Street kids 2

[Chataignier]

Another from the series :

[DanK]

I think this is a very powerful image--considerably more so than the first. The lines formed by the stairs and bannister work well also.

I have only two suggestions. Even though you have the faces above the center, the image is top-heavy, in part because the upper area is so dark. Also, the boy's face is very dark. If it were mine, I'd crop roughly to the "rule" of thirds, which I think works well in this case, and dodge the boy's face a bit.

[Geoff F]

Yes, maybe crop the top to end up with something like 5 x 4 ratio?

[Manfred M]

I agree about the crop and I would burn down the bright areas a bit to bring more impact to the subjects.

The human visual system is drawn to the brightest areas in an image and if that is not your subject, the image will not be as strong as it can be.

[Chataignier]

Thanks for the feedback

@manfred : I'm surprised that the handrail makes so much difference, the upper stair treads too. I will definitely revisit this. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Manfred M]

Thanks for the feedback

@manfred : I'm surprised that the handrail makes so much difference, the upper stair treads too. I will definitely revisit this. Thanks for the suggestions.

Things that attract the human eye are:

1. Bright areas;

2. Areas of high contrast; and

3. Areas of highly saturated colours (not an issue in B&W).


If you look at any of the classic masters (Adams, Karsh, Cartier-Bresson), they or their print makers would spend hours in the darkroom making local exposure adjustments (dodging and burning) to fix these problems.


While I did burn down the spots that you noticed, I also dodged the people just a touch to make them stand out more from the background.

[selig1656]

A strong captue and the suggestions above are terrific to enhance this piece.

[Chataignier]

Revisited :

[Geoff F]

Looks good now.

[billtils]

Excellent!

[DanK]

I agree with Manfred about the handrail. I hadn't thought about it in writing my quick reply.

You clearly have a winner here, and I'd encourage you to do your own re-editing, interpreting the comments as you will.

[Manfred M]

This redone version is much stronger. Well done!

[pschlute]

Superb image David.

[Jim A]

Very much improved, David.