Uncle Sam

[ctgoldwing]

shot at the New London (Connecticut) waterfront festival. I would appreciate some suggestions for the background and other criticisms. tia

24-70 f2.8 L lens at 65mm 1/750 sec iso 200

http://molaver.org/photos/misc/img_2845us-s.jpg

[Leighow]

Great Shot

I'd like to see it cropped below the vest -- a bit squarer. Plus it seem a bit flat and a pinch of contrast ought to fix that, plus perhaps a bit more color saturation to liven things up -- there is a celebration somewhere.

But I do not have any suggestions for the background. Unlike a blurred garden whose green's support a flower's colors, this background detract a bit. Finally, the guy seems about to bump into a wall.

On close, this is a great subject, and a bit limited by the background.

Hope that I have not discouraged you -- I have never taken as good a street shot myself.

HOWIE

[ctgoldwing]

Thanks for your comments Howie!

Leighow wrote:
Great Shot

I'd like to see it cropped below the vest -- a bit squarer. Plus it seem a bit flat and a pinch of contrast ought to fix that, plus perhaps a bit more color saturation to liven things up -- there is a celebration somewhere.

Yes this was taken at the waterfront festival in New London, Connecticut.

But I do not have any suggestions for the background. Unlike a blurred garden whose green's support a flower's colors, this background detract a bit.

I have played around with the background some. I tried selecting the subject, copying & pasting him as a new image over the backgound & then blurring the background. That worked - somewhat but I also got a 'blur halo' that was a few pixels larger than the subject. Maybe I should try cutting & pasting. . . .

Finally, the guy seems about to bump into a wall.
Yes he had just walked into a tent that was set up as an amplitheater & was about to walk up 2 steps to the stage area. I followed him into the tent & moved to the stage before him to get the shot.

On close, this is a great subject, and a bit limited by the background.

Hope that I have not discouraged you -- I have never taken as good a street shot myself.

HOWIE


Thanks again for the comments. I think I will continue to experiment with this image. It's a great learning experience for me.

[stopbath]

I think the background is great. This guy is back stage or something, waiting his time to 'go on.'

I would brighten him up though (but don't raise the backgound up too! A subtle use of curves should do the trick, or use the dodge tool)

Perhaps crop a bit from behind the man, he's currently facing into the smaller portion of the frame (but perhaps you wanted this?)

[ctgoldwing]

stopbath wrote:
I think the background is great. This guy is back stage or something, waiting his time to 'go on.'

I would brighten him up though (but don't raise the backgound up too! A subtle use of curves should do the trick, or use the dodge tool)

Perhaps crop a bit from behind the man, he's currently facing into the smaller portion of the frame (but perhaps you wanted this?)

ok I cropped him somewhat & saturated the colrs a little. The problem I have is that every change looks good but I'm not sure which is best! lol!

I had originally cropped him to try & include his nifty cane but I really didn't get enough of it in the shot.

Thanks for taking the time for your suggestions!

http://molaver.org/photos/misc/img_2845-3.jpg

[Drbeagle]

Very nice. The original shot is good, but the crop is excellent. It really tones down the background and forces attention to your subject.

David

[henkbos]

The cropped version is a lot better, but there is still some improvement possible with some more advanced techniques.
- try to extract the person, put the background in a new layer and darken the background a little
- his face seems a little red. You might want to try to reduce that a little (reduce saturation on red).

[Leighow]

Henk is a whiz at this.. but I do like the crop. What impressed my eyes most about the change is that we focus on the subject -- more that the background. Also, the tilt of the hat, and the its "top" being in the upper-left corner,make the image flow. Well donr.