REVIEW PHOTO: Man on Bike

<p>Perhaps a cliche shot, but I saw the man riding this bike with fairly high handlebars and it intrigued me. I didn't see him coming, so I just got off one shot in this exact position. What do you think?<br>

DS Meador</p><div></div>

<p>The buildings in the background are too bright, and they distract from the mana on the bike. Also, he is too dark. Personally, I would try cropping the right side of the picture and make him and the tree the only things in the foreground.</p>

<p>something like this...can't do much about the background without some PS surgery and a stop or two wider would have defocused the background. and to be totally picky it would of been nicer if that upright stuck in his back would of been a foot or two to the right.</p><div></div>

<p>There's nothing wrong with cliche shots as they can be rather fun and in fact excellent. Given your explanation/motivation as to why you took this shot in the first place it's obvious that you weren't in the best spot for it. Also the moment doesn't help from where I'm sitting, as it is now the vertical building feature seems to "cut him in half". Positioning him to the left or right of it would have worked better I think. As was already mentioned the DOF you used is perhaps not the best one you could have chosen. Setting him off against it with a wider DOF would probably have worked better and created a bit of "depth". It seems we're looking at a middle aged guy riding a bike that one not might expect and although that could create a succesfull angle I don't think you got the most out of it. Exposure looks good although there is a "greyness" that I don't particularly like. To be fair though that is for the most part a matter of personal preference. From a composition point of view including that tree was a wise choice but putting your subject in the middle doesn't create much dynamic in this case.</p>

<p>Thanks guys for the responses. I could see most of what you pointed out without even posting it here (post in his back and man centered in frame). I cropped it where I did to maintain the strong "v" of the railing by the steps opposite of the "v" of the tree's branches. There are also two "v" shapes to the bike frame. Maybe too much hope riding on geometry here.<br>

The brightness of the background versus the darkness of the man didn't really strike me, but I see it now.<br>

In the candidness of the moment, I did not have time to think about aperture. I think the camera was set on f/8. Do you think f/2.8 would have been the better choice, or might that have been to much smaller?<br>

Ton - by "greyness" do you mean somber emotion?<br>

I'm adding a square crop in color to let you see what the actual color scheme was before it was converted to b&w. I think in color the building is not so "bright" as it appears in the b&w conversion. Gotta love RAW!<br>

Thanks very much for your honesty and not making it brutal. This is really a safe environment in which to learn and be critiqued.<br>

DS Meador</p><div></div>

<p>For me, it's not the brightness of the background, it's that it's so busy. Did you shoot this telephoto? It appears to be so since the background and subject look so squeezed together at least the b&w version does more then the color one. At first it was a little disorienting to me because it appears to look like a backdrop he's riding in front of. I also don't like how the riders arms appear to be resting on the green railing. Keep at it DS, this is the best way to learn.</p>

>>> For me, it's not the brightness of the background, it's that it's so busy.

 

I agree. To my eye, the background with all of its elements is competing with and overpowering your subject. That's

probably the one thing that most messes up my shots where I try and include context. It's tough to see and realize at time

of capture...

<p>I was at a stop light with the camera within arms reach. I had the 85 1.8 mounted, so I think that's about 135 FF equivalent.<br>

The building in the background is a government building - the mayor's office complex. The city of Joinville, Santa Catarina has a strong influence from German immigrants and that type of architeture is fairly common in South Brazil. So, I'll have to keep that in mind.<br>

I had not noticed how his arms appear to be resting on the rail, even though it is quite a distance behind him.<br>

Again, thanks for all your input. This is helping me to realize things I need to be looking out for and things I need to improve.<br>

DS Meador</p>

<p>I find it a much more interesting photo in color than in black and white. It would need to be well processed to maximize the color, but I think doing so would alleviate a lot of the compositional problems that have become more obvious in black and white. Suddenly the green of the grass has interest where it has little interest in the black and white version. He is naturally brought out much more from the background in the color version and that could be emphasized . . . his cap helps a lot with that. I'm even less conscious of the pole that is so disturbing to many in the black and white version. The tree here could be the defining element, it is so commanding and interesting. Again, with good color work, its textures could be brought out to nicely offset the rest of the photo. (That could have been done in the black and white as well.) I think it's a photo that does have potential, but it's got to be seen somewhat differently.</p>

<p>Fred,<br>

Thanks for the encouragement. Now, not only do I have to learn street photography, but post processing too. I just got PS Elements and have begun to work through Kelby's book on the subject. So, this photo will give me planty to work on as I'm learning.<br>

Again, thanks!<br>

DS Meador</p>

<p>DS--</p>

<p>Cool. It's an adventure. Enjoy it. By the way, another issue here is the flat lighting. There would be more zing and energy if there were some highlights/shadows to work with. That's not a "rule" by any means, sometimes gray days are amazing to work with, but always keep lighting in mind.</p>

<p>Since it is winter in the southern hemisphere, we're having lots of gray days right now. It rained 6 of my first 8 days in the city. I feel like I moved to Seattle or London, given the stereotypes. I'm hoping Spring and Summer bring more sunshine and better light.<br>

DS Meador</p>

<p>as others have commented, it's a very busy pic. the eye needs a comfortable place to be drawn to. there are a lot of competing elements in both versions--color and black and white--and even with de-centering him, it still doesnt quite 'pop.' there needs to be more of a sense of isolation. one thing which would have made this better is a shallow DoF which would have de-emphasized the backgrounds and accentuated the main subject. try shooting at f/2.8 or so--if you're in full Auto or P mode, you need to be in aperture-priority. with a bit more practice and taking more control over the camera, i think you can realize better results with this type of shot.</p>

<p>Eric,<br>

I was in Aperture Priority, but at f/8 (I think) - I was thinking hyperfocal when I set the camera there. Didn't think about switching it to anything else when I got back in the car. It was a situation that just appeared and I went automatically to my eye and took the shot. Not much else I can say about it. I'll keep this in mind and see if I can learn from it. I think I've got a lot more in my head now that others have graciously given me insights - now comes the challenge of getting them from my head to the camera.<br>

Again - thanks to all who have helped me with this shot.<br>

DS Meador</p>

<p>DS, f/8 is great when you want to emphasize a bunch of different elements in your picture, or for group shots, but not so great for isolating a single subject, which is what you want to do for pics like these. since you have the ability to shoot with a shallow DoF with your 85/1.8, why not take advantage of it?</p>