[TIM]

The second last of my mozambique pictures that I'm putting up for critique.



Higher res - http://farm1.static.flickr.com/134/3...a36f4583_o.jpg

[fionaB]

i do like this............. its one of the examples of taking peoples backs that work.......... i would perhaps like to see a little bit more water as it looks a bit cut off. but a lovely image well taken

[Rob Barron]

A pleasant image and the footprint trail works nicely. The lighting is difficult as despite the sun being fairly low to the left of the shot, it is still a strong African sun and so it creates a very high contrast. because of the difficulty in getting a balanced exposure, the mid range of hills is very dark as is the right side of the people's bodies so they are tending to blend into each other. I guess it has a slimming effect on the bodies but neither of these two people have any need for that (unlike me!) so it is accentuating their thinness despite them actually having good bodies.

Once again I am at work and looking on a monitor that always makes images darker so I am sure the mid range is not quite as dark as I am seeing here. i'll look again at home. I definitely agree with fiona, I'd like to see more of the sea here, it does feel rather chopped instead of feeling like the photographer has chosen to show that amount.

Overall it is a pleasant picture, it is only the strength of the lighting that is causing the problem for me and it would be hard for the taker to have done much in camera to avoid this. Maybe lift the dark tones using curves?

Cheers,
Rob

[TIM]

Thanks for the suggestions rob, will see what i can do with it...

[Rob Barron]

I have to say Tim, now I am at home and looking at them on my calibrated monitor, it doesn't look as bad a problem as it did when I was at work. Yes, a slight lift would help but it isn't a problem I don't think. Nice image, very romantic.... all together now.... <g>

[Dabhand16]

I really like this, a story in a photo. Only one thing that I think would improve it is if in the bottom LH corner both sets of footprints could have been included to lead into the shot.

Of course, not being there, I don't know if there were reasons why this could not have been done, if, for instance they were too wide apart at this point.

[Charlotte]

I see this picture very differently to Rob + Graham: I think the placement of the lead-in footprints is perfect, it looks like they walked right into the photo from the left, just brushing your shoulder, + I like that the LH corner splits the two sets of footprints up - it adds perspective, watching them close up.

I like the way the side-lighting has chiselled the shapes + curves of their bodies, it adds depth, + causes a lovely long shadow to fall across the RH side + right out of the frame.

It is a well-balanced shot with natural looking colours; exposure + composition are spot on.

The only thing that bugs me is the top edge of the hills looks ... dunno, but something's not quite right there.

[TIM]

Thanks guys and girls, dabhand I've tried other crops that include the footprints for longer, but they weren't walking next to each other, so it doesn't work to well. I also like the feeling that she has walked into the frame to join him.

Thanks charlotte, the sky and hill line haven't been touched, so not sure why they look funny. I actually considered doing a gradient to add something to the sky, but in the end far prefered the plainer look, detail in the sky was distracting...

[Rob Barron]

Is it just me or does the girl's body look strange? I admit I have only just noticed it but the shadow of her arm is making the left side of her body look like it has been severely carved inwards to a sharp angle. The larger displayed version brings the people a touch closer (higher res wouldn't make a difference as such as the monitor can only display the 72 dpi (PC) anyway, even if you show a 300dpi shot) and so we can just see the girl's body in the shadow but in this smaller version we can't. It is highly likely that a high-res printed version would not accentuate the problem the way it is here.

What do others think?

Cheers,
Rob

[danpen]

I like this one, Sky's good as it is, I think the footprints are fine. Yes Rob the girl looks a bit like a chunk's been cut out of her back due to the shadow of the arm. I don't know how it would look bigger or smaller but might be tempted to reduce both the darkness and the strong edge of the shadow a little in PS to reduce the effect.

I know Tim's not too keen on the edits though so maybe the best bet is to return to that lovely location for a week or two and get the shot again, if you need someone to guard your camera bag while you're setting up the shot let me know, it's cold here.

cheers

Dan

[Rob Barron]

LOL

[skipper954]

I like this image. It tells a strong story.

There is something on the rhs just above the water that shouldn't be there in a perfect world.

Also, now that you mentioned it, Rob, the bodily distortion of the woman is terrible disconcerting Perhaps a touch of liquification?

Anyway, a fine image.

skip

[Rob Barron]

I saw that bit to the right just above the sea and wondered what it was as well. I THINK it is just a bit of the headland which happened to get a bright bit of sun on it. Can't be sure but I think it might be best to crop that bit off. However, that means losing even more of the sea which there is precious little of as it is. Not a big enough to deal to worry about i guess.

I do still like the story telling of this image

Cheers,
Rob

[TIM]

Originally Posted by danpen

I know Tim's not too keen on the edits though so maybe the best bet is to return to that lovely location for a week or two and get the shot again, if you need someone to guard your camera bag while you're setting up the shot let me know, it's cold here.

cheers

Dan

Haha, good point, wonder if my boss will accept it as a reason for more leave...?

Thanks skip and rob, I reckon it is a piece of dune thats just caught the sun a bit. Will try dull that down a bit, and fix the hatchet wound in the girls back at the same time... Haha.