OK this time for real: Please Crtique This Shot

[Ricochetrider]

Sorry folks, last night I was trying to post this onmy phone and for whatever reason it didnt seem to be working out! SO here's another try. Doing something of a "return to digital", having just gotten a Fuji X Pro 2 camera. I've shot it just about every day since its arrival, and I feel like I'm getting it figured out, although I plan on doing a firmware update to bring it up to date- sometimes it doesnt focus properly, although perhaps the lens is a factor in this?

Meanwhile I've tossed quite a lot of varyinf scenarios at the camera and it seems quite lovely. I revisited an old coal coutry town yesterday and took some shots of things I saw last time I was there -but had run out of film, so only got phone pix of some of this stuff.  Pennsylvania has a lot of small towns that once thrived but are now pretty seriosly depressed- especially in the region where coal mining was once a huge industry. I've been doing some documentation of them and find them endlessly photogenic.  

This shot was one of the ones I got yesterday and when I looked at it on my large desktop screen, I fell in love with it. The shadows are pretty dark  around the primary subject but overall to my eye it has something of a look similar to Eggleston's color work back in the day. I like the orange/blue in the foreground and really like the riotous background seen thru the doors of this old car wash. The busted up Lincoln Town Car is a treat as well... Very much a shadowy, overcast day, and it affects this whole shot. I love shooting cars and also like delapidated scenes so this checks both those boxes. 

But we all like our own shots, don't we? What everyone else thinks of it matters too, tho, yes?

Thanks in advance for your time.  

 

 

 

[ericphelps]

I like it a lot, great soft colors, with useless being the theme. Looks like a crime scene actually. 

[Marv Thompson]

I normally wouldn’t alter someone else’s image but it’s easier to demonstrate than explain. My back ground is large format photography and I spent a number of years creating only 4x5 contact prints. During that time I was forced to become very particular about how I composed the image in camera. If you can’t crop, you can’t let the image “float” in the frame. I still try and practice that discipline in the digital world but don’t mind a little cropping here and there. My suggestion is to move the subject a bit to the left and use the rest as a frame that helps define image. I hope that helps. Thanks.

[Nick D.]

It's like Eggleston or Herzog, only they used brighter colors, Kodachrome colors, some sunshine would be helpful too:)

[mikemorrellNL]

I really like this photo - especially in the context of documenting the decline of small previously thriving coal mining  towns in Pennsylvania. The 'self service bay' sign and the busted up town car 'parked' in the bay tells a story in itself.  I'm sure that it fits in well with a wider documentary series.

There's almost nothing I would change. The only very minor suggestion that I can make to play around with is to add a very slight (masked) 'curves' layer in PP just to bring up a couple of reflections out of the dark bay:
- the boards (?) left and right of the car and table (left)

- possibly the darker region of the hood too (with the Lincoln town car emblem) and perhaps the lower part of the windscreen

- possibly the bay floor in the foreground (left)

Do these affect the photo as a whole? Absolutely not. But bringing up a few (relative) highlights against the darker bay IMHO might enhance the idea of 'reflected light'. Both from the back (via the 'boards/table) and from the front (via the the Lincoln town car emblem). The effect is marginal so whether it's worth the time and effort depends on how much time and effort you want to spend.   Let me know if you'd like an example of 'before and after'.

Mike

[Ricochetrider]

Mike, thanks. I don’t mind if you want to make those adjustments- Id like to see them. 
 

@Marv Thompson I like that crop it seems to center or balance the shot somehow. 
 

Thanks guys. 
Tom

[mikemorrellNL]

Hi @Ricochetrider, below are your original photo followed by an example that illustrates the point I made about 'bring up the highlights'. Again, whether you think this is worth doing, and also the degree you want to do it, is entirely up to you. I should add that in the example, I also adjusted the levels (75%) for the photo as a whole to use the whole range of the histogram.

