Blizzard shot

I cropped some trees and people out from the right. I think I'm going to crop it left as well (I think there's too much space to the left of the people) but something just doesn't sit right with it... Any thoughts?

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Wow, must be a rough summer.

it might be nice to crop out the van and all of the first building on the left. I don't think there needed for the shot.

hope you dont mind, i added a little contrast,adjusted curves a bit and quickly cloned out the van.

Thanks guys, hows this?

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Much better IMO - great shot BTW.

yes, much better. when and where was this taken?

This was December 2009 in Washington DC - Right at the gate to the White House.

My opinion, I wonder if it would make sense to crop the bottom of the image slightly...seems that the excessive white on the bottom is very dominant...just my thoughts...

I like the van in it - gives that abandoned feel. Saying that, it works without the van too !!

took a quick stab, cropped and a little levels and color balance

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hummm my image now looks a little green once uploaded. I think this image would benefit from a frame. The crop was my focus.

Mendal

I would crop out some of the bottom, but leave the contrast and levels alone. Maybe even lower the contrast to make it a little more hazy. And, I wouldn't crop out the building on the left because it helps create the vanishing point in the photo in conjunction with the trees on the right.

Mike787 wrote in post #10569707
Thanks guys, hows this?

No, this is awful.

Take a look at your first shot.

You have a basic teeter-totter with the group of people as the fulcrum. The trees on the right dark and photographically heavy. The building (and trees) on the left are brighter and by comparison, photographically light. The heavy subject is somewhat closer to the people (the fulcrum) and the lighter subject is a bit further from the fulcrum.

This is a well executed example of Informal Balance, where objects of different photographic weight are presented with stability.

Now look at the crop.

Heavy trees, check, fulcrum, check, but nothing on the other side of the fulcrum. You've completely thrown away any balance that the image had and the whole composition falls over to the right.

Now I agree with others that the bottom could be cropped. And, if it were mine, I would get rid the yellow streetlight and go pure mono. You are already in the neighborhood, and the yellow doesn't add to the shot.

Radtech1 wrote in post #10580853
No, this is awful.

Take a look at your first shot.

You have a basic teeter-totter with the group of people as the fulcrum. The trees on the right dark and photographically heavy. The building (and trees) on the left are brighter and by comparison, photographically light. The heavy subject is somewhat closer to the people (the fulcrum) and the lighter subject is a bit further from the fulcrum.

This is a well executed example of Informal Balance, where objects of different photographic weight are presented with stability.

Now look at the crop.

Heavy trees, check, fulcrum, check, but nothing on the other side of the fulcrum. You've completely thrown away any balance that the image had and the whole composition falls over to the right.

Now I agree with others that the bottom could be cropped. And, if it were mine, I would get rid the yellow streetlight and go pure mono. You are already in the neighborhood, and the yellow doesn't add to the shot.

That yellow light has been bothering me from the moment I laid my eyes on the photo. However, I don't mind hints of color as seen in winter jackets of the pedestrians braving the storm. Perhaps locally desaturate the yellow to a point that it barely registers, thereby keeping the overall color value (saturation x area : since the lamp is larger, you can desaturate more) similar to that of the pedestrians.

The original photo with perhaps the bottom portion cropped out would be great in terms of composition as I agree with the teeter-totter analogy.