B&W thai old lady

[charmingorion]

hello all,
I need your comments and inputs on black and white picture that i took of this old lady paddling on her small sampang in bangkok.

Could u kindly tell me if u feel the dark is too dark? or underexposed still, pls?

This shot was taken at F5, 1/800s and ISO 200, using matrix metering.

C&Cs are most welcome

 

[yongsak]

What is your intention in converting the photo to B&W?

Because its B&W, the "lump" of branches around the boat seems alittle messy to me.

Believe the photo will be much better if w/o those distractions.

Other than that, I thought the photo is pretty well taken.

Maybe you could have another shot with close up at the lady's face as I can see her expression is pretty interesting.

 

[ngck12]

IMO, i think this shot would be better if a polariser is used to reduce those reflections on the water, other than that others have been mentioned.

 

[nigel84]

Dunno is it me, but the focus seems to be off. Appears that the boat is sharper than the old lady... and yes she is a gd subject, but the surroundings are shouting for attention as well.

 

[charmingorion]

What is your intention in converting the photo to B&W?

Because its B&W, the "lump" of branches around the boat seems alittle messy to me.

Believe the photo will be much better if w/o those distractions.

Other than that, I thought the photo is pretty well taken.

Maybe you could have another shot with close up at the lady's face as I can see her expression is pretty interesting.

Hi, thanks for your comments on my pic.

The reason i took it in B&W is so as to portray an old vintage feel to this pic. My feel is, if i make it B&W, it will show or portray the look on the old lady's face even more.

The other reason i chose B&W is becos the plants around her sampang are rather distracting. By doing so, the grey tone of the green moses would blend into the grey tones of the water as such deleting the distraction effect.

Hmm.....i guess that is why u guys gave me a differnt perspective on a first hand look which tells me the moses are a distraction.

 

[charmingorion]

IMO, i think this shot would be better if a polariser is used to reduce those reflections on the water, other than that others have been mentioned.

Hi, thanks for your comments.

YA, i should have thought of that, but it would be very hard to capture that pic since the boat i was in is moving rather fast....

 

[charmingorion]

Dunno is it me, but the focus seems to be off. Appears that the boat is sharper than the old lady... and yes she is a gd subject, but the surroundings are shouting for attention as well.

Mm..i guess maybe it could be due to the tonal range on her face is lesser than the tonal range on the front of the sampang? As thus giving that not so sharp feel?......hmm....when i zoom into my original pic, it is rather sharp.

 

[night86mare]

conversion to black and white, using the right tones is important - first you ahve to determine whether the conversion improves or deproves the picture. there has to be a purpose for it.

as others have mentioned, the blackandwhite does not seem to be working here. black and white tends to either bring out a certain mood/emotion in the picture, or discards color so that a statement is more strongly made, composition more solid, here neither seems to be being done. thing is, the picture is a little cluttered in the first place.

 

[charmingorion]

conversion to black and white, using the right tones is important - first you ahve to determine whether the conversion improves or deproves the picture. there has to be a purpose for it.

as others have mentioned, the blackandwhite does not seem to be working here. black and white tends to either bring out a certain mood/emotion in the picture, or discards color so that a statement is more strongly made, composition more solid, here neither seems to be being done. thing is, the picture is a little cluttered in the first place.

Hmm....interesting....i've learnt something new today.... Next time, i will make sure my composition is not so cluttered before i make a conversion.

Thanks dude!

 

[gpjuson]

My 2 cents.

You captured a nice image of a hard paddling old lady. I've no problem with the "clutter", which are the water lilies, because, to me, they add to the story, i.e. the added burden of paddling her boat.

My problems are the following:
* Water reflection. See those bright whites? They snatch your eyes from your subject.
* Grey tone of your subject. She kinda blends with the background.

I'd suggest you work on this some more and make your subject stand out (no pun intended there ).