Afraid of the light

As mentioned in the technical details, credit for this shot must go mostly to a talented sculptor and Mr. Van der Rohe for the placement. But do you think this detracts (a lot) from the image? As in a photo of a painting? Or perhaps even a picture of a sunset. Since I feel that, really, there is not as much to capturing something beautiful we can all see, as to finding a new perspective, showing something completely overlooked or even creating an idea from scratch.

 

Also, I would appreciate your thoughts on the composition. The unsharpness by the way is from camera movement. Thanks!

Jeroen, even though this is a photograph of a piece of someone-else's-art, the idea behind the photo is good. You have chosen the right moment, w.r.to sun angle, to make it appear that she's shielding herself from the glare. Crop it tightly, eliminating the hotspot and focusing the viewer on the subject. Did you take a few shots over a period of time? I'd like to see how the shadow changes -- perhaps a different instant would be nicer. Sharpness aside, it's a nice picture. I like the composition.

 

Was there a way of positioning yourself so that your own shadow turns up in the picture -- either completely consuming the lady's shadow, or be right next to it? Would have been a cool gimmick.

 

OK, it's a bit unsharp as you said, but I like the colors & lighting. Not only does the light fall on the statue, it also falls on the shadow of the statue. Good job on the exposure also. You might see what cropping off some of the left side would look like. I played around in PS and came up with this version, I hope you don't mind. I sharpened the image, then just the statue using the magnetic lasso tool. I also added a hint of "film grain".

Niranjan and Chuck have a good thing going here. That glare spot had to go, it was as dominating as the statue. I like Chuck's edited version. I think with a sepia tone applied to it for a "classic" b/w feel it would be a good shot. Now, about the sharpness.....;)

I like this very much, Jeroen... The light, the composition, te statue itself as it seems to use the hand to protect itself from the light... What a great shot it would have been... WITH a tripod...:-) Sad to find out it's blur...

Thanks for your feedback, guys! And yes, I did learn and have borrowed an old tripod now. I was secretly hoping it wouldn't bother you, but I see I actually have to go and use it :)

 

I like the selective sharpening and grain you applied, Chuck. Thanks for taking the time to illustrate your ideas! But I am not sure about the cropping. I see what you mean with the hotspot and I think if it was B&W, I'd burn it in a bit myself. (Thanks for bringing this up! I think I'll have a go at it in the darkroom. That's an idea!) But I feel it's necessary for the story. Without harsh threatening light, why does she have to shield herself? And I quite liked the darkness to enhance the contrast. I am not trying to win you over, but do you think this reasoning is ok? In other words, do the pro's weigh up to the con's?

 

Oh, and it's an artificial light. So unfortunately no moving shadows and alas, only one picture...

To me the RHS with shadow is distracting/confusing. But I do like (need?) things very simple.

Hi. I prefer the original one. Well done and cropped. It is fun to see that someone overseas took a photo from a building so near to my house ;-)

The fuzzieness is the obvious point. More important is that the figure needs to be in the lower right corner, so that the direction of the light, that is so nicely indicated by the highlights and shadows as well as the statue's gesture, can form a dynamic diagonal element. The shadow and the half reflection doesn't add anything.

 

IMHO it is pretty hard to make pictures of art that are intersting by themselves and not just as illustrations of the piece opf art they are showing.

Some interesting takes on the composition. I'm not sure I agree with any of them myself.

Cropping the left takes out some of the dark patch but to me loses some of the "shaft of light" effect. Cropping from the right would remove the shadow which I see an an integral part of the image. Retaining the dark patch to the left serves a purpose in providing some context by contrasting the light which forces the statue to hold up it's hands.

 

I agree that cropping is necessary, but would have taken it off the bottom. It's not clear to me exactly what sort of pedestal the statue is sitting on, and in any case serves little or no purpose in relation to the light or the position of the figure.

Ergo sum