How can I improve this one

[focusonguitar]

I've called it legless in the town centre.
This was in my local town centre this morning

legless-in-towncentre by focusonguitar, on Flickr

I had my compact with me so grabbed a quick shot.

I have given it a light levels adjustment and the a bit of luci art and added a faint bokeh.
The original is on my flickr account if anyone want to have a mess with it. What way could I improve the composition?
Any ideas or advice will be greatfully received.
Thanks
Paul

 

[Compaq]

Watch your background, it is equally important as your subject.

 

[markv20]

same as above, whatever is in the background is quite distracting

 

[focusonguitar]

Thanks very much for that.
When I think about it the only thing I have been thinking about as regards the background is how to blur it so it doesn't appear too obvious.
I'll definitely pay more attention to trying to keep the background uncluttered.

 

[gsgary]

Deleting it would be a big improvement

 

[thereyougo!]

Deleting it would be a big improvement

Such a helpful reply - is your real name Ansel Adams? Or did you just forget the smiley?

To be helpful to the OP, as others have said the shot is a bit cluttered and busy. Being able to use a large aperture to blurr out distractions would help, but not always get rid of the problem. There is just a little too much going on, and with a compact you're unlikely to be able to blurr any background. The doll looks a little bit too lost, which is part of the point of the shot, I guess, but my eyes aren't really drawn to the subject. More contrast would help here too.

 

[gsgary]

Deleting it would be a big improvement

Such a helpful reply - is your real name Ansel Adams? Or did you just forget the smiley?

To be helpful to the OP, as others have said the shot is a bit cluttered and busy. Being able to use a large aperture to blurr out distractions would help, but not always get rid of the problem. There is just a little too much going on, and with a compact you're unlikely to be able to blurr any background. The doll looks a little bit too lost, which is part of the point of the shot, I guess, but my eyes aren't really drawn to the subject. More contrast would help here too.

Shooting the banal is very hard to do well, i just don't see anything going for this shot

 

[focusonguitar]

Your right there the photo is of something that isn't of much interest. My thinking was that I could maybe convey a feeling of loneliness.
The thing that I am trying to fathom is, could somebody with more skills and a better camera have made more of the opportunity or would it be best to just not bother with things like this and look for more obvious nice shots?

 

[thereyougo!]

The problem is that there is too much in the shot with the bin, the vandalism on the back of the seat, and the 45 degree angle, I'm not sure about. I think if you had a little less in the shot, and a tighter angle, and maybe converted it to black and white and boost the contrast a little, it would make the point you're making. More obvious shots can be a little more like snapshots. Keep things simple and try not to put too much into the shot to compete. Also use the rule of thirds, and steer things a little to the right (this is a general rule, and can be broken, but keeping it makes a more balanced shot).

 

[JS_280]

I get the "loneliness feeling" that you're trying to portray from this image. I'm an absolute beginner in photography, but if the composition remained as-is, my main suggestion would be to darken the big silver object in the top left corner and possibly lighten the doll. My eyes are drawn more to the lighter silver than the darker cloth.

 

[focusonguitar]

Thanks very much for the feedback. I am eager to learn and will be getting a dslr as soon as I can to help.
Off to photoshop for a bit

 

[thereyougo!]

Thanks very much for the feedback. I am eager to learn and will be getting a dslr as soon as I can to help.
Off to photoshop for a bit

You could try to do a square crop with the doll in the right third so that she looks into space with part of the bin showing - you'll probably need to clone the edge of the seat to avoid too many lines. She needs to look into space to look completely on her own, sat in the middle, it's almost like she is waiting for someone, which isn't quite the same. I'd definitely convert to black and white and boost the contrast

 

[gsgary]

Your right there the photo is of something that isn't of much interest. My thinking was that I could maybe convey a feeling of loneliness.
The thing that I am trying to fathom is, could somebody with more skills and a better camera have made more of the opportunity or would it be best to just not bother with things like this and look for more obvious nice shots?

Yes with some dramatic lighting and a different angle' if you want to shoot the banal check out Stephen Shore stephen shore photos - Google Search

 

[KmH]

......could somebody with more skills and a better camera have made more of the opportunity or would it be best to just not bother with things like this and look for more obvious nice shots?

I would not have bothered.

Like gsgary said the subject matter is just to banal to deserve being photographed. There is no context that accounts for why the doll is sitting on a concrete, grafitti mared bench. in other words the photograph does not tell a story.

And even then you just "grabbed a quick shot", rather than taking the time and making the effort needed for considering the compositon, lighting, background, camera perspective, camera angle, etc., all necessary elements to making an interesting, compelling, photograph.

The doll could possibly be made the subject of a more interesting photograph, but it would take a different setting, plus some creativity and work to make that happen.

Crop so the doll is on the right side of the frame gazing into the space on the left.

I can't illustrate what I am trying to say about cropping or illustrate other edits you might try, because you have chosen My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit as your edit preference.

 

[focusonguitar]

Thankyou, I have changed the setting.