Help me decide which to submit to a contest

[Theantiquetiger]

I cannot decide

artist1 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

artist2 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

 

[dxqcanada]

What is the subject of the contest ?

 

[Theantiquetiger]

It is a general photography contest. There is another factor, but I don't want to disclose it until I get some replies.

 

[dxqcanada]

Personally I like the second ... the colours of the art and the artist blend into each other ... and the slight blur of the hand.

 

[Dillard]

I find the second to be more interesting

 

[FITBMX]

#2 for me as well!

 

[Alexr25]

#1 shows some promise but it needs a tighter crop. The pavement and railing to the left of the artist form leading lines that conspire to lead the eye out of the frame before its had a chance to explore all of the image. I would crop out the bicycle wheel on the RH edge, crop out the LH side to just behind the artist's chair and take a a bit off the top so that you can't see the tops of the railings and thereby reduce the number of lines leading the eye out of the picture.

#2 might have worked if we could have seen the artist's face but without that human interest it holds no interest for me and I see it as simply a record photo of a painting.

 

[cauzimme]

I prefer the second one,
Colors are vibrants, you can see the action well.

 

[binga63]

prefer the 2nd one

 

[Theantiquetiger]

Thanks for all the inputs. The other factor I held out is these are not my images. They are my 11 year old daughter's images. I prefer #1 because it was all her. She saw the scene and grabbed it herself. The second image, I pointed out the scene, told her to take a few from different angles (from behind the artist, etc). It was not possible to grab his face without losing the artwork, because he had roped off his work area. so she would have had to gotten even lower and almost had to shot upwards to get his face.

She is in a photo contest with the BETA Club. She took second in state last year in her age group with this image

maddys bull by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

 

[astroNikon]

Thanks for all the inputs. The other factor I held out is these are not my images. They are my 11 year old daughter's images. I prefer #1 because it was all her. She saw the scene and grabbed it herself. The second image, I pointed out the scene, told her to take a few from different angles (from behind the artist, etc). It was not possible to grab his face without losing the artwork, because he had roped off his work area. so she would have had to gotten even lower and almost had to shot upwards to get his face.

She is in a photo contest with the BETA Club. She took second in state last year in her age group with this image

maddys bull by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Holy Cow .. she made 2nd with that image. Great for her !!

(pun intended)

 

[jcdeboever]

Agree with Alex25 on #1.

No face in #2 hurts the image, really need to see the artist's face (concentration level) to add interest, at least for me.

I could not keep the aspect ratio right because I wanted the canon in there. Anyway, I am no expert. You just missed the angle. The crop doesn't excite me either.

 

[otherprof]

I cannot decide

artist1 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

artist2 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

The second one, by far. I love the way the pants mirror the artwork. But have you thought of cropping from the spray can out to the right? I think it is a discordant note to the color palette of the photo.
And I think it is a really good photo, not just better than the first.

 

[Theantiquetiger]

For some stupid reason, the images have to be 8x10 instead of 8x12 (like most cameras take), so here are the final products. I guess that is what happens when non-photographers set the rules

beta2 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

beta1 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

 

[dxqcanada]

Crop the second one further to remove the spray can ... pants, hands, and painting.