Boat Builder

Rick58 · Dec 15, 2014

This turned out exactly as I envisioned, but I'm not sure it worked as I envisioned. I wanted the pile of wood shavings in focus putting the foreground and background out of focus, so I cranked up the aperture to max, still giving me a shutter of 125 to insure it stayed sharp. Keeping the ISO down to 800 kept it clean. All the pieces are there, but I'm not sure it worked. The wood chips are so small, it looks insignificant to me. I like the photo, but I'm not sure it couldn't have been better...Thoughts?

oldhippy · Dec 15, 2014

Nice find.

pjaye · Dec 15, 2014

I like it however, I understand what you were trying to do and not sure you accomplished it. Maybe move in a little closer to the shavings? They do kind of get lost in the image.

photoguy99 · Dec 15, 2014

That is some old school framing there.

goooner · Dec 15, 2014

I like it, I think you could have shot from a bit lower, and maybe a bigger pile of shavings...

Rick50 · Dec 15, 2014

Nice Rick, what I notice is that is is a bit cold in the shop and she has the right gloves on.

Designer · Dec 15, 2014

I probably would have focused on her face. Good frame, good light, good exposure.

Rick58 · Dec 15, 2014

goooner said:
I like it, I think you could have shot from a bit lower, and maybe a bigger pile of shavings...

I agree more shavings, but I'm not too sure about lower

Rick50 said:
Nice Rick, what I notice is that is is a bit cold in the shop and she has the right gloves on.

Yep, it was unheated. It's definitely a labor of love

Designer said:
I probably would have focused on her face. Good frame, good light, good exposure.

Thanks....My thought was to "focus" on the work being done while making the person doing the work secondary. I don't know... I came home from my first trip thinking of the long lines of that frame and wish I would have played with it. All and all, I think it was a swing and a miss. Maybe close, but a miss none the less.

photoguy99 · Dec 15, 2014

What are you shooting for here, in a bigger sense? It feels like you're getting caught up in the detail of how to make the shot without first knowing what the shot is supposed to do.

What's important? What are you trying to convey? How does the shop make you feel?

Once you have a clear destination the path sometimes becomes clearer.

Rick58 · Dec 15, 2014

photoguy99 said:
What are you shooting for here, in a bigger sense? It feels like you're getting caught up in the detail of how to make the shot without first knowing what the shot is supposed to do.

I'm a boater and in particular, I have a love for tradition boats. I tried to show the craftmanship required in the building of wooden boats by highlighting the results of hand planing. The shavings. I got caught up in the sense of asking myself what would best convey this.
Besides missing the mark, maybe this is a case when I should step outside of my personal interest and ask if this would even be of interest to anyone else.

photoguy99 · Dec 15, 2014

I think you've got a great concept. Craftsmanship is a perfect thing to be focused on.

Not to direct you, but just to illustrate where my mind goes:

Craftsmanship. The beauty of the boat's lines isn't that important. The larger shop doesn't matter. The textures of the wood only matter to reflect craft.

Drill in. Get close. Show the precision of the joinery. Highlight the hands and the tools. A perfect joint, seam, knee as the scene. The hands and the tool and the shavings all present on that stage. Out of focus? The joint sharp, in focus. The hands soft and a specular gleam off a tool somewhere in the bokeh.

Maybe the joint subtly imperfect? Handmade. Excellent, but not with that machined look.

Hands and tool close to my focus? Or could they be far away in the background, but visually aligned in the frame?

These are the kinds of visual concepts that come to my mind in this moment.

Rick58 · Dec 16, 2014

photoguy99 said:
I think you've got a great concept. Craftsmanship is a perfect thing to be focused on.

Not to direct you, but just to illustrate where my mind goes:

Craftsmanship. The beauty of the boat's lines isn't that important. The larger shop doesn't matter. The textures of the wood only matter to reflect craft.

Drill in. Get close. Show the precision of the joinery. Highlight the hands and the tools. A perfect joint, seam, knee as the scene. The hands and the tool and the shavings all present on that stage. Out of focus? The joint sharp, in focus. The hands soft and a specular gleam off a tool somewhere in the bokeh.

Maybe the joint subtly imperfect? Handmade. Excellent, but not with that machined look.

Hands and tool close to my focus? Or could they be far away in the background, but visually aligned in the frame?

These are the kinds of visual concepts that come to my mind in this moment.

Thanks for the input. If it wasn't so far I'd go back and give it another go. Maybe next time.

Designer · Dec 16, 2014

Rick58 said:
Maybe next time.

If you want to focus on curls of wood shavings, frame very tightly, so you get just the craftsman's hands, the plane and the curls.

Rick58 · Dec 16, 2014

Designer said:
If you want to focus on curls of wood shavings, frame very tightly, so you get just the craftsman's hands, the plane and the curls.

Wow...this missed the mark much further then I thought...LOL Here I thought all I should have done was open the focus a click or two.
I wanted to show the skill and craftsmanship of wooden boat building, not possibly kitchen cabinets or coffee tables. Maybe I better stick to B&W barns...LOL
Time for me to find the ol' delete button