Chilly & Nothing Bitting

[DarkShadow]

IMG_0069 by DarkShadow191145, on Flickr

 

[The_Traveler]

I think this picture has the basic 'bones' for something very nice for all the obvious reasons.
Decent focus, sharpness, composition.
It tells a story totally without the title - no activity. man looking off in distance, calm water - all that stuff.

What does throw this off, for me at least, are the colors and brightness.
The red catches my eye and the brightness of the stone and fence seem out of place and disproportionate.

I would - in this order:

crop it to 2:3 to reinforce the horizontal lines of fence, legs, fishing rods and horizon. That doesn't lose anything important.
change it to b&w to remove the distracting colors (and adjust their individual brightness so the man leaps into concentration as the center more.

The solidity of the fence and the stillness of the man leaning against it becomes more important in B&W.

then vignette a tiny bit to close off the corners.

At first I thought that the picture would gain from a face profile but looking at it again, I think that the looking out over water thingie gives it a bit more mystery.
I think with a bit more work - perhaps even a bit of sepia tone to age it a bit - and this would be very nice to print and go on a wall.
(perhaps, the hat needs a bit of contrast so it doesn't look so flat in BW)

Very nicely seen and caught, I think.

 

[DarkShadow]

Wow thank you Lew. What is funny I viewed in B&W and then went back to color. I should have left it I guess In B&W. Yes the brite red hat was smack in the face but I was not sure about any of it. I like what you have done and thank you very much for both the positives and negatives of the image. I hope it all click some day As I don't want to be limited to just wildlife or some wild flowers.

 

[oldhippy]

Real nice shot.

 

[The_Traveler]

Wow thank you Lew. What is funny I viewed in B&W and then went back to color. I should have left it I guess In B&W. Yes the brite red hat was smack in the face but I was not sure about any of it. I like what you have done and thank you very much for both the positives and negatives of the image. I hope it all click some day As I don't want to be limited to just wildlife or some wild flowers.

Here is the perfect example that you aren't limited to reproduction of what you see. There is nothing inherently pretty or recordable about this scene except what your mind can intuit from it, what allusions it makes, what emotions it stirs.

The fact that you saw the possibilities means that you can see other possibilities in other circumstances and you can get away from the routine of taking pictures of what is only there.

 

[The_Traveler]

One thing I didn't mention before is note that the impact of the picture, the wide nothingness, is emphasized by having the figure far to the side, off the magical 'thirds', but facing the emptiness, and thus enforcing it.

 

[DarkShadow]

Real nice shot.

Thank You.

 

[DarkShadow]

I am guessing here but would this image be stronger if the poles and boats could be cropped out. Sure he was fishing but at that moment he was not and in fact paying no mind to his fishing pole at all and perhaps don't add much value if any at all. Your thoughts on this please.