"The Spectator" for c&c

sjconner · May 3, 2010

Here is a picture of my son watching his cousin brand and de-horn a calf. You can't see any of the nastiness in the pictures I took - I kept all that out of the shots. I like the picture (especially how his foot is set) but it isn't quite what I wanted. Any suggestions? Thanks! Susan

white · May 3, 2010

I don't understand why you would keep that out of the picture. It seems to me that is the picture.

I would have no idea what is going on in the photo without your description. In other words, the picture doesn't communicate.

SwissJ · May 3, 2010

I don't mind it being out of the picture, cause it makes me wonder what the boy is looking at, but since you told us, the mystery is gone, and the one thing that made it interesting to me isn't there anymore.

I'm not fond of the man's butt being the center of the frame.
And the upper right is just too blown out.

EDIT: Also, if you like how the foot is set, why did you put the logo right on top of it?

Raizels · May 4, 2010

I love the shocked/fascinated expression on the boy's face. I wish he took up more of the frame (different angle?)

youtestyou1 · May 4, 2010

as the kids expression is good.like he is in a surprising face..

ghpham · May 4, 2010

umm....the man seems like he is headless from this angle. It's a bit distracting.

sjconner · May 4, 2010

Here are the rest of the pictures from that series. They are unedited.
Thanks, Susan

1.

2.

3.

4.

bigtwinky · May 4, 2010

The upper right of the frame is bright and potentially blown out (bright sun through smoke). Red is a very strong colour in photography and draws people's eye. For these two reasons, I'd try and crop part of the right side out. If you aren't going to show any of the dehorning, then no need to keep that trailer and much smoke in the image as no one will be able to tell what is going on whether you just have that bit or none of it at all.

If the goal is to show the kid as a spectator, then move in a bit closer and get that guy dehorning the calf more to the right of the image, and even partially cut off his side to shove him on the side. Use his body as a frame to get the kid as the centre of attention in the image. The kid should be more in the center as well.

The exposure is off in the image. I can guess it was a bright day and he is in the shade, so maybe the angle isn't the best, but the kid is the shadows and that draws even less attention to him.

Maybe even getting lower down in the shot to get a better angle looking a bit more up to the kid.

sjconner · May 4, 2010

Thank you for the feedback - now I know what to try for next time the opportunity presents itself. I took two of the images and cropped them. I like the facial expression in 1 but I think the composition is better in 2. Do they look better? Which one is better? Thanks, Susan

1.

2.

scorpion_tyr · May 5, 2010

The kid's expression in the first shot you posted is what makes that shot! I really like it. After looking at the other shots, I have to know... was this his first time seeing this? He looks a little shocked and/or nausious. Did he lose it?

TiCoyote · May 5, 2010

If the boy is the subject of the image, he should not be on the edge and in the shadows. You need something to draw the eye to his face. As it stands, the man's butt seems to be the main focal point.

My real problem here is that you've told me in your introduction what I should be looking at. Your images should speak for themselves without needing explanation.

Conversely, if you do not think the image is doing what it should be doing, then you might want to write, "I wanted to capture xyz."

Also, I find your large and distracting. I would make it smaller, move it to the lower right (at least for this image) and remove the tagline.

sjconner · May 5, 2010

We brand every year and he has helped out before. After the calf has been branded, his job is to "encourage" the calf to go down the chute to the corral. Most of the time he stood there looking pretty bored.

Thanks again for all the input!

Susan

Scatterbrained · May 5, 2010

I know there is nothing you can do about it now, but could you have moved to the left when you shot this? This would have given you the boys expression to the left of the shot in slight profile while allowing you to show more of what is going on that is so interesting (other than some guys butt). Since the light appears to be coming right at you from the angle you shot moving around clockwise would have given you an opportunity to get a better exposure of the boy while using a shallow depth of field to to remove detail from the background activities. Just my thoughts.