Tools of the trade

[Ron Evers]

 

[The_Traveler]

Without the title, the reason you took the photo isn't obvious.

The 'tools' are very small and inconspicuous.
There are two centers of interest, unrelated
The float is included and draws the eye and serves no purpose
the women are both facing away so there is no contact or intimacy
The color is very contrasty and it looks almost crunchy sharpened.

IMO, this is a miss because I need the title to understand and even then there are so many distracting and detracting elements that the picture has no impact.

 

[Ron Evers]

Perhaps a title of "The Cleaners" would be more appropriate. This is like street shooting, one cannot control the environment.

The tools idea is based on how all the cleaning ladies @ the resort carried the same gear whether standing outside a washroom or cleaning floors elsewhere. It was very rare to see two together & by the time I grabed the camera they were exiting view.

BTW, no sharpening was applied.

 

[The_Traveler]

This is like street shooting, one cannot control the environment.

The goal in street shooting is to make a good coherent image out of what presents itself.

 

[tirediron]

Okay Ron, I KNOW that's not anywhere near the GTA - are you skipping town during the cold season????? Hmmm????

I have to agree with Lew's assessment. A couple of my thoughts on what might have made it better: The cleaners walking toward the lens, and against a different background, since their uniforms are similar enough to the palm leaves that they do camoflage a bit.

 

[ManualMode]

Agreed 100% - this is a snapshot.
If not sharpening was applied in PP, then it must have been in camera.

 

[Ron Evers]

I agree with the critiques but as I said I was not in control of the environment.

MM, I shoot only RAW, no in camera processing, however, I did boost clarity & contrast in Lightroom. the Oly 45/1.8 is a very sharp lens.

 

[The_Traveler]

I agree with the critiques but as I said I was not in control of the environment.

MM, I shoot only RAW, no in camera processing, however, I did boost clarity & contrast in Lightroom. the Oly 45/1.8 is a very sharp lens.

'Clarity' is essentially the same as Unsharp mask with large radius.

 

[ManualMode]

Yeap, clarity is a slider between "sharpen" and "guassian blur" so it's definitely been sharpened.

 

[amolitor]

I've come back to this a couple times and I find I kind of like it.

There's a deeply banal flavor to it, but there are entire movements within photography devoted to the banal. I find something appealing about the way the two figures are positioned and the way the light feels and the way the colors in the leaves align with the colors in the women's uniforms.

It's just a moment in time, like any photograph, and it's a banal moment, but I do think the image evokes that moment quite well. The pool float might weaken the geometry, but it strengthens the feeling of that moment in time.

The colors in this photo are interesting to me. The careful observer will note that there are really about 2 colors in this, with a pretty rich set of variations of each. Blue, and yellow. There is a little brown and green as well, but they are de-emphasized and pushed into the background, and there's not that much of them anyways.

I agree that it might be a little oversharpened, but palm fronds always look oversharpened.

 

[Ron Evers]

Thanks Amolitor, was thinking it only appealed to me, as in you had to be there to see why I shot it. There would be one of these ladies stationed @ every pair of washrooms with the same kit. This was an attempt @ a candid but I got noticed.