Another attempt to elicit feedback...

[flambe]

Hi all, have posted pics before but not quite successful in getting you guys to look long enough - its either my pics are too plain or they're totally off tangent... Anyway, here's another attempt and hope it'll at least draw some response!

[Patryk]

Good composition in a photojournalistic view... try converting to bw and play around with the levels, might add more character to the shot.

Average shots of good looking girls get more attention and feedback, unfortunate, but that's how it is... Keep on shooting, and if you can make people take notice of pictures of everyday things, then well done.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by flambe Hi all, have posted pics before but not quite successful in getting you guys to look long enough - its either my pics are too plain or they're totally off tangent... Anyway, here's another attempt and hope it'll at least draw some response!

i think your picture lacks sharpness... either it seems too dull in color, or the subject is not really contrasting enuff... it kinda blends into the picture...

[flambe]

Grateful for both your feedback noticed that about the girls of course, which I feel this forum is too heavily skewed towards, photography is more than just that, right?

Anyway, I can't believe this doesn't even qualify as a portrait shot!? (where my original posting was...)

[student]

I like this image and the man looking at the empty chairs as if asking "where are my friends?"

But the image is flat and the light does not do justice to the image.

I hope you will not mind if I give a slight adjustment to the image. I have purposely exaggerated the contrast a little. Hope you like it.

[blive]

Originally Posted by flambe Grateful for both your feedback noticed that about the girls of course, which I feel this forum is too heavily skewed towards, photography is more than just that, right? Anyway, I can't believe this doesn't even qualify as a portrait shot!? (where my original posting was...)

What girls?

I just saw your post. Although the exposure seems off, giving it a flat look, and it could be adjusted slightly to give higher saturation, it tells a good story and make me pause and think.

[flambe]

Hi Doc! Thanks for the encouragement, apart from the story, you highlighted the next most important element of good photography and that is light! (or the lack of it in this instance...) I certainly like the more contrasty image that you have created. Will look out for this aspect the next time

Hi Blive, glad you liked the image too The "girls" I was referring to are the subjects of many photographers in this forum, not my image here. While any hot blooded male would be attracted more to the images of pretty girls (including myself ), what I am trying to say is that it wouldn't hurt to also propagate good portraiture photography (or candids for that matter) that tells a good story without the "sex" element

[khairi]

beside contrast and light and saturation...i think u didnt see one more thing
that Student did to your image. He cropped a lil of the image on the left side,
thus making the image more balance without much distraction.

Have fun shooting ya!

[Verywierd]

I like it. The man's gaze and the "look" of the chairs is conveys a whole range of feelings.

Although I agree with earlier comments that the shot is a little grey, I think Student's version was a bit too much in the other direction. Given the subject and the "missing friends" feeling I think the overall effect should not be too bright. B&W might work the best.

[elap]

i find the building behind the wall a bit out of place or distracting.
may have more impact if the perspective is taken to show the lines of the top of the wall and the eyesight of the man by moving towards the left. my 2 cents worth.

[student]

Originally Posted by Verywierd Although I agree with earlier comments that the shot is a little grey, I think Student's version was a bit too much in the other direction. Given the subject and the "missing friends" feeling I think the overall effect should not be too bright. B&W might work the best.

See my comments accompanying my earlier post.

I had intentionally exaggerated the contrast to show the difference.

[zaren]

you have an interesting subject here, with the red chair providing a very striking focal point both for the man in the photo and for the viewer. i would probably go for an even tighter crop, to eliminate bg clutter at the top as well, while increasing levels, contrast and saturation to boost the colours here.

e.g.

[student]

Originally Posted by zaren you have an interesting subject here, with the red chair providing a very striking focal point both for the man in the photo and for the viewer. i would probably go for an even tighter crop, to eliminate bg clutter at the top as well, while increasing levels, contrast and saturation to boost the colours here. e.g.

