Historical Day In A Small Town Square.

[Lorey]

Taken on Monday May 2nd. Just my way of making a record of a historical day. Critiques are appreciated. Thank you for viewing.


http://www.lmbphotos.com/web_postings/historical_day.jpg

[in00bz]

a little too much on the sharpening IMHO
i would also crop just at the corner of the white building

-Gab

[Ernst-Ulrich Schafer]

Red X here.

[Lorey]

I'm surprised to see replies here. The thread sat so long unanswered I just concidered it dead due to lack of intrest.

Gab, to me I can't see where it is in excess of sharpening. When I resized it for uploading I did do a slight resharpening as always but I didn't think it was over done. I for one do not like oversharpend pictures and I always take care to not do so. This may be just on the edge for me but the original is a bit less than what you see here. If I understand your cropping suggestion that would take the couple out of the picture. They give the photo a real life feeling that I wouldn't want to take out. I do appreciate you taking the time to look and comment.

Ernst-Ulrich Schafer, I'm sorry but I'm completely at a loss as to what your post is implying. Thank you for looking. I appreciate it.

[asnow]

Nice historical record. I wonder if Ernst meant that Osama had a red x on him.

[NorthStone]

Hi Lorey,

This part of your line got me thinking: "... concidered it dead due to lack of intrest".

I took this out of context and applied it to your pic. This actually made me think more about the pic and maybe a spin on these words would offer your work in a different light. The newspaper article is the subject but the lack of any pedestrians shows it's already yesterday's news. For me it's not grabbing me in colour and I'd love to see it in black and white as I think this would give it more drama.

Regards,
NorthStone

[Lorey]

asnow, appreciate your comment and input on Ernst's post. That's probably what he had on his mind since you mentioned it. But my mind-set was on comments or critiques on the photo so that just blew over my head.

NorthStone,
Being in a small town I'm kind of bound to only what's available to my surrondings in the local area. The news of Osama broke on a Sunday evening and the headlines in the photo are from Monday morning's print of the local paper. The same day I took the photo. Maybe in big cities like L.A. and N.Y.C. and the likes they have a Sunday evening edition. In a town of about 14,000 that just doesn’t happen. I was thrilled to have just a couple in the picture. That's just about the most number of people you will see grouped together at one time to be in camera view on a Monday afternoon in the town square. I had to stand and wait to even get them in it. I did the best I could do with the surrounding environment that I'm in. But I will give you that it would be a much more exciting shot on a big city street with maybe a few people standing around reading a paper with the headlines showing in the newspaper dispenser. Thanks for putting thought into this and giving your input. I see now why maybe there is a lack of intrest in the shot.

[Iguanasan]

It's a terrible shame that not every thread gets noticed the first time through but please don't be afraid to add a post - even if all it says is "bump" - to put it back on people's radar. It's almost always a case of getting missed and not "ignored".

I can appreciate what you were trying to do here but there's something missing for me. I'm not a big fan of the composition. The newspaper box and the headline are the subject and just about everything else is distracting, however, just a shot of the newspaper box might not be as interesting either. My eyes keep getting pulled to the sign for "Ham Steak...". The newspaper box almost gets lost.

Have to run right now but maybe I can look again later when I have more time to provide some decent comments.

Cheers! :)

[Lorey]

The newspaper box and the headline are the subject

Iggy, my attempt of a subject in this is trying to show a small town where, the sight of only a lone couple walking down a sidewalk laughing and holding hands, an intersection is void of traffic, a corner deli is boasting it’s breakfast menu as usual, benches are in their usual rarely occupied state, and the biggest news event in a decade that shocked the world in waves and sparked parties and dancing in the streets across America (and maybe some other countries, I don’t know) never caused the slightest ripple, and seems obscurely displayed and a minor thing and is overshadowed by the event called “normal daily life” in a small town.

That’s’ the subject and image I was attempting to get across. That ‘s what was on my mind that day waiting to get off work to go to that corner knowing the newspaper machine was there and what the headlines would say. I only had HOPES that I would have the opportunity to get one or two people in the shot. A couple holding hands was like winning the lottery for me.

Sometimes we need to ‘SEE’ beyond what we are looking at. It’s not always pixels, composition, OOF, exposure, and so on. Sometimes it is though. Just not every time.

In any case this thread has been helpful to me seeing I didn’t get the idea of the image across to what I had in mind since no one made any comments relating to that. And I see I have a way to go yet to get to that skill level. This tells me I need to try different approaches in taking a photo that is seen as a story and not a technically correct and pleasing to view image only. I WILL keep trying though.

I really appreciate your input and time. Thanks much.

[Iguanasan]

Hey, Lorey.

The goal of a critique is not just to say you "missed" but to suggest how you may have "hit" the target. From your description I'd say you were pretty close because as you can describe it I can totally see what you are saying. The trick is to make the image say it without the words. Here are some ideas about what might have helped make that statement.

The people are too small in the frame for me. I hardly noticed them until you pointed them out. My focus was on the newspaper and the big "Ham Steak" sign.

Now, if they were walking up towards you and you had the opportunity to ask them to sit for a moment on the bench and chat back and forth and then a shot of them sitting there with the newspaper heading lightly blurred so you know what the headline was but not have it quite so prominent. I dunno, maybe I'm crazy but that kind of set up would speak louder to me I think.

[thoughton]

Sorry, this doesn't work for me either. In my opinion the 'red X' comment is a nod to TV shows like American Idol (apologies again).

I agree it looks oversharpened - there is an unpleasant grittiness to it. Plus all the verticals seem to be tilted to the right. Compositionally I think you should have waited for the people to get closer. At the moment the 'Ham Steak and Biscuits' sign seems much too prominent when it doesn't add anything significant to the photo. With respect, your explanation above that it shows 'business as usual' is a bit of a stretch :)

[Iguanasan]

Just so Ernst doesn't become a bad guy I have to suggest that the "Red X" is likely the result of a broken image marker in the browser. Maybe the image was temporarily unavailable and the browser put up a "Red X".

[Lorey]

Thanks Iggy for the input. I see what you're saying but a setup and posed shot just wouldn't have been the same. Even if the "Red X" means something negative I can't consider someone a "bad guy" just because they express their opinion. No worries here.

Tim, Thank you for your time to view and comment.

[Marko]

Lorey i see exactly what you are trying to do here and I appreciate your thinking. Imo though the subjects you wish to bring together to support your vision are too physically far away from each other. Had the couple holding hands walked in front of the restaurant it would have given the scene far more impact imo. Hope that helps - Marko

[Lorey]

Thanks Marko. I agree with you and Iggy about the couple being closer. After I saw it on the computer i thought " if I had only waited 10 or 15 seconds longer..." But I'm learning and the feedback helps.
Thanks again for your time and comments. They are appreciated.

[ArtphotoasiA]

Hi there, i like the shot.
The idea is good, but a main subject is missing... or is not enough enhanced, so is like the photo has no center.
Probably the newspaper is too small or also people are too small.
Need to look around and shot more view.

Keep going....