TUK TUK from Bangkok....I need your MOST critical comments pls..

[charmingorion]

DEar all,
Thank you for viewing this thread.
Below is a pic taken in Bangkok last month.
Right, here is the comments and criticisms that i need from an outsider's view.

THis pic is taken at F2.8 at 1/4000s. The intention of this pic is to show the tuk tuk in the old and washed out alley in BKK.

However, i feel something is not there yet. I'm not sure if it is the lighting or the contrast of the pic...or is it the composition of this pic.

The reason i included a large portion on the top is becos i needed so to show case the alley details. IN this way, the viewer will look at the tuk tuk first then lead on to the sides of the walls and then to the top of the telecommunication cables.

Have i achieve that effect or is it too cluttered?

PLs give me your comments, ANything...whether u like it or not....I just like to hear what the viewers think of my pic in general so that i have a rough idea what is a good pic and what is not.

Thank you all!

[charmingorion]

Btw, i forgot to add that i did some photoshop post processing.

[feetless]

i tink in this pic, the tuk tuk realli stands out. the overall feel works for me.
but i tink it might be better if u zoom in more to the tuk tuk. my 2 cents.

[dOlBy]

You should have more space on the left for the tuk tuk, too much of the sky and the building in the right. Go for a much tighter crop.

The tuk tuk seems like it has not space to run and you had squeezed it to the bottom left corner of the picture.

[sunboi80]

I also think a tighter crop would be nice, mabbe 3cm above the "AIA" building?

[liionel]

maybe you should have stopped down to maybe F/8 so that its sharper. just 2cents from me.

[espion]

As some have pointed out, if your intention/subject was tuk tuk then you need to locate/compose/frame it in a more dominant manner.

For example you can come closer, go lower, more to the left so that tuk tuk occupies a greater proportion of the frame, and better isolated from the walls. Right now the left side is merged in the shadows making the tuk tuk rather indistinct.

You, obviously, cannot achieve this in processing. If you miss that shot, then its missed forever. Otherwise your processing is apparently good. The isolation of the colours look good at this size. Need to see it at 100% to see if u have good isolation technique which we cant.

PS: I think your intent was post capture, ie after you shot - instinctively perhaps - then u go home look at it on your PC, and thinks that there is a picture in it, and this motivated and directed your processing. That is OK, but not all pictures can be made this way.

Some have to be done in situ, ie you have the composition in your mind before you shoot. But there again, this may also not be possible. eg the light, or in this instance, there might debris and other things between the wall and the tuk tuk on the left, or you see something else as you low and closer to tuk tuk, etc etc. However then you may have gotten a different picture altogether. Bottomline line: you must be thinking/composing - and rethinking/recomposing - each and every time before you shoot, or with digital, maybe after you see it on the preview screen.

[browncow]

I also think that you could have framed it tighter, plus I feel that perhaps a landscape mode might work better....something like this?

[Killer_Jay]

hi

sorry, dunnoe is it only me but i find that the distortion is very bad. all the vertical are not perpenticular to the horizon..... it seems to me tat it all the vertical point towards the top centre of the photograph. and its not really barrier effect..... dun think its the gear.... something is wrong....

jay the confused as well

[nigel84]

TS for such a shot, i would reali suggest you to take a super low angle shot. Tilt the camera up a wee bit off the ground. With the tuk tuk coming in the foreground and the building as background. Using a F stop of maybe 4 or 3.5. It would bring out your tuk tuk nicely from the building. I assume that you do oso have time on your side, so doing such a shot would not have been a problem.

[charmingorion]

Originally Posted by browncow I also think that you could have framed it tighter, plus I feel that perhaps a landscape mode might work better....something like this?

Hi, thank you for reviewing my pic. The crop that u did is very nice too!

I guess when i was taking this pic, i wanted to incorporate the messy cables in the sky to illustrate more details in the background. So, that is the reason i took it in the portrait shot.

I've also thought of cropping my pic to obtain what u did, but i felt somehow, something is missing in the background at the top. Like i feel i want to see more of the pic.....

just my 2 cent's worth....

