ARCHIVE
To the Ballgame - Jason Dean
This is my first effort at seriously photographing people, I need all the advice I can get. We were walking to the Ballpark at Arlington when I made this.
| Camera: | Contax G1 |
| Lens: | 45mm Planar |
| Film: | Kodak 400 Gold |
| Exposure: | Auto |
| Flash: | |
| Support: | |
| Filter: | |
| Adjustment: | |
| Posted: | 23-May-2002 |
Rating: 0.00 (0 rating)
Comments
Ok
let's play this one then. What is your idea for this shot? What are you shooting? Let's leave aside that the image is unsharp and you should have cropped it not to include part of the frame. The sharpness could be a scanning problem. I like the DOF, but not neccesarily the DOF'ed.
Knut Skjærven 24-May-2002 at 10:33Jason,
I don't feel qualified to give any advice on people pictures since I have little experience in that area myself. But I think I'm safe in giving this advice: study all the photos and comments on this site! There are so many talented photographers here, you are bound to learn a lot and get good ideas. And here are my unqualified impressions -- I like the out of focus trees and sidewalk receding in the distance but don't care for the parked cars too much, although I guess they contribute to the sense of where you were. If this was my photo, I would try making it a square format and crop the RH side to where the sidewalk hits the bottom edge. That might be a nice composition and put more emphasis on the subject. On the presentation side, there's some dust showing and that sliver of white in the bottom RH corner to clean up. She has a nice smile and looks comfortable with you pointing your camera at her.
Robin Kleb 24-May-2002 at 12:06Robin
I don't agree with you. If everybody thinks of themselves as non qualified none will ever be qualified. This is not a scientific forum so everybody's opinion is per se qualified :-) Digression: not that scientist are a very qualified group anyway. Not the one I know anyway. Many of them suffer badly from long lens vision and they don't even have a viewfinder :-)
Knut Skjærven 24-May-2002 at 12:49Good point, Knut
I just don't want to sound like a know-it-all. But I DID leave a comment at least. :-) In addition to being excellent photographers, so many of you are very skilled in doing the critiques in a positive, helpful and non-offensive way, so I'm trying to copy you in that as well. And while I'm at it, let me mention how very impressed I am with those of you who write so well in English when it is not your native tongue!
Robin Kleb 24-May-2002 at 14:25Robin
I have thought the same. Maybe this is a secret training ground for those who are aspiring for the diplomacy. I think it is neccesary when so many people and cultures meets on common ground. Part of the ballgame so to speak :-). I am not that good at it. Thanks for the language point ....
Knut Skjærven 24-May-2002 at 15:41Shooting People
I'll echo some of the advice here, but be a tad more specific. Go to the following shooters folders: Jack Kurtz, Vish Vishvanath, Jerome Belthrop, and Louis Vorstner (apologies for any misspellings). They, among other notables on the site, are busy photographing people's souls. Don't be shy about copying their techniques. You can't have your own style until you master technique anyway. Also, get pushy with your subjects. Tell them to move to better lighting, stand differently, smile, frown, scowl, whatever. Lastly, comment on what you see here. As Knut sagely points out, all opinions are valid. By articulating what you like and don't like, particularly in a public forum, you force yourself to better understand the images. Hope this helps. --Anker
Anker Heegaard 24-May-2002 at 17:52