I'm back with another photo for you all to take a look at. This one's a night shot of a neon sign I found in NYC, featuring "the Lady and the Dog." I thought it looked really cool when I saw it, so I snapped a pic.
I've already tinkered with it a bit in Lightroom, mainly masking the Lady and the Dog and bumping up their exposure so they stand out more - I do think I may have gone overboard on the exposure. But honestly, I've hit a wall and could really use some fresh eyes and ideas.
What do you all think? Any suggestions on how I can make this shot even better? All feedback is welcome!
I think the photo looks good as it is. It looks properly exposed, the signs are not blown, and light on the lady and the dog looks natural being back lit. I also like the red color cast from the neon light since it give the image more character and mood.
Making it better depends on what you want the viewer to see, and I really can't tell for sure what is the image you are visualizing.
As it is the window with its neon sign is the predominant element of the image.
When I first looked at your image my eyes were attracted by the signs. Humans are naturally drawn to text. Text in a photo always attracts attention (to retrieve information). Add to that the fact that it is also the brightest/ hi-saturated element and you get a strong focal area.
If by making better you mean give the lady and the dog more prominence, then you need to reduce/eliminate the “intrusion” of the other elements, particularly of the bright text.
You cannot have both.
Here is an example aimed at giving more emphasis to the lady, (unless you know Mandarin )
Thanks so much for this. As an amateur, I am at the point in my photography where I think, "looks cool, let's take a picture." Thinking through the elements of a scene and what draws attentionlpful for me to start building my own framework for viewing a scene. As always, is extremely heI really appreciate your thoughts.
TranceparenT wrote:
Thanks so much for this. As an amateur, I am at the point in my photography where I think, "looks cool, let's take a picture." Thinking through the elements of a scene and what draws attentionlpful for me to start building my own framework for viewing a scene. As always, is extremely heI really appreciate your thoughts.
One thing I learned during my years of photography is that there is a (big) difference between what the camera lens sees, and what we see in our mind’s eye when we decide to take a picture of a scene.
So, feel free from recording only what the camera and lens could capture. Visualize the image you want, see it, feel it, believe in it, and make it reality, because that is going to come across to your viewer. The viewer looking at your photograph is going to ask: ”Why does the photographer want me to look at this photograph? Why is he showing me this?
My advice? Show what you see with your mind's eye, show your vision, not what the camera sees. Because cameras have no feelings.
I love the concepts in this image and the color just really pops nicely. the only small thing I can offer would be to have had the woman be 1 step left or right of the neon sprouting out of her head.
Again this is a very small nit at the colors really make this a wonderful shot
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