[charmingorion]

Originally Posted by nigel84 TS for such a shot, i would reali suggest you to take a super low angle shot. Tilt the camera up a wee bit off the ground. With the tuk tuk coming in the foreground and the building as background. Using a F stop of maybe 4 or 3.5. It would bring out your tuk tuk nicely from the building. I assume that you do oso have time on your side, so doing such a shot would not have been a problem.

hi, thanks for reviewing my pic.

I guess i didn't do lens correction in Photoshop. I thought the slight convergence of the walls is not that bad, so that is why i left it alone. ...

[charmingorion]

Originally Posted by espion As some have pointed out, if your intention/subject was tuk tuk then you need to locate/compose/frame it in a more dominant manner. For example you can come closer, go lower, more to the left so that tuk tuk occupies a greater proportion of the frame, and better isolated from the walls. Right now the left side is merged in the shadows making the tuk tuk rather indistinct. You, obviously, cannot achieve this in processing. If you miss that shot, then its missed forever. Otherwise your processing is apparently good. The isolation of the colours look good at this size. Need to see it at 100% to see if u have good isolation technique which we cant. PS: I think your intent was post capture, ie after you shot - instinctively perhaps - then u go home look at it on your PC, and thinks that there is a picture in it, and this motivated and directed your processing. That is OK, but not all pictures can be made this way. Some have to be done in situ, ie you have the composition in your mind before you shoot. But there again, this may also not be possible. eg the light, or in this instance, there might debris and other things between the wall and the tuk tuk on the left, or you see something else as you low and closer to tuk tuk, etc etc. However then you may have gotten a different picture altogether. Bottomline line: you must be thinking/composing - and rethinking/recomposing - each and every time before you shoot, or with digital, maybe after you see it on the preview screen.

hi espion,
thank u for ur advice!
THe intention of the pic is to incorporate the tuk tuk as an interesting foreground object and the washed out walls as the mid object and the AIA building as the background....sort of a landscape scene but in a portrait mode to bring out the verticals of the high walls and to incorporate the interesting messy telecommunication cables.

i dun quite understand your statement..."For example you can come closer, go lower, more to the left so that tuk tuk occupies a greater proportion of the frame, and better isolated from the walls. Right now the left side is merged in the shadows making the tuk tuk rather indistinct.

You, obviously, cannot achieve this in processing. If you miss that shot, then its missed forever. Otherwise your processing is apparently good. The isolation of the colours look good at this size. Need to see it at 100% to see if u have good isolation technique which we cant."

Can u explain to me pls? I dun understand what u mean the left side is merged in the shadows...?

[fi5hbone]

I think he basically means that you move closer and lower, and more towards the front of the Tuk Tuk to take the picture, with the rest of the buildings becoming a clear background to the Tuk Tuk.

[charmingorion]

hi all,
after hearing most replies, i've made some more amendments to the pic...

Tell me what u think of this crop. Good or not?

Thanks!

[charmingorion]

err....any comments anyone?.....

If the 1st pic is labelled "Back Alley", Would it portray/ convey a better picture becos of the lighting and faded walls??

CAn you also tell me if this pic is even considered unique to the eyes that draw a certain oldish and back-dated feeling?

[espion]

a title dun change a pic does it? a pic speaks for itself. u cant force people to see something that is not there by trying to condition their mind with words. that is corrupting a picture.

i think there is so much u can do with processing. it has limits. i think u rather spend ur time shooting more, and thinking before u shoot, or immediately thereafter ...

[charmingorion]

Originally Posted by espion a title dun change a pic does it? a pic speaks for itself. u cant force people to see something that is not there by trying to condition their mind with words. that is corrupting a picture. i think there is so much u can do with processing. it has limits. i think u rather spend ur time shooting more, and thinking before u shoot, or immediately thereafter ...

hi again,
thank u for ur enlightenment. I shall work on my mind process before i shoot. It's been quite a challenge for me to have so many things in front of me and yet i have to pick one thing to focus on and make it good.

[deklan]

the original shot works for me. the cables hanging across the alley helps with the "old-school" u trying to potray.
However the leg hanging out of the tuk tuk reallllly gets to me, i dunno why.

[ortega]

a wide angle shot, with you closer to the tuk tuk
would make the subject bigger in the frame and also be able to include the bg that you desire

the subject is just too distant in this image