While I tend to agree with you, there are a few points that may merit more discussion.
First, as to my Photoshop skills - they really are rudimentary. To call them "superior" in any way surprises me, although I have to admit feeling OK about it ;-)) Oh, I don't see presenting your interpretation as competition. Frankly, I was hoping to see what you had to offer and to learn something from it. More interesting to me is framing and cropping. Let's use Frank's work and my work as examples, only because we (the list in general) are familiar with them. Frank has often said that he doesn't crop. He's also said that he often doesn't notice certain elements in his photos until he's viewing contact sheets or prints. It's likely that he frequently ends up with elements in his photos that, had he seen them when looking through the finder, may not have been included in the image. He's also said that he's included elements in his photos that he knew were inappropriate for any number of reasons, such as being in a hurry, using a wider lens than necessary for the shot, and so on. Does removing or reducing those unneeded and unwanted elements really change what was originally seen as the photo? I think not, because they weren't supposed to be there in the first place, so getting rid of them by cropping, burning, dodging, or any other means would bring the image closer to what was intended, closer to the photographers original vision. OTOH, I crop a lot. Most all my photos are presented in a 5x7 format although I shoot 35mm format. But I crop because that's how I most often see the world through the viewfinder. I wear glasses, generally don't see the full frame (except when using certain lenses on certain Leicas) often shoot quickly, and what I usually end up framing through the finder fits closer to the 5x7 format than the 35mm format. So I crop the final results, but I'm not cropping what I saw and how the final photograph was envisioned. So, the question then is this: in the situations described, is cropping really changing the intended image, or does cropping bring the image to where it was intended to be as seen at the time by the photographer? I don't think you can make a blanket statement that cropping changes the image (speaking only of the photographers original vision) even though it may change what has been caught on the film or the sensor. I also think, depending on a number of variables, that enhancing an image in Photoshop can change it more than cropping. As for "De gustibus non disputandum est," I cannot comment, for I am ignorant of the meaning. Shel > [Original Message] > From: John Forbes > I actually liked Frank's original framing of this picture, and wouldn't > wish to change it. It works for me. I think that you, with your superior > Photoshop skills, are able to do a lot to improve the "presentation" of > the image (if that's a suitable word) to produce an excellent final > "print". I can't compete with you on this, and wouldn't dream of trying. > > I also think that with your tight cropping you have in both cases produced > a punchy image which grabs the attention. I like both. However, I think > that when you crop an image (as opposed to trimming) you are changing it > rather than just enhancing it. You are in effect making a new image. > Simply dodging and burning some areas doesn't create a new image; it's > still the same picture, seen at its best. > > I'm not making a philosophical point here, or criticising what you've > done. I just like Frank's original framing, and in my view all that's > needed is to do what you have done, without the cropping. > > I also take your point about the importance of balance and symmetry. It > might be that HCB could have produced a picture that contained all the > information in Frank's picture, but with more poetry. However, Frank did > what he did, and for me the picture is more satisfying with all it's > elements intact than with some of them removed or reduced in the name of > balance. I might think otherwise in the case of a more abstract image, > but here I like the contrast between the two performers, and don't want to > see element that downplayed. > > De gustibus non disputandum est.
