Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Through with the Fiddle and Faddle

The original in all its glory.

Number 1 with wind in the shrubbery hiding the laptop.

Made monochrome to hide the shrubbery blur and moved a tree!

Added back a little color.
Fiddled and faddled and tried the various suggestions and actually not looking for affirmation as was suggested by Grannie.  This is hardly a great photo for that!  I think I just miss not having a photography club nearby and after loading many photos to RedBubble and getting only generic compliments from other photographers...decided to try a new route.  I will not bore you in the future with this, rest assured.  Just a trial.  I took this with a Canon Powershot, so I guess the fidelity that I got from across the campus at a distance was surprising to me.  I do love this little camera that fits in my pocket.

I did not try to hide his face this time.  The photo when cropped is now much smaller and as a result would not be good for anything larger than a few inches in print...but I had fun(?) working on this.  Tell me if you like one more than the other and as you can see, I moved some landscape to cover the laptop and a tree, and no color filters were added.  You will need to click on photos to enlarge.  This would not pass muster for any publication other than the web.  I really appreciate those of you who were polite enough to take time to review and critique and that fact that this photo was not one in which I had vested any emotion, made it easier for me to take advice. 

13 comments:

  1. I liked it better with the laptop because it has a story that way with his body facing the laptop but his attention drawn to her which might be a distraction. Also if you want to use it in an iconic sense, I think the stairs are good in it as part of a path to and from.

    When I take photos, I always face the same dilemma about whether when it's someone else, it's okay to use it. I think if a person wanted to sell a photo of anybody who wasn't a celebrity, you'd have to get permission but for personal use, I really don't know. His expression though is good and those things are only captured spur of the moment.

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  2. Thanks Rain! You have an artists heart and eye, so what you say in this context is important.

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  3. I actually like the top photo best, but I approve the moving of the tree, because it is distracting to have it behind the woman's head.

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  4. I can't believe it, I really like the top one best. The two characters are not memorable enough to 'make' a photo, but as persons in an attractive landscape they are right, give added interest.

    The landscape is very attractive, the lines of shrubbery are good and the hard landscaping is actually really imaginative.

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  5. Now see...I liked the tree in it's original location!! Adds some much need verticality! And the monochrome photo is my fav!
    Well done and what fun
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  6. I like the original photo best and I think it the most romantic because it includes more of the beautiful setting. The branches of the trees overhead and the landscaping make the couple the focal point. I like being able see the fellow's face.

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  7. Ahh well now that I read this, I see you might not have appreciated what I just commented in your previous post. I hope you know that it's meant with kindness.

    I have fun playing around with Photoshop too, sometimes and can see that you surely know your way around it and how to alter the mood of an image. I like that you've hidden the laptop too. It makes his gaze seem more attentive.

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  8. My favorite would be the pinky filtered version, (with the computer hidden). Makes it look like a painting...it flows
    This has been fun, hope you do it again.

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  9. Hi Tabor. I'm back from a week's leave from all-things-computer and I see you are tinkering with a photo. I don't know how to move trees around in pictures, so I am quite impressed with the fact that you can!

    If it were me doing the tinkering I would have not hidden the laptop, but perhaps would have moved the tree (if only I knew how). I would have cropped out the table in the foreground and a bit off the right side (talking about the first photo here). I wouldn't have messed with the color too much b/c I don't like over-saturated photos. The green is nice and vivid as it is and sets off the red hair. Not crazy about the pink in the photo below.

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  10. So many alterations! I would've turned them vivid pink, blue, n green prob!...
    But I do try to keep most original elements where they were... Composition is what draws me to take the pic in the first place!

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  11. I think the connection between them shows better without the laptop but I'm also hesitant to fiddle with a photo (not that I know how so much) sort how I joke that I like non-fiction and memoirs because fiction is too much like lying!

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  12. Yes, we always seem to work with a better clarity when we get feedback, and seeing other folks work is also stimulating. There's probably a photographic club here handy, but I only have so much time.

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  13. Liked the monochrome, but maybe Rain is right and the laptop is needed for the story. Did you try zooming in on the central couple, then moving the tree? You've made me want to go and play with some photos. Thank you.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.