A lonely fisherman

[hhho]

Hi! spotted this lonely fisherman during last trip in China (桂林漓江)



What do you think of this photo in term of
1. composition
2. lighting
3. artistic value
4. other view to improve it to be better

Heres' EXIF information
Make: Panasonic
Camera: DMC-LC5
Shutter: 2/1305 sec
Aperature: f/7.36
ExposureProgram: 2
ISO: 100
ShutterSpeedValue: 93/10
ApertureValue: 29/5
MeteringMode: 4
Focal Length: 14.59 mm

cheers,

[espion]

flat. needs more contrast esp the background and the skies. A harder contrast also accentuate the highlights off the fisherman making a more emphatic statement.

Also the position of the fisherman. I think you want to incl his reflection, but it is cut, and so it is incomplete. A portrait orientation with the fisheerman and his reflection with some space around them close to the left edge, and more sky and moutain (ie take a lower POV), would improve the composition.

and a minor point - lens curvature.

[blowblue]

i think the best way to improve it might be to manipulate the picture using photoshop.

Compositionwise it follows the composition rules (which i can't remember :P)

more importantly, it lacks some wow factor....the grandiose of the mountains or what the fisher man is exactly doing (it would be better if the fisherman's boat was shot longitudinally, which you can't control).

so maybe you have to go to photoshop to change the colours/shades/contrasts.

[bonboncat]

Feel the picture is a bit flat, the color is not rich/contrasting enough, and i can't tell what the fisherman is doing, keep trying.

[Chris Lim]

Originally Posted by hhho Hi! spotted this lonely fisherman during last trip in China (桂林漓江) What do you think of this photo in term of 1. composition 2. lighting 3. artistic value 4. other view to improve it to be better Heres' EXIF information Make: Panasonic Camera: DMC-LC5 Shutter: 2/1305 sec Aperature: f/7.36 ExposureProgram: 2 ISO: 100 ShutterSpeedValue: 93/10 ApertureValue: 29/5 MeteringMode: 4 Focal Length: 14.59 mm cheers,

Composition

I feel this composition is a little flawed in the sense that the surrounding over interacts with the main focus of the fisher man. I'd feel a much wider shot can make this image work better in which a comparison between the man and the surroundings can be made. Apart from that, a panoramic crop can be made if the image was wide enough. A different height perspective will be nice cos at such the image has a seemingly lack of height or eye level for a more creative approach in post.

Lighting

My guess is that this was shot either in the early morning or nearing evening? As it is pretty much ambient lighting, i dun feel much can be done. The best way to do a lanscape type shot IMO, is to research the area of shoot and how the light falls. The direction of the light in this image suggest that the sun was pretty low this causing pretty deep shadows and a lack of depth.

Artistic values

Its hard to comment much on artistic values as individual viewers view an image differently. But in my POV, there isnt too much of an artistic value here. Its probably leaning more to the journalistic view point. How ever the image would do good with more depth. And one such way to do it is to flatten the image to make the man stand out more. As it is the image has already an overpowering contrast in the foreground. To Boost the contrast is to lose the details of the man almost entirely. A portrait crop will definately not work as well. Cos of the tightness of the shot.


But then again. its only my preferance. =) cheers

[hhho]

Thank you for all your comments.

I apologise for my mistake of the title, "A lonely fisherman".
This is not about a lonely fisherman. It's about a beautiful view in Guilin 桂林漓江

A little bit of background about this picture.
We were taking a boat ride on 桂林漓江 in the early morning before 9am and this only fisherman we saw in front of us making his living.

If a change of title of "Guilin View" more suitable for this picture, I would like to name it as "A view in Guilin 桂林漓江"

I will post another picture of fisherman at the later time.

Another idea I have to convert this to B&W to overcome the unfavourable lighting condition.

Once again, Thank you very much for your comments.

By the way, I was not the cameraman, my daughter was holding it.

Cheers,

[espion]

Changing a title does not change a picture does it?

[Pablo]

A question to those that have viewed this photo (sorry hhho for the OT),

How do you think the photo would have been if a CP filter was used

Cheers and again sorry for the OT

[hhho]

Originally Posted by espion Changing a title does not change a picture does it?

Yes, it doesn't change the picture but it helps to shift our focus to the overall view instead of a lonely fisherman. I wanted to show the beautiful view of Guilin and this fisherman in this picture is just to make it better if lighting condition allowed me.

[hhho]

Originally Posted by Pablo A question to those that have viewed this photo (sorry hhho for the OT), How do you think the photo would have been if a CP filter was used Cheers and again sorry for the OT

Not at all, Pablo
I think CP filter doesn't help to overcome the bad lighting codition

[blowblue]

Originally Posted by Pablo A question to those that have viewed this photo (sorry hhho for the OT), How do you think the photo would have been if a CP filter was used Cheers and again sorry for the OT

i doubt much will change with CPL. you basically remove most/some reflections from the water...and give a more bluish sky...

i think the problem is the content of the photo
- mountains is not grand enough
- fisherman is not longitudinally placed (so it does not convey the features of the local fisherman)

anyhow, at least you learnt something from this photo .

[blowblue]

so do you have a pic of a fisherman with a cormorant? the home-reared birds to catch fishes.

[blowblue]

i just came across a picture at photo.net

this will give you a rough comparison with your photo
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5629989

note -the grandiose size of the mountain
- fisherman is longitudinally placed. (kind of but better than what i suggested)

cheers!

[hhho]

Originally Posted by blowblue so do you have a pic of a fisherman with a cormorant? the home-reared birds to catch fishes.

Yes, I have many shots taken in other parts of China Guilin.
One regret I've on this particular day. My shots of 桂林漓江 didn't transfer to my portable hard disk and I just delete it for the next day shooting. My daughter holding this P&S camera as my backup

[hhho]

Originally Posted by blowblue i just came across a picture at photo.net this will give you a rough comparison with your photo http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5629989 note -the grandiose size of the mountain - fisherman is longitudinally placed. (kind of but better than what i suggested) cheers!

It is not real as you've seen.
In real life, the fishermen I came across always busy working to earn their living
I meant the photographer made an arrangement for this shot to be taken
ya, this photo is what I think of making