American graffiti 2004

[rick barclay]

Went to the beach today. Shot a 1 gig cf card in about 30 minutes and
went back home. Anyway, what do you think of the picture? This was my
first day shoot with a 1D Mark II. Thanks for looking.

http://flashdaddee.com/amgraf2004.jpg

[Andy_T]

To me, the picture doesn't have a center that my eye is drawn to immediataly.

The guy with the board in front would be great alone, but as the second guy behind him is slightly out of focus (in the middle between the surfboard guy and the woman buying the soda), there's not enough distance to the background.

Other than that and with blurring the woman a bit more, the photo sure would look more interesting.

(Just my 2c)

Best regards,
Andy

[rick barclay]

Thanks, Andy.

The lack of a subject is why I call it graffiti. I needed a wider dof there,
didn't I? My focusing inadequacy is driving me nuts. Gotta keep working on it.
I suppose a wider angle lens would help, but then I'd have to cut my distance
in half.

[Yeager]

Personally i am having the same problem with focusing in on one subject but I absolutly love all of the colors. Its very lively.

[blinking8s]

yup, i had to look around the photo to see what you were focused on, nothing pulled my eye for the first few secons

[NJPete]

I like the vivid display of color, especially with the vending machines in the background. It would have been better if it was a Coke and Pepsi machine, as opposed to Dasani. I am thining something about the "duality of soda" here.

I think that the picture was thrown off by 2 items. The woman feeding the vending machine is a definately distraction to me. The second is a bit harder to place. I am not sure if its the focal point (top edge of the surfboard by the leash i believe), or the way that the image is framed. In some ways I would expect to see the entire surfboard.

Thanks for sharing.
NJPete

[rick barclay]

Thanks for all the replies. The Jersey shore is a great place to go for
bright colors, as you all can see. When you think graffiti, you should think
nothing in particular within the confines of the graffiti's borders-nothing is
the subject; everything is the subject. Pete, I'm glad you brought up the surfboard, beacause I wanted to include all of it. But to go wider would have
meant going beyond the periphery of that Desani machine, and what was to
the right of that machine would have garnered a slew of "distracting" complaints from viewers. My only complaint is that not everything in the picture is in focus.