Photography - - Composition in photography - Page 5

One4UAll · #61 05-29-2008, 11:01 AM

Have a good trip, Hawkeye. I look forward to seeing how your photography has improved in light of this thread. Bon Voyage!

David

TreesOfMyTime · #62 05-29-2008, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawkeye60

Thanks to everyone for their informative input...I am leaving for a trip to Israel and then on to Egypt (my 2nd time there) next week. I'll definately be taking more photos, hopefully I'll be taking along a "better eye" as well.

Travel safe, and don't forget your charger!

hawkeye60 · #63 05-29-2008, 02:40 PM

Thank you all for the help and the kind send offs. I leave next Saturday.

In the mean time, at the risk of monopolizing this thread, I'll make this my last post....This is a picture I took in 2004 of a small village in Egypt. As it was taken from a moving bus, there was no chance to change perspective or get another shot, and the composition was obviously rushed.

LonK · #64 05-29-2008, 03:18 PM

For a drive-by shooting, this is right on target and nicely composed as is, hawkeye. If anything, trimming a bit off the left might help a bit. I could perhaps suggest some subtle enhancement strategies, but the composition is quite strong IMO.

P.S. Have an enjoyable trip...

One4UAll · #65 05-29-2008, 04:35 PM

I agree with Lonnie. Taking a bit off the left will move your focal point off-center to the left more. Also, you might try cropping off the bottom a bit, as the pavement adds no info to the photo, other than this is a roadside scene.

palms1 · #66 05-30-2008, 06:05 AM

Hawkeye have a great trip and as you are going to Egypt will you be taking some photo's of pyramids ? becuse you will have the triangle bit of composition done for you

Janet been a bit bust of late but will get around to looking at your people photo's and maybe asking a few questions

Palms

LonK · #67 05-30-2008, 11:57 AM

Let's keep this going shall we?

Generally speaking, people photos have a more specific subject matter than scenics or architecturals. Janet already offered a portrait of an individual and demonstrated a very effective tight crop interpretation.

With that in mind, here's another people snapshot with some scenic value. However, it suffers from a couple of very typical "point and shoot" shortcomings. How would you correct/crop this photo? State your reasoning.

Disreqard the low quality (small size, jpeg artifacts, etc.) and concentrate primarily on composition.

0lBaldy · #68 05-30-2008, 01:29 PM

As a side note to Janet..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janet Petty

I've been helping teach beginners the basics of photography; <clip>
One of the reasons I ask is that even after drilling composition into students for a full semester, the majority of their portfolios at the end of the semester ignored composition. Bull's-eye vision was the predominant theme.
<clip>
Janet

I am sure your photography classes spends time studying famous photographs by respected photographers. Have the students imitate the same styles and techniques. For example, look at close-up photos by any of the renowned photographers and talk about their careful use of shadow and texture to help the viewer see ordinary objects in totally new ways. Then have the students select an object of their choice and, using the same techniques, come up with their own versions of his photos. The resulting images will be original and creative, even though they were directly imitating another artist’s work. In fact, the more restrictions you placed on the compositional elements within a given photo project, the more creative the students will become.
Learning by imitation will give them practice and experience they would not get otherwise and may become second nature in the future. (The Photographers Eye)
Just a thought!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lonnie,
The photographer's intention is clear and the main subject is obvious, after straightening I cropped out extra elements that I was not interested in and felt distracted from the subjects. The perspective leads the eye to your main subject and suggest depth to the photo. All the parts of the picture work together to maintain the ambiance of the shot. As it is, the photo speaks for itself and will probably bring back some fond memories.

palms1 · #69 05-30-2008, 02:51 PM

Late in the day and a bit tired so i had a go at this but what i thought and not what i have learnt from this thread

I made the two ladies a bit more prominent, but left the street in with the man as i wanted to see where they had been and what was round the corner, and cut out what i thought was extra mainly at the top and bottom and tried to straighten a bit

Palms

TreesOfMyTime · #70 05-30-2008, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by palms1

Late in the day and a bit tired so i had a go at this but what i thought and not what i have learnt from this thread

I made the two ladies a bit more prominent, but left the street in with the man as i wanted to see where they had been and what was round the corner, and cut out what i thought was extra mainly at the top and bottom and tried to straighten a bit

Palms

The hydrant or whatever it is does seem intrusive to me. I would probably try to crop that out as well.