Before:

After:

[Allen Herbert]

"really like this photo - especially in the context of documenting the decline of small previously thriving coal mining  towns in Pennsylvania. The 'self service bay' sign and the busted up town car 'parked' in the bay tells a story in itself.  I'm sure that it fits in well with a wider documentary series.£

Sorry, I just see the front of a car.

Is there a story? Just that photo a story.?

Methinks, some folks have the really good stuff,

 

[Allen Herbert]

Sort of struggle to join some folks in fairy land.

Hey, I do try hard, to visit fairy land.

[Ricochetrider]

20 hours ago, Allen Herbert said:

"really like this photo - especially in the context of documenting the decline of small previously thriving coal mining  towns in Pennsylvania. The 'self service bay' sign and the busted up town car 'parked' in the bay tells a story in itself.  I'm sure that it fits in well with a wider documentary series.£

Sorry, I just see the front of a car.

Is there a story? Just that photo a story.?

Methinks, some folks have the really good stuff,

 

 

I'm not one to read too much into a photo- as in I don't look for a story or (puposely) create "stories" in photos. I like imagery and often I like color. I like shooting cars and pretty much anything with a motor in it. This is a part of a series of shots and is removed from that context, presented here singularly- but it IS a part of the larger "story" of the decline of once-prosperous Small Town, USA- which is not exclusive to the coal industry, and is relevant to the bigger social & economic picture.

That said, this photo stands out to me as being reminiscent of (as noted above) the works of Mr Eggelston- who also made  an entire career out of shooting color photographs of... what, exactly?  

Photography - and the perception of any photograph, is subjective. Anyone who would expect that everyone is going to like any given shot is fooling themselves. However, seeing "only" any single aspect of the whole, seems somewhat dismissive, and half hearted. It's my opinion that the "front of the car", while important, perhaps, isnt the strongest element here- and that ALL the elements of this photo build together a reasonably strong image.  

Thanks for your comments, Allen. Although they seem more rebuff than critique, they now become part of the "story" of this photo.   

 

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Ricochetrider

[Allen Herbert]

 "for your comments, Allen. Although they seem more rebuff than critique" Rico.

Really, a very boring photo... okay, we can all create a story around any photo.; a lump of grass or whatever.

But is that about the photograph, or, about wordsmithing. What do you think, your choice.

[Allen Herbert]

Just now, Allen Herbert said:

 "for your comments, Allen. Although they seem more rebuff than critique" Rico.

Really, a very boring photo... okay, we can all create a story around any photo.; a lump of grass or whatever.

But is that about the photograph, or, about wordsmithing. What do you think, your choice.

Just being honest to my mind.

 

[Ricochetrider]

1 hour ago, Allen Herbert said:

 

“Wordsmithing”. Ha ha, nice. 

Honesty, is a solid quality, no more so anywhere than in “Critiques”. Thanks again for the commentary, I honestly appreciate it. 👍🏼
 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Ricochetrider

[Philip4379]

I am afraid for me it lacks impact and story. It has some elements of geometry with the sequence of sqaures/rectangles but these are not stressed or concentrated on. I think I would crop much tighter to emphasis that geomentry and then brighten up the main subject (the car) and add some contrast to it. The main subject is not bold enough to draw attention as it is.

But then I am not a great car fan.

And if you like the shot then that's good enough!

 

[samstevens]

To me, the subject here is the photo and not the car. If there’s a subject within the photo, for me it would be the background peeking through. The contrasts of darks and lights, the ennui, the mutedness of foreground color against the glare of background light. It also feels like a Ricochet shot, so it furthers that story. It gives off a sense of place. I don’t always need glamour or pathos or high style, except maybe in my love life. 😊

Edited November 26, 2022 by samstevens

[michael_kucinich]

I like the cropping of the image to a 4x5 equivalent. To me, I get a sense from this image that the garage is a little spooky; not a place where I would want to park my car. Nice image.