I'm finally starting to build together collages of maintenance in action shots from work. The ones I'm replacing are 18x24, but the printing company I've been using doesn't support that size so I'm sizing them to 16x20. I've never watermarked anything before, but am considering a small one for these "posters." I'll be making about 6 or 7 of these and so far have about 60 images to use but would like more so I'll be shooting more.
I think these will print nicely at 16x20. The only suggestion I might make is to add a little space between the three bottom images. You have space between the others, but not vertical space between those on the bottom row.
Hey there Kevin. Just a first impression here. You've got the guys in action at the bottom. The plane is emphasized in the middle. Visually, that makes the top right spot pretty important. Yet I don't see that guy doing anything more meaningful or significant than any of the others. I'd prefer to see a group shot of guys in that spot and an individual in the bottom just to balance it out.
Keep in mind, I'm 100% clueless about these operations, so you probably have some better logic in ordering that I'm not aware of.
Thanks Steve! I was thinking about darkening the background to completely black to match the Strike patch OR changing it to a different color altogether to give it a little more contrast. I'll definitely re-work this one and add some vertical space between the images at the bottom and see how it turns out. Thanks for the tip!
We're really looking forward to Italy and can't wait to add some European landscape to my portfolio. Well, by the time I leave Italy I should have enough decent images to call it a portfolio.
BTW-Our new Chief is funding the Squadron and AMU photo, finally! What a wait, huh?! He paid me the cost of six of these maintenance in action collages tonight, too. I won't profit from them, but my pride is! Thanks again for everything!!
jdben622 wrote:
Hey there Kevin. Just a first impression here. You've got the guys in action at the bottom. The plane is emphasized in the middle. Visually, that makes the top right spot pretty important. Yet I don't see that guy doing anything more meaningful or significant than any of the others. I'd prefer to see a group shot of guys in that spot and an individual in the bottom just to balance it out.
Keep in mind, I'm 100% clueless about these operations, so you probably have some better logic in ordering that I'm not aware of.
Thanks for the suggestions! Honestly, I didn't pay too much attention to image placement but I do agree with your logic. I'm going to re-work this one and re-post.
BTW-Are you referring to one image of a group of people to go in the top right or the group of images?
I meant having a group of crew in the top right position and an individual in the bottom left (option "A" in your question). Don't think a swap would work well due to the crop. Maybe you have a different pic to sub. in?
Also, if you posted this as you'd print it, I'd recommend a much smaller white frame. As it is, the outer white frame is competing when it should be complimenting.
jdben622 wrote:
I meant having a group of crew in the top right position and an individual in the bottom left (option "A" in your question). Don't think a swap would work well due to the crop. Maybe you have a different pic to sub. in?
Also, if you posted this as you'd print it, I'd recommend a much smaller white frame. As it is, the outer white frame is competing when it should be complimenting.
I do have about 45 images to sub in, the other 15 or so are aircraft. I guess it would be wise to print groups larger and individuals smaller so they will all be easier to see?
The white frame is 1/2", when I recompose the collage I'll take it down to 1/8" and see how it looks.
Regardless of the task, people like to see themselves doing what they take pride in. I'm sure whoever gets these will enjoy receiving them.
Based on the boxes you've created here, the top right is important. A group shot showing the team would be a nice start for the eye to travel after seeing the logo.
Then the viewer travels down to the plane, which is why it's all done in the first place.
The individual tasks required make for nice spotlights at the bottom. I personally like tighter, more intimate shots like the guy on the right inspecting the gear. You might feel it's more important to showcase the plane and subordinate the crew and thus shoot wider. Regardless of the approach you take, try to balance the view. On the three in the bottom, you've got wide, wide, tight. You'd see better balance by switching #2 and #3. Even though the box sizes are no longer balanced, you'd be wide, tight, wide and I think that would work better. If it was me, I'd have a loose group shot on the top, the plane in the middle, and 3 tight individuals shots in the bottom (with a very thin black border separating them).
I have 5 more of these to do. Now that I've received some valuable input towards improving them I'm still contemplating whether or not to watermark them. Keep in mind I will no longer be assigned to this unit 3 months from now. Your thoughts?
Hey that looks a lot better IMHO. I'd probably shrink the plane just a tick so you can get a sliver of the runway in bottom to create some separation. The tires are now running into your border. Or you can crop a little off the sky in your top right picture, make your logo slightly smaller and enlarge the plane shot from the bottom. Nicely done.
Don't really have a suggestion re: the watermark. Maybe someone else can chime in.
jdben622 wrote:
Hey that looks a lot better IMHO. I'd probably shrink the plane just a tick so you can get a sliver of the runway in bottom to create some separation. The tires are now running into your border. Or you can crop a little off the sky in your top right picture, make your logo slightly smaller and enlarge the plane shot from the bottom. Nicely done.
Don't really have a suggestion re: the watermark. Maybe someone else can chime in.
I purposely cropped the aircraft at the bottom of the tires to blend with the black. I guess it didn't get the look I was hoping for.
Is the 1/8" white border too thin, just right or possibly need to be removed?
Are the black dividing lines still too thick at 1/4"?
I don't want to get too deep into creating the rest of this "series" and have to go back and re-size everything so they are somewhat symmetrical. Once I get the format down I think I'll be GTG to piece together the rest of the images.
Also, to get a little more feedback should I just replace the first image in this thread with the second one so it's the first one new viewers see?
i like #2. that said, however, i still think the poster/collage appear somewhat without pizzazz. i would suggest you heading over to "sports corner", doing a search and looking at some of the stuff the sports shooters are doing. i think it will give you some more ideas and spice up your product too! just my 2 cents.
kevin s wrote:
i like #2. that said, however, i still think the poster/collage appear somewhat without pizzazz. i would suggest you heading over to "sports corner", doing a search and looking at some of the stuff the sports shooters are doing. i think it will give you some more ideas and spice up your product too! just my 2 cents.
Thanks Kevin, I'll check it out and post back with hopefully a pizzazzed revision.