One4UAll · #71 05-30-2008, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by palms1

I made the two ladies a bit more prominent, but left the street in with the man as i wanted to see where they had been and what was round the corner, and cut out what i thought was extra mainly at the top and bottom and tried to straighten a bit Palms

Here, again is, I think, an example of trying to make one photo do two separate things. If the ladies are the focal point, make them as such & crop out everything else. The street they're on is a background, nothing more. You've got to decide whether this is a documentary of your two friends (in which case this photo works, as I've cropped it) or if it's the street. You can't split attention between the ladies and the street. They or the street have to predominate.

To get your friends into the scene of the street, make them models that add to the composition, as I've done in the second attachment. Don't make them compete with their environment. On the trip I was on with my two friends, I later took a portrait of them, straight on, in a different setting. I admit I could crop some of the foreground a bit. I'm not saying this is a great shot, but it shows how I had to decide whether my friends were to dominate or whether they were elements in the scene. For this shot, I chose the latter.

Janet Petty · #72 05-30-2008, 04:00 PM

Both of the crops are good.

The thingy in front of the two women is the problem. Too bad to have placed them behind it rather than in front of it...unless...the thingy was to be part of the picture in the first place. In which case, I would have placed the three subjects either in a triangle pattern or had the ladies rest a portion of their bodies against it with the thingy in the middle.

BTW, was a hard picture to shoot and expose as well as you did with the lighting in the alley being so shadowed and the bright light at the end.

Janet

lurch · #73 05-30-2008, 04:51 PM

This is definitely one of those "we were here, on this picturesque street, behind this cool hitching-post thingy" point-and-shoot snapshots - made for memories, not for art. Therefore, I didn't see any point in trying to make it a superb arty composition. Just tried to make it a more pleasing memory to look at. Yes, the hitching-post (might it be a communal water faucet?) is distracting, but it was a part of the locale important enough to the couple* that they wanted it with them. With that in mind, I just offset the two people, cropped out excessive building parts, and let the curving street have a little more prominence.

*The Adam's Apple on the camera right 'lady' should have been a dead giveaway, guys.

LonK · #74 05-30-2008, 06:04 PM

Before anyone else gets carried away making profile assumptions, let me share some facts. The lady on the right is my cousin. She is 62 (widowed with two grown sons) and is a personal care nurse living in Germany with her charge (on the left) who is 87. Together, they travel throughout Europe quite a bit.

This photo was taken by a bystander of the two of them enjoying a site-seeing stroll through the old streets of Riga, Latvia last September. In that respect, I have little doubt the photo was primarily meant to document their presence there. I don't know what that fixture is in front of them (I would guess it is a hitching post), but I'll ask if you really want to know.

Nowthen, back to the subject at hand...

CathyH · #75 05-30-2008, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by One4UAll

Here, again is, I think, an example of trying to make one photo do two separate things. If the ladies are the focal point, make them as such & crop out everything else. The street they're on is a background, nothing more. You've got to decide whether this is a documentary of your two friends (in which case this photo works, as I've cropped it) or if it's the street. You can't split attention between the ladies and the street. They or the street have to predominate.

To get your friends into the scene of the street, make them models that add to the composition, as I've done in the second attachment. Don't make them compete with their environment. On the trip I was on with my two friends, I later took a portrait of them, straight on, in a different setting. I admit I could crop some of the foreground a bit. I'm not saying this is a great shot, but it shows how I had to decide whether my friends were to dominate or whether they were elements in the scene. For this shot, I chose the latter.

I really like your suggestion of making the people part of the scene, as stated the first photo is obvious a snap shot, and I cropped it like most of you, in a 4x6 ratio for prints.
But I'm going to remember to also place my friends and family into the scene.
This is a great thread.
cathy