I think this goes here

jlo24141 · Nov 17, 2012

It's not really a landscape or a 'pictures of people' type deal.

I'm posting because I am pretty happy with the shot; I like the colors and the action of his movement through the picked cotton plants. All in all, I say the camera did very well picking up the true colors of the day--it's neither over or undersaturated.

My question is- are there any tips that could have made this picture better? I'm somewhat iffy on the tree in the foreground, and I feel like maybe the man running could have been farther to the left side of the frame. But like I said, that's a maybe.

SCraig · Nov 17, 2012

Personally I would crop it quite a bit. There is so much field that the man is not prominently visible. I would leave the tree and put the man on the left 1/3 line. The tree will help balance the composition. There is also a good bit of yellow tint in the exposure.

jlo24141 · Nov 17, 2012

SCraig said:
Personally I would crop it quite a bit. There is so much field that the man is not prominently visible. I would leave the tree and put the man on the left 1/3 line. The tree will help balance the composition. There is also a good bit of yellow tint in the exposure.

I placed the gent on the left of the 1/3, and drew up the foreground so that the lower 1/3 line is touching the edge of the field. I cooled it off to take out some of the yellow.

This leaves me with another question- the picture is now much more square, of course. I'm not a huge fan of square pictures, but if I pull down the top very much, i lose a lot of the tree, which I also agree is good for balance. So, are square pictures socially acceptable?

fjrabon · Nov 17, 2012

jlo24141 said:
SCraig said:

Personally I would crop it quite a bit. There is so much field that the man is not prominently visible. I would leave the tree and put the man on the left 1/3 line. The tree will help balance the composition. There is also a good bit of yellow tint in the exposure.

Click to expand...

I placed the gent on the left of the 1/3, and drew up the foreground so that the lower 1/3 line is touching the edge of the field. I cooled it off to take out some of the yellow.

This leaves me with another question- the picture is now much more square, of course. I'm not a huge fan of square pictures, but if I pull down the top very much, i lose a lot of the tree, which I also agree is good for balance. So, are square pictures socially acceptable?

Yes, but they lends themselves to completely different compositional techniques. Rule of thirds, for example, doesn't really work in square shots.

SCraig · Nov 17, 2012

Square photos are acceptable by most, however not being a standard size makes them difficult to print should you want to. I personally prefer rectangular aspect ratios, but that's just my personal preference.

I'll show you my take if you don't object. Your profile states that your photos are not OK to edit, so I won't do it without your permission.

jlo24141 · Nov 17, 2012

Thank you both for the input, and yes please show me your take.

I am looking at the rules of diagonals, i think if i decided to square this up some, i might get away with a cheap diagonal from the man and the tree

SCraig · Nov 17, 2012

jlo24141 said:
Thank you both for the input, and yes please show me your take.

I am looking at the rules of diagonals, i think if i decided to square this up some, i might get away with a cheap diagonal from the man and the tree

This is how I would crop it, I think:

Your crop does show the immensity of the cotton field, but I think that the person gets lost in the background. This may be cropped a bit much and somewhere in the middle might work better.

fjrabon · Nov 17, 2012

Little late for this now, but this is the type of shot I really like with a wide angle. You get the person big, but still get the sense of immensity with the field as well.

jlo24141 · Nov 17, 2012

Great input, many thanks to you two! I can dig that crop; I don't miss the pine needles as much as I thought I would. But sadly, my wide angle doesn't fit on my new kit lens :/

fjrabon · Nov 17, 2012

jlo24141 said:
Great input, many thanks to you two! I can dig that crop; I don't miss the pine needles as much as I thought I would. But sadly, my wide angle doesn't fit on my new kit lens :/

wait, what? Are you talking about a wide angle adapter? I mean a wide angle lens. like on a crop frame anything from about 10mm to about 24mm. Usually the very widest parts of a kit lens are on the upper range of wide angle.

jlo24141 · Nov 17, 2012

fjrabon said:
wait, what? Are you talking about a wide angle adapter? I mean a wide angle lens. like on a crop frame anything from about 10mm to about 24mm. Usually the very widest parts of a kit lens are on the upper range of wide angle.

haha, that's why I'm a n00b. I was talking about my fisheye. Please disregard!