why? whats the point? what did you like so much about it that you said "I have to post this on FM" i dont want to dissmiss your image or your attachment to the image so i want to know, why post it here?
I am mildly interested in learning how you were allowed to fire the flash right in their faces at this particular moment. Was the conformation at 'Our Lady of Flash Photography'?
Instead of posting that response, why not tell him why you feel it doesnt belong here. I think that would be more beneficial and maybe help him grow as a photog.
As for my take on the photo, its a nice 'snap', thats it. But in this scenario, not sure you could have done any better for the type of photo you wanted to capture. I am sure they were walking up and getting blessed. Seems like you nailed the exposure and focus and was able to capture a moment that is significant to you.
Thank you for the useful comments. The photo is what I was after. I find it interesting that you see it to be a "snap" and I wonder if this is a question of perspective (no pun intended). It seems to me that there are three types of photographs when it comes to people, those which are art for arts sake, basic portraits and those that document a moment that is meaningful. Any Catholic, for instance, would see this picture and find it to be powerful, even if they did not know anyone in the image! Why? There is power in this event, it can be seen in the faces ... three of them, all focused on this event ... all three faces with different expresions over this event.
Let me ask this, why is this image any less powerful to all of you then the pics I see all the time on this post of homeless people or a nude woman?
C&C on technicals and composition would be welcome too!
"Any Catholic, for instance, would see this picture and find it to be powerful, even if they did not know anyone in the image! Why? There is power in this event, it can be seen in the faces ... three of them, all focused on this event ... all three faces with different expresions over this event."
Interesting point here...
I am not religious at all, so to me this is a snap. I guess what I mean by that is that there really isnt any art in it, it was taken for the purpose of documenting a meaningful event. On top of that, the composition is kind of uninteresting...with that said, I dont think you could have done it any better here. Maybe wider? But I know you wanted the faces, so that wouldnt have really worked.
"why is this image any less powerful to all of you then the pics I see all the time on this post of homeless people or a nude woman"
I cant really answer this as I dont see many of these shots as 'powerful'. However, I can see some of the photog's vision come through on SOME of these shots. BUT, maybe only because the vision is interesting to me? Does that make sense?
Good insight. You are quite right, there is no "art" in this picure and it was not meant as a portrait. Thus, unless the topic is of interest to you (i.e. the moment of Comfirmation), it may be hard to relate to it. This is helpful!
Composition has bugged me to some degree. Any ideas on how to make such images more interesting? You mentioned wider ... what should I try to include that would expand the interest in the image and/or event?
perhaps some photoshop magic to reduce the clutter. Would of course be easier on the full sized image....
Oh wow! Now I just did not think of that! I like it! I'm also impressed at how fast you did it! I'm just learnig PS now ... did film as a casual photog until a year ago. Thanks Eric.
This is cool, I've learned a couple of things tonight.
Instead of posting that response, why not tell him why you feel it doesnt belong here. I think that would be more beneficial and maybe help him grow as a photog.
I never said it didnt belong here, and actually my assumption of why he would post it was right.
I think its borring. If I had taken it, I would throw it away. Again no offense, just my honest opinion. Maybe even just changing the orientation from Horizontal to Vertical would have made it more interesting? I dont know.
SWMorales wrote:
I never said it didnt belong here, and actually my assumption of why he would post it was right.
I think its borring. If I had taken it, I would throw it away. Again no offense, just my honest opinion. Maybe even just changing the orientation from Horizontal to Vertical would have made it more interesting? I dont know.
Sorry, I took it the wrong way then. I assumed your "why post it here" comment meant that it doesnt belong here.
Ferigan wrote:
Oh wow! Now I just did not think of that! I like it! I'm also impressed at how fast you did it! I'm just learnig PS now ... did film as a casual photog until a year ago. Thanks Eric.
This is cool, I've learned a couple of things tonight.
You can certainly make it more "artsy" by letting people focus on the faces and not the flash-assisted exposure through a B&W conversion. I find that B&W conversions allow the viewer to focus more on the forms and meanings compared to a color image.
You can certainly make it more "artsy" by letting people focus on the faces and not the flash-assisted exposure through a B&W conversion. I find that B&W conversions allow the viewer to focus more on the forms and meanings compared to a color image.
After seeing other people do this, why do I not think of this for my own images? I guess it's hard to know when to go B&W and when not to.
OK, do you recomend doing this to the origninal image or a modified image like the one Eric posted with all the "distractions" removed?
Was there enough natural light to take the picture? Maybe bumping up the iso and using natural light would be a nice way to document the moment. Even if the depth of field was really shallow it might have helped to create a Photographt that would seem to be more "true"to the moment. Then a BW conversion would really work. Other than this suggestion, I think the photo as is is special and will be cherished in the future as a reminder of this boy's step in faith.
Was there enough natural light to take the picture? Maybe bumping up the iso and using natural light would be a nice way to document the moment. Even if the depth of field was really shallow it might have helped to create a Photographt that would seem to be more "true"to the moment. Then a BW conversion would really work. Other than this suggestion, I think the photo as is is special and will be cherished in the future as a reminder of this boy's step in faith.
Nicely said, thank you. To be honest, I've only started playing with ISO recently (i.e. the last two months) and am finding how useful it is. Before that I kept it at ISO 200. This church was dark and I'm not sure if bumping ISO alone would have been enough. This pic took a full pop from my SB-800. I certainly prefer not to use flash when I can avoid it. Thanks again for the suggestion...it is something I am working on.
Oh Sino! That is fantastic! That has so much more impact and focus! And much of the harsh effects of the flash are gone too! I see now why Carels said to bump the ISO. I can't wait to reproduce this on the full-sized original and show my sister ... it's my nephew getting comfirmed.
Thanks again. All your comments have been most helpful.
Ferigan wrote:
Any Catholic, for instance, would see this picture and find it to be powerful, even if they did not know anyone in the image! Why? There is power in this event, it can be seen in the faces ... three of them, all focused on this event ... all three faces with different expresions over this event.
Let me ask this, why is this image any less powerful to all of you then the pics I see all the time on this post of homeless people or a nude woman?
C&C on technicals and composition would be welcome too!...Show more →
Id beg to differ. I was brought up in the Godly faith and find this image to be less than powerful. The even is no doubt important but the image is not representative of how significant the event is. Just my opinion, i could be wrong.
The even is not any less powerful than the event of a woman being naked or the tragedy that is the life of a homeless person, HOWEVER your capture of this even is less than stelar.
The composition would probably benefit greatly from you being lower and the shot being taken vertically. That would fill them more into the frame. I dont knwo what lens you were using but maybe shooting wider would help too. The photoshop that the other poster did worked well, but still its not that great, we cant all miracles (sorry for the pun).
If you can i would try it again, with a diffuser on the flash and vertically, maybe, if you wan that is.
