So alone

[LCARSx32]

Pics of my cousin taken at night on an old broken dam.

#1

#2

Comments welcome!

 

[tirediron]

Too dark. Way too dark.

 

[WP-UK]

A bit too dark if I'm honest. What are the stats for this photo? Did you use flash or ambient light?

 

[LCARSx32]

Hmmm. What about something like this:

#1 brightened

 

[Aayria]

I think your idea is good for the most part..but I'm not crazy about the darkness and selective coloring. The mood you were aiming for would be better achieved in full B&W in my opinion. Otherwise, it leaves the viewer confused about what the subject is. I feel like the hat is the main subject here. It would be nice to see more of the water, too.. It's lost in this light from the angle you chose.

Also.. try composing without your subject smack in the center of the frame.

 

[LCARSx32]

Thanks. I was really caught up in trying to get the flash to light the scene like I wanted (I just got a Nissin 360TW).

I was lighting the scene from the side using the flash's test button. The camera was set to bulb with ISO 1600 (that expains the grain... oops). This is a 14 second exposure with the flash about 3-4 seconds before the end of the exposure. I was trying to "soften" the flash. I bunch of different things like bouncing the light off of the higher side of the dam and at less direct angles. these are the only ones I was semi-happy with.

I've messed around a bit more in photoshop. I Cropped it off-center and a little closer plus dodged the water to make it stand out a bit more. I also converted the image to B&W, increased the contrast slightly and lowered the brightness just a hair.

#1 redo - Third time's a charm?

 

[Aayria]

The last edit is definitely improvement. =)

 

[LCARSx32]

Thanks!

Anything else wrong that you can see (other than the grainyness)? I'm trying to learn as much as possible. I struggle with low-light/night pictures.

Thanks again!
-Ray

 

[Aayria]

Well.. not to be too nit picky, but I think the shadow is distracting. It's kind of merges into the person, so you can't see a good defining line where the person ends and the shadow begins.

As far as the pose.. it would help to see more of the person as well. Right now, it looks like the arms are chopped off at their elbow because all you see are tee shirt sleeves. Similarly with the legs. I'd play around with different poses if you were going to reshoot.. try to keep the same feeling you were going for, but let us see more of your subject. The emotion should be in their expression (if we can see the face) or body language... I get the feeling in this that the only real emotion is coming from the moving water... if that makes sense.

 

[LCARSx32]

Thanks a lot for the critique. I agree with everything you said. I think next time, I'll try to have a secondary light source to help minimize the shadows. I think I need to try a diffuser of some sort so the light isn't so harsh.

Thanks again for the comments! It's been a big help.

 

[Lipoly]

I'm new so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems unusual to have the person looking left but having it cropped with the empty space to the right (presumably b/c you can see the water better).

 

[smokinphoto]

Way too dark but you need to work on your lighting and editing skills.
We're all aware of lighting in Photography After all, our earliest childhood memories often involve the word "cheese" and a flash of blinding light. But why is lighting so important in the world of photographs?Lighting is one of the most important parts of photography, after all, it is what makes up a photograph. A real photographer will always take light into account. Making sure there is plenty on a subject and enough to expose a film well. Learn more about Reflectors, lamp, lamp or light and sun. Keep at it.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

What if you did a re-crop and adjusted the levels on the second one you posted... Kinda like...

 

[LCARSx32]

I'm new so take this with a grain of salt, but it seems unusual to have the person looking left but having it cropped with the empty space to the right (presumably b/c you can see the water better).

That's a good catch. I didn't think of that.

 

[Morpheuss]

I personally like the first two. They look perfect to me. like she is looking off into the dark looking and waiting for something.