Strong Comp Missed Shot CC

[AlanE]

I positioned myself to get a Z from top left to bottom right... Couple Of negatives were lack of contrast of rocks. couldn't quite position to seperate 2nd and 3rd rock pile, and the vine diagonal on left, but overall not a bad effort. Problem is, the little girl wandered into frame during the shot and I went ahead and took the pic. After a little contemplation I realize the girl was the shot/subject, not the Z. If the girl would have taken a few steps forward I would have had a strong composition with a subject. She could have even held that vine to turn it into a positive..... CC Welcome....


Obstacles by Nokinrocks, on Flickr

 

[jowensphoto]

I think you are trying to force the scene too much. Your process needs to become more organic (cliche, yeah...).

Technically, there a few things I'd like to point out. The horizon is tilted, which again, I think comes from trying so hard to make this work. The middle of the photo is super bright, thus drawing the eye to it. Did you use a crop ratio for this? I'm not sure what this would print like at a standard ratio.

 

[sektabrand]

remember, when you were a kid and played a console - either cars or some protagonists jumps were followed by your body leaning to that particular side. now we all tilt our head to the left. i think this is the biggest problem here.

I am a fan of overexposing things, but here I don't see any reason to do have that. my 2c

 

[AlanE]

Good points... I was wondering why I got dizzy when I looked at it...LOL... Actually, this was more of an excercise, not something I would consider printing, so crop ratio wasn't considered (might have questions on that in the future). The overexposure was not an artistic choice, more a result of the noon sun and "forcing" the shot. Actually, my own self critism touched on not being happy with the rock contrast (result of the blown out middle). Contrast aside, if the girl was standing in the area of the tree on the right side would it add, detract, or not make a bit of difference?

 

[jowensphoto]

I know you mentioned it in your OP, but I honestly didn't even see the little girl.

It's hard for me to imagine it, given the non-standard crop (sorry, not trying to beat a dead horse). I think there are a lot of distracting elements; even with a person as your subject in the foreground, there's still a lot going on in the background.

 

[AlanE]

Not a problem, I appreciate your time....

Since you have mentioned it a couple of times, a better question might be about cropping I usually crop manual, I am assuming by your comments this is not good practice... What are the best practices when cropping? If it is too broad a subject, anything in particular I should research?