Hi, Wednesday, January 5, 2005, 8:53:35 PM, Jon wrote:
> I had an image last winter that I "worried" to death. There was a [...] > <http://webaperture.com/gallery/photos/53435> > Somehow, it just lacks the impact I felt while standing there. What was it that made such an impact? Did you try to think about this before you took the shot? What you have tried to do seems to me to be too complex. You need to simplify it. To do that you have to analyse down to the bones of what makes an impact. It's a static subject. so you have time to do that. > I tried > so hard to get the contrast between this large face, and the people > inside.... Finally, just the other day, my wife saw the photo, and > said... "The face is too small. You need to crop it." > <http://webaperture.com/gallery/photos/53462> > Definitely an improvement, but still I feel I missed an excellent > opportunity. I don't know what I may have done wrong, or maybe, this > just wasn't meant to be. the face needs to be more, um, in your face. There are too many other elements in there, and the face itself is really lost. Here are a couple of efforts at different crops: http://www.web-options.com/joninkrakow_53435_crop.jpg The 2nd one almost has a story: http://www.web-options.com/joninkrakow_53435_crop2.jpg But basically, you were standing in the wrong place, and too far away. Unfortunately the balance of lighting is not too good. Did you use auto exposure? It doesn't seem to have exposed for the face. Compositionally, there are too many people in an undifferentiated mass, particularly on the right. (That's almost a political statement! <g>) There is/was a similar statue in the courtyard of the British Museum which many people have photographed, including Elliott Erwitt. This is a photo from his book 'Museum Watching' (and 'Snaps'): http://tinyurl.com/6tzxs -- Cheers, Bob
