Oh, they're making a bunch a noise. I want to do that.

The_Traveler · May 27, 2013

LexxFalcon · May 27, 2013

I like this! I love how the little boy's eyeline leads the viewer up to the guys sitting with the drums. I wonder if the expanse of grass to the bottom right is a bit bland, but I'm not sure what could have been done there - any more fussy stuff and you'd have lost the impact. Maybe by framing it so there was a bit less grass and the drum-guys were more central (vertically, not saying they should be moved sideways at all)?

But hey, as you know, Lew, total n00b here, so not sure what my opinion is worth. I do like it though!

amolitor · May 27, 2013

Nice. I think with some judicious burning and dodging to bring out the architecture of the picture more, this could be good street.

What I mean by architecture is the lines, the light areas, and the dark areas, the overall composition. I think by emphasizing some areas and de-emphasizing some others, a stronger composition can be discovered in here (without cropping, the crop is clearly pretty much right). I will try to remember to pull a sample together tomorrow to try to illustrate wjat I mean.

The_Traveler · May 27, 2013

Thanks, Lexx.

re: framing. Thanks but this was it. I'm pretty fast to raise my camera and shoot and this was one shot and the child moved.

The_Traveler · May 27, 2013

amolitor said:
Nice. I think with some judicious burning and dodging to bring out the architecture of the picture more, this could be good street.
.

go for it.

ktan7 · May 27, 2013

This is very cute!

sarah_19_nz · May 27, 2013

very cute! I'm interested to see what amolitor does.

tirediron · May 27, 2013

I can see this was a 'shoot it or lose it' moment - nicely captured.

tedfoto · May 27, 2013

Very cool. Tells the story perfectly.

JustJazzie · May 27, 2013

I really like this shot as well! I am pretty distracted by that hand though. Perhaps if you did an 8x10 crop, you could end up with the boy a little larger in the frame, keep all the drummers heads in the shot, and eliminate the hand and shadow on camera left.

Derrel · May 27, 2013

This one falls utterly flat for me. The people with the drums are far away and tiny in the frame, and the kid's just standing there, and in the background there are nearly 20 different human figures. Without the title, this shot would probably hold no interest. The line of three picnic tables is very strong, and leads the eye directly up to the paunchy elderly man in shorts. From there, the eye darts to the figure at the upper left-most corner, dressed all in white and holding a white staff of some sort. I have no idea why this is not being met with the just a snapshot reception that I think it merits. The "important things" as you often refer to are tiny, and inconsequential, and this is just not that good a picture. All that dead space filled with grass...the tiny drumming trio rendered all wide-angle and diminutive...the 20 or so people milling around, the hand in there...those three tables leading to a paunchy old guy....

amolitor · May 27, 2013

Thanks for the permission, Lew, I had forgotten you're not normally Edit-OK

Derrel is right about the tables, but to my eye that is easily fixed. The attached just emphasizes the diagonal sightline implied by the child's gaze, and increases contrast quite radically at the drummers and at the to create light/dark regions, and to increase visual interest. I tried to stay more or less within bounds of "natural looking" but I think this might actually survive a transition to a more surrealist violently burned, essentially a strong vignette around the kid, and the dummers, with the line between also lightened, and everything else pushed down to a dreamlike murk.

I think the attached remains (almost?) real looking, while hammering that diagonal gaze-line:

The_Traveler · May 28, 2013

Thanks for the input, Andy.
I went back and edited the original to try and direct the viewers' eyes more.

Derrel,
I don't know what to say.
You seem almost angry that others don't share your low opinion of this shot.
Some shots make it to everyone, some shots don't.
I liked it, others did also, some don't care.
Opinions don't have to be unanimous or overreaching.

Derrel · May 28, 2013

The_Traveler said:
Thanks for the input, Andy.
I went back and edited the original to try and direct the viewers' eyes more.

Derrel,
I don't know what to say.
You seem almost angry that others don't share your low opinion of this shot.
Some shots make it to everyone, some shots don't.
I liked it, others did also, some don't care.
Opinions don't have to be unanimous or overreaching.

Lew, You seem to be projecting anger into my post. I could care less that others don't like the photo. I "seem to be almost angry"? What a laugh,Lew. Surely you know me better than that after 19,348 posts here. If I were angry, there would be little doubt about it. I think the original picture you posted here was poor. This is even worse than the pretty young girl in shorts, sitting on the curb, while a young couple gave you the stink eye off to the right of the picture. I'm just surprised to see so many "atta-boys" for this photo. I'm not here to blow smoke up your skirt,Lew. Apparently, some others are.

I would LOVE to hear your rationale for stating that I seem almost angry, based on what I actually wrote, which was, "This one falls utterly flat for me. The people with the drums are far away and tiny in the frame, and the kid's just standing there, and in the background there are nearly 20 different human figures. Without the title, this shot would probably hold no interest. The line of three picnic tables is very strong, and leads the eye directly up to the paunchy elderly man in shorts. From there, the eye darts to the figure at the upper left-most corner, dressed all in white and holding a white staff of some sort. I have no idea why this is not being met with the just a snapshot reception that I think it merits. The "important things" as you often refer to are tiny, and inconsequential, and this is just not that good a picture. All that dead space filled with grass...the tiny drumming trio rendered all wide-angle and diminutive...the 20 or so people milling around, the hand in there...those three tables leading to a paunchy old guy...."

Seriously Lew, accept my C&C without trying to slander me ior malign me, or paint me as "angry". I said the image, "falls utterly flat for me". I then went on to provide a laundry list of its weaknesses and faults, as I see them, clearly. Again, I have no idea why you feel the need to try and paint me as "angry". Sometimes you're gonna get people who see images like this as deficient. Of course opinions need not be unanimous. I never said they did. You need to grow a pair.

jwbryson1 · May 28, 2013

I tend to agree with Derrel on this one, at least as it comes to the drums. I like the part of the photo with the child because I just think kids are amazing -- interested, objective, inquisitive and wanting to be involved. I see all of that in this child. What I missed the first 2 or 3 times I looked at it was the drummers. I can't really make out what they are doing until I read something about them and then realized what I was looking at. I think this would deliver more **punch** if the drummers were 10 yards closer to the boy and he was still hiding and seeing what they are doing.

As it is, I think it is 1/2 interesting and 1/2 missing the boat. I can see both sides of this.