I had thought of the cropping. But felt that it look too "Squashy" for the poor man. Matter of personal preference.

[flambe]

elap, veryweird, khairi: thank you all for your constructive feedback, this must be one of my most gratifying posts

Zaren, thanks for your suggestion of a closer crop but I would defer to the doc's opinion of it being a bit too squashy - not something within control since the wall behind is a low one...

Since there has been a few comments about B&W, I thought I put this version for comparison:

[AngelZhou]

I think the shoot is pretty interesting =)

As for the version, I prefer zaren version. More contrast - no doubt look more impactful here. I like the cropping as well, cut all the innecessary. And in zaren's version eventhough he push the contrast the white chair doesnt seems 'almost disappear'.
I prefer the colour version also because its benefit from two striking red colour.

[student]

Originally Posted by AngelZhou I think the shoot is pretty interesting =) As for the version, I prefer zaren version. More contrast - no doubt look more impactful here. I like the cropping as well, cut all the innecessary. And in zaren's version eventhough he push the contrast the white chair doesnt seems 'almost disappear'. I prefer the colour version also because its benefit from two striking red colour.

My initial correction was very much like Zaren's with the exception of the cropping on top. How we wish the wall is a little higher!

I chose to desaturate the colors a little, even though the saturated colors were obviously more "impactful". At the end, I prefer a slightly more muted color. And these are my reasons. And perhaps reflect my current mood. I suppose the younger generation here are not yet in tune with the moods and thoughts of older people like me.

A friend of mine passed away two days ago after a long illness. Including him, three of my classmates had died since graduation in 1977. Every year from now, at our reunion gathering, there might be fewer and fewer of us. I do not know when I will be missing from these gatherings. In the place I work, there are many more senior than I. Watching your friends go one by one is not a pleasant thing.

This image by flambe gave me that sort of feeling. Here was an elderly man looking at the empty chairs beside him. Who used to sit there? Where were they? Gone? Remembering the good times when we used to sit there and watch the world goes by? The laughter.

And the decay.

Are we not decaying every day? The decay of the human body. The worn out chairs, walls, and buildings. While the bright colors do give a contrast to this depressing state of affairs, I felt that the oversaturation of the colors made it a little gaudy.

To me, it is, as if were, looking at the "dead", and spitting at them.

[AngelZhou]

how if death is a beginning instead of an end?
or... how if death is the only relieve?


Okay, cut the crap =p

How we wished the wall is a little higher - i know some naturalist will hate this - but how if we just 'paint' the rest of the wall? After all the colour be pushed to even white aka #FFFFFF which is not so difficult to achieve.
Then the wall issue can be solved.

[student]

Originally Posted by AngelZhou how if death is a beginning instead of an end? or... how if death is the only relieve?

Yes...............

But you have to tell this old man that death is a relief and a new beginning.

[Stereobox]

given the direction of how the picture is being interpreted ("missing friends")...i suddenly thought of the perfect 'music soundtrack' to this picture


bob dylan's dream

honestly speaking, on first glance, the picture didn't attract my attention and i simply went on to the next post (and the next..)

the picture is potentially full of meaning but i'm afraid the original 'version' didn't do justice to it, especially if you were looking out to 'attract' responses. if u did put a lot of thinking behind the shot (doesn't matter before, during or after capturing)...it certainly didn't show in the original post.

my two cents!~

[student]

Originally Posted by Stereobox honestly speaking, on first glance, the picture didn't attract my attention and i simply went on to the next post (and the next..) the picture is potentially full of meaning but i'm afraid the original 'version' didn't do justice to it, especially if you were looking out to 'attract' responses. if u did put a lot of thinking behind the shot (doesn't matter before, during or after capturing)...it certainly didn't show in the original post.

I believe you when you say the picture did not attract your attention. The image was just too flat. But as you said, it is potentially full of meaning. But this meaning may not be apparent to those who do not have what it takes to appreciate the meaning.