesses in the image, which again is well done. Unless we can express that we haven't a hope of improving. The ability to be self-critical is vital and is what so many people seem to lack.

I would add a comment about the variation in tone, or the lack of it. The clothes of the people are all very similar in tone to that of the surroundings - pavement, tree branches, buildings. If you wanted it to be an effective B & W then I'd suggest that work to separate out the tones was required. But, as you say, it may well be too busy a scene to work as a B & W image. I think B & W works best when the content of the frame is kept simple.

[Tronhard]

Hi Sharon:

Always nice to see one of your images, and I echo Donald's comments about your heart in putting one out there that you feel could be improved.

I also agree that the tones in this make it hard to pick out the main characters in this captured moment. I would be interested to see what the image looked like in colour. For me monochrome works best in showing texture and pattern, especially where colour would degrade that focus. In this one I think it works the other way round. Do you have a colour version we could see?

cheers: Trev

[Shadowman]

Sharon,

You've got speckled lighting in some parts of the composition which is always difficult to shoot in unless you use flash to add fill light, or just work with the patterns and make it part of your expression.

[rpcrowe]

I'd love to see this one in color... Although I don't often use the presets in my NIK B&W converter. I sometimes, when faced with a difficult conversion, will run through the various presets to see if I can find a good starting point for the B&W conversion...

[Geoff F]

I looks much better in the Lightbox view where there is a lot more contrast visible.

You could crop the top to somewhere just above the right side lights to remove some of the busy background. Keep the hotel name which puts everything into context.

[rpcrowe]

I agree that perhaps cropping a bit off the top would concentrate interest on the figures in the group. Working with a bit of burning and dodging would probably be beneficial. Dappled sunlight is always a difficult area in which to shoot.

I have saved a copy of the image after I played with it and could post it if you don't mind...

[mugge]

I wish the two girls on the left weren't there I think that would have improved the balance of the image.
Cheers Ole

[Manfred M]

A couple of thoughts for you Sharon.

1. This is classic street photography. A lot of street photographers work almost exclusively in B&W in order to try to simplify a busy scene. This is very definitely a busy scene. Removing all the colour from a scene is a very powerful way of simplifying something.

2. Photography is all about the light and the light here is harsh and unattractive. The dappled light that the branches of the trees cast is something all portrait photographers are taught to avoid at all costs. Here, as Donald has pointed out the lack of tonal variation is the enemy of B&W work and in this image there is very little tonal variation from the blacks right through to the 3/4 tones, so not a great candidate for B&W (the histogram shows this quite clearly).

As others have pointed out, you might get a better result by leaving this in colour. Having all the colour data thrown out might have been the wrong direction as if everyone is wearing different coloured clothing you might just get some of the separation that this image needs (if they are all wearing similar coloured clothes, this might not work either).

Finally, simplify this composition. Others have suggested that the buildings and trees can be cropped. I would also remove the people on the right hand side. The power of this image is the person on the left looking at the three protesters facing her.




Also, one other consideration is to set this image aside and return to it when you have the skills needed to make the changes you are looking for. I finally figured out what I needed to do to a particular image I had taken 8 or 9 years ago and when I worked on it earlier on this year it went from a so-so image to an outstanding one with about 20 minutes worth of work.

[lovelife65]

A couple of thoughts for you Sharon.

1. This is classic street photography. A lot of street photographers work almost exclusively in B&W in order to try to simplify a busy scene. This is very definitely a busy scene. Removing all the colour from a scene is a very powerful way of simplifying something.

2. Photography is all about the light and the light here is harsh and unattractive. The dappled light that the branches of the trees cast is something all portrait photographers are taught to avoid at all costs. Here, as Donald has pointed out the lack of tonal variation is the enemy of B&W work and in this image there is very little tonal variation from the blacks right through to the 3/4 tones, so not a great candidate for B&W (the histogram shows this quite clearly).

As others have pointed out, you might get a better result by leaving this in colour. Having all the colour data thrown out might have been the wrong direction as if everyone is wearing different coloured clothing you might just get some of the separation that this image needs (if they are all wearing similar coloured clothes, this might not work either).

Finally, simplify this composition. Others have suggested that the buildings and trees can be cropped. I would also remove the people on the right hand side. The power of this image is the person on the left looking at the three protesters facing her.




Also, one other consideration is to set this image aside and return to it when you have the skills needed to make the changes you are looking for. I finally figured out what I needed to do to a particular image I had taken 8 or 9 years ago and when I worked on it earlier on this year it went from a so-so image to an outstanding one with about 20 minutes worth of work.

Thank you Manfred.

I appreciate you taking the time to critique and guide. Your edit looks much much better. Honestly, it wasn't an image I took much time with, and maybe I should have spent a little more time on it. given the harsh lighting I kind of gave up, yet I liked what the image was saying.