Wifey's Birthday Gift Shot - C&C Requested...

[thomas.corbett]

I like this way the best. Very good idea for the gift i must say.

 

[robertwsimpson]

I would LOVE your first version if you had the whole bench in the shot. For a large print, the extra space would have been lovely. The cut off bench messes that up though.

 

[Derrel]

I "get" the idea of the entire scenic background behind them, and the symbolism of the concrete sidewalk entering on the left as a single path, then diverging into two,separate paths,separated by rich,verdant,living green grass--the symbolism of a mother delivering a child unto the world is conveyed in the background. So, I understand why this shot would be framed as it was originally shot. My only complaint is the vignetting-I think if you want to do a shot like this, the vignetting is actually hurting the shot by introducing an optical fault or optical defect, which makes the viewer more aware of the actual photographic equipment and process than if the shot had perfect illumination at the corners. I have seen this type of photograph done before, and this one fits nicely into the style, but the light fall-off in the upper right hand side ruins the realism for me--the sky never really drops off to that kind of a dark tonal value on a pretty day like that, and so the light fall-off intrudes on the ultra-realistic scene portrayal that the shot is built around. If you were to eliminate the corner vignetting, the effect of an ultra-realistic scene and setting would be increased substantially.

 

[matfoster]

I "get" the idea of the entire scenic background behind them,

me too. it's ''frozen cinema". (the empty, public space=aloneness, contrasting the warmth/embrace of the mother&child.) the only thing that bugs me is the chromatic aberration, on the skinny treetrunks, in the left of the shot. was the picture made with the Tamron or the Canon lens? the CA is fixable in DPP if you shot a .CR2 file. otherwise fixable in GIMP using a plug-in.