Airport Greeting photo

[ranmyaku]

I'd like any comments or suggestions on getting a better photo than what I have shot already. There is an area in my airport where people wait for other people arriving from their plane flights. what I wanted to capture was the people waiting, two people hugging from the joy of seeing each other again, and the general "hustle and bustle" if you will of the airport (which is why i snapped the photo when the guy was walking in front of me, I liked the blurred movement).

I feel like this photo has all the elements I wanted, but for some reason I feel like something is either missing, or was not executed properly. Maybe the people in the background waiting should be a little more in focus...or if the couple hugging was a little more in focus.

Any help with ideas for setting this up better, camera settings, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Photo was shot with Nikon D50, factory lens, no tripod

 

[Cero21]

Ummm. I think it would be a good start to have it in focus.

 

[astrostu]

Yeah. Try (1) focusing, (2) the blurred guy smack dab in the middle is very distracting, (3) the way the shot is framed is kinda boring.

 

[lostprophet]

using a tripod would of helped a lot, the photo suffers from camera shake which is why it appears out of focus, the shutter speed was spot on with just the right amount of blur in the guy walking past

 

[LaFoto]

The blur from the camera shake struck me first, when the photo was only in the process of loading. It begins to show in the car hirer signs already.
To shoot indoors, your camera requires such long shutter speeds that you can almost impossibly handhold the camera any longer. Many factors, such as your breathing and your heartbeat will already begin to affect the photo. You need a tripod, or if that is not allowed in airports (which I doubt it is these days) a FIRM support for the camera.

Best would be if you put the camera on timer so you no longer need to even touch it in the moment of release. That, however, accounts for much more random photos than you really want here (the hug may long be over and the people moving away by the time the 10 seconds are over).

All in all I like the concept. And in this very photo I like the group of children sitting on the floor, I do like the hug ... but the blur of a person running right through the centre of your picture looks more like an accident than like something you were welcoming to happen.

And yes, well, the camera shake....
I hope you will try again and I am curious to see the outcome!

Oh, and welcome to ThePhotoForum!!!

 

[jon_k]

I see a few things that can improve.

1) Things are busy. A guy is walking by, people hugging after a reunion, and a bunch of people waiting. Everything is going on at once. It captures the hussle and bussle, but nobody knows what you're trying to portray with so much stuff going on. If you chose a specific detail (the hugging reunion) and focused on that and zoomed in, it might be better.

2) How was the lens focused, to infinity? At the huggers, or the crowd? Nothing seems to be in perfect focus, which again adds to the confusion of the viewer who's thinking "what does the photog want me to look at?". Of course, I have the same problem sometimes, it sure annoys me when I get home and find something isn't in perfect focus. Maybe this focus problem came in from camera shake as suggested above. I don't know if the airport would like you to come in with a tripod though. People "in charge" don't like tripods in public places.

I think if you had centered and zoomed in on that hug, with the crowd behind slightly blurred it would have made a pretty cool photo.

 

[Vinnay]

tripod. and not be staring at the woman in the yellow's boobs.

 

[jeeper]

If it were up to me, I would do it in at least 2 (probably 3) separate photos. One for the people hugging, another for the waiting & 'hustle and bustle' (maybe 2 for those). It just looks too busy. There doesn't seem to be any subject. The blurred guy isn't very appealing to me, but I'm not really sure how else you could convey "hustle & bustle". Maybe someone checking their watch as they run to get to the terminal on time?

I don't know how (not saying it can't be done) you could achieve all 3 of your objectives in a single photo without it being very busy.

 

[LaFoto]

Oh dear. An ancient old thread has been undug. I sometimes wonder how this can happen?
And I doubt the original poster has ever come back to read the comments on his photo, he's still with 1 post only ... will he ever come back to read the comments, I wonder??? :scratch:

 

[NikonD40x@Denver]

Lol, that's funny how one can be curious about their photo but not come back

 

[sabbath999]

This doesn't help the fact that the background people are not in focus, but... see how a lot of the stuff you don't need in the photo can be cropped out to make it a better shot.