One from 01/25/11

imagesofhim · January 26, 2011

I like this--I think the center composition works well here--gives you a sense of the terrain, the possible peril. I like the upside down ATM sign!

bdcolen · January 26, 2011

lizzard_nyc wrote: »

Gorgeous, Liz - Here you really have a slice of the human condition. The one thing I'd suggest trying is a crop to get us closer to her, to see her face better. For some reason I can't open your image in PS and do this right, but here's the idea...
Picture 2.jpg

damonff · January 26, 2011

I like the square.

Flyinggina · January 26, 2011

Excellent. I like both the posted and the cropped versions but am leaning to the uncropped shot because of the upside down ATM machine sign and the fact that the background gives us a better sense of place than the cropped version.

As I said, though excellent either way.

Virginia

bdcolen · January 26, 2011

Well, not to argue, Virginia -

- but...While I like the upside down ATM sign, which might be a commentary on this woman's life, I'd prefer to see more of her than I would see the sign stay in the image. And I honestly don't think the suggested crop in anyway robs us of information about where she is...BUT...all of this is what makes for walker races...:-)

konomaniac · January 26, 2011

+1 for keeping the ATM sign. It definitely adds to the description of the surroundings. Maybe cropping the sides and bottom would accomplish B.D.'s vision? Altough, looking again, the extra sidewalk at the bottom gives the impression that she still has a long way to go.

anonymouscuban · January 26, 2011

Liz,

I like this one. I think your crop works well. The woman is nicely framed within the elements around her... the ATM sign, the phone booth and the stop sign. I also like that the arrow of the stop sign points towards. The elements draw my eye to her but keep me entertain as well. I also like the room above and below her. The B&W conversion is nice too.

sara505 · January 26, 2011

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Liz,

I like this one. I think your crop works well. The woman is nicely framed within the elements around her... the ATM sign, the phone booth and the stop sign. I also like that the arrow of the stop sign points towards. The elements draw my eye to her but keep me entertain as well. I also like the room above and below her. The B&W conversion is nice too.

One of your best. The snow, the hunched over, forlorn look...says it all.

michswiss · January 26, 2011

I enjoy square cropped images. As to whether I would crop tighter as per B.D.'s suggestion would depend on the medium and size of the image when used.

rainbow · January 26, 2011

Try changing from a square crop to take off some of the right OR left edge only and the face zings in (probably due to Golden Sections, Rule of Thirds, whatever...).

And I am jealous of you getting such nice wintry shots. We had to put up with 68 degree sunny weather out here today...

rainbow · January 26, 2011

Try changing from the square crop and taking either some off the right OR left edge (without losing top or bottom) and the woman's face zings right in (likely due to the "Golden Section", "Rule of Thirds", or whatever).

And I am jealous of you having the opportunity to get these snow/blizzard shots. I had to suffer through 68 degree sunny weather here today:cry...

Juano · January 27, 2011

Nice shot Liz. I like the original version, it gives a greater sense of the woman's loneliness in a decaying environment. As usual

...!

rutt · January 27, 2011

Perfect! I'm with Damon: I like the original square crop.

zoomer · January 28, 2011

Cool shot, unfortunate that that one little piece of snow appears to be dangling off the end of her nose....:).
I like the crop but wonder what it would like like even a bit further back and with a more vertical crop with her just barely out of the center to the right. Right side would be right at the edge of the building line but not right at the corner just a bit into the dark, which helps to create depth.
That close crop does not work, you either have to crop a lot closer like crop the bottom to just above where here knees would be, which make it a pano. then she is definitely the subject. That brings the background signs etc more into the shot. or go further back to make it more of an environmental shot, that just happens to have this older women struggling to make her way in it.
As it is works, but the square crop is not ideal and the top feels a little chopped off since there are two signs on the top line that are cut off, kind of like cutting hands or feet in half.

I only critique this because it is a very cool shot with possibilities.
Nice work.

M38A1 · January 28, 2011

I think the original is just great!

I really like the 'action' aspect of the snow moving around in relationship to the slow, and what I perceive to be deliberate, footsteps.

lizzard_nyc · January 28, 2011

Thank you everybody. It took a while for me to respond because I really struggled with the cropping suggestions. As some of you may know, I have a hard time cropping shots, but this one is very special to me so I did not want to touch it only because it just felt right in my gut.

But I am here to learn, so as suggested
B.D. here she is closer

and Zoomer, I think this is what you suggested with the pano.

What do you think?

bbjones · January 29, 2011

I really like this shot -- she is such a real person.

I like the crops that keep her feet and the wheels, and I like the "No Stopping Anytime" sign by the stop sign -- the shape kind of ties the signs together.

I'm torn between the original crop and BD's first one. The context is critical (check out that phone booth graffiti!), so the trick is to get the right balance of subject and context.

This is great material to work from, so there are a lot of good crops!

Richard · January 29, 2011

I prefer the original crop.

Juano · January 29, 2011

Richard wrote: »

I prefer the original crop.

Ditto, both crops are OK, but I prefer the original one. The last crop doesn't work for me.

One from 01/25/11

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