Rusted Chevrolet - Rainy Conditions - C&C Please

Daf · Dec 5, 2011

Hi Ken - thanks for the comments. The weather is about the same today so I think I am going to reshoot some of these using the suggestions collected in this thread (thanks everyone!).

Let me ask this tho - concerning foreground objects - in #2 I deliberately framed the dash with the steering wheel oof in the foreground. I just thought it worked, and provided a reference point for the instrument panel. No good? I thought I had it sufficiently blurred (I went with f/1.8 on this one) as make the panel jump out. What is the consensus on foreground objects - never good? Or just failed with this one?

Also on the license plate - I definitely want to reshoot - initially I didn't mind the foreground bit and I didn't want to crop out the handle so I left it. I do see now that it's a distraction and looks wrong. I will reframe when I reshoot. I think that is a good shot, even better reframed I hope.

One more thing as I've been thinking about all of this. Do any you, or is it common or accepted practice to post different versions of the same photo? I guess I felt I had to choose a processing and that was that. What about posting the same photo in B/W, tinted as above and original? Like giving the viewer a choice? This would be in the case of stocking your online portfolio for instance.

Thanks!
Daf

KenC · Dec 5, 2011

I can't give you a rule on foreground objects, and others may differ on what works, but I'll try to explain my reaction to the dashboard shot. The wheel is both so out of focus and also so much lighter than the dashboard, that it is almost transparent and appears as a sort of haze over the instrument panel, which I find distracting. One rule of thumb that works at least some of the time is that if a foreground element is out-of-focus it should be darker than the main area of interest. Another problem may be that the wheel cuts across the center of the image; if it were around the edges, like if you shot through a space in the wheel so the outer and inner parts of the wheel were framing the subject, this might have worked better.

Daf · Dec 5, 2011

I understand. I went out to reshoot and I just could not get a clear shot of the instruments without the wheel in there - and the center of the steering wheel prevented me from getting "centered" so that the oof diameter framed the shot. Oh well on that one. But I did learn from it. Thanks!

I also reshot the license plate - please let me know if this is better in your opinion. The framing and crop. I'm also including a couple of different treatments and the raw. Thanks!

1) Nostalgic treament

2) Slight tint treament

3) Black & White

4) raw

KenC · Dec 6, 2011

Definitely better. I prefer #4 because I like the richness and variety of color in the rust, although I might desaturate just a bit from where it is. I think I'd also darken and desaturate the upper right corner.