from the top

Excellent perspective,very good exposure and light. I would have preferred little more cropping from the right.

Nicely done. Maybe a little perspective distortion tweak on the right? Straightening it & removing the white spot

Really nice. As already noted, a tighter crop on the right would eliminate that white spot.

Very very good.

Outstanding image. Very creative and well excecuted. The picture deserve to be photo of the week.

Regards,

Alex

I like it very much. It also reminds me of a flower in full bloom. It is an unusual picture for me because the subjects are out of context with where you would usually see them. It also has a nice level of intimacy.

A deserved POW -- the dresses combined like a large flower; superb composition; just agree a slightly tighter crop is required. Beautiful photo.

I think is an awesome photograph; However, I have just one thing to say about its composition. I would have corrected the right arm of the dancer on the left of the photo, the way this arm is laying on her knee shows something unreal and heavy, and all the other bodies are perfect. Best regards from Argentina...

After reviewing the reviews:...I think that the right side of the picture does look somewhat distorted, but I think that is the way it really is. (Note the stair treds) I'm not bothered by the space given that wall as it makes breathing room for the viewer if not cropped away. I hadn't noticed the whitish blob at the extreme right center, but it could and should be cloned away. No cropping is needed in my humble view.

 

Willie the Cropper

Reading through the other comments, I thought... Hum... maybe they are right? I hope nobody minds that I applied the suggestions above to the POW, for discussion purposes. See below.

 

I really like the photo. That said, after very close inspection, I agree with some of the other critics... I too think the arm in the left of the photo looks much larger than the others. The dancer on the right is a little too hunched over and her arms could be angled differently. I like the arrangement. It doesn't feel posed. I feel like I'm standing right there, looking over them seeing the same thing the photographer saw.

This perspective-corrected version is quite an improvement! I really like this photo, a very unusual perspective and very

nice lighting (direct-ish sunlight from below, overcast from the top?). Well shot, Marco Coppo, but you should really

consider following the hints mentioned above and do what Greg did.

This photograph does not appear to have been staged. It looks as though the photographer just happened to be curious enough to venture above the dancers while they were waiting to perform. I view it as a candid shot, were they are totally unaware of his presence, and I believe had the photographer disturbed the dancers in order to perfect arms positioning, etc., he would have ended up with an image that is NOT so strong considering all the other factors that make this a great image. The lighting from both sides of the subject is great. The direction of the dancers' arms, legs and heads give great movement within the image. One can look clockwise or counter-clockwise at the dancers and know that each of them is involved in some sort of interaction with each other while they wait with anticipation of their performance. The spread of the tutus around the dancers is wonderful how it sets off the skin and dark hair of the dancers. The dark background of the stairway sets the tutus off wonderfully as well. I find it interesting that the dancers are all in white and the other individual is dressed in black signifying that he is separate even though he is involved with them. Exposure is good and detail is great! The refinement with cropping issues is okay, but as a candid shot, I find this image just perfect as it is. Good job, Marco!

Hi friends,

first I'd like to thank you for your comments. I'm really glad my photo is provoking a very interesting discussion.

I took this picture during a service for a dance school. We weren't in a theatre, but in a beautiful old palace. There were a lot of little ballerinas and, of course, a lot of confusion. While I was taking some photos upstairs I saw this group that was waiting for his turn, They didn't notice me and I took 4 or 5 photos quickly. According to me this one is the best because the female ballerinas are more composed and because it's the only one where the male look at the females. I'm very happy that some of you said the group looks like a flower. I didn't notice but I'm agree with them.

 

The problem of the right side: You are absolutely right, the bulb isn't ok. I print a 50x70 and I cloned it. I also distorted the photo like Greg. But I'm not sure if it's better. The inclined line on the right seems to me to increase the attention on the group. The other version is absolutely better for the geometry. I don't know.

Regards

Marco

You captured really a joyful mood of fluttered ballerinas. Each of them looks like a flower daisy. It is interesting how they sit, very organized but spontaneously.

Marco, my wife and I had an interesting discussion about whether or not the dancers were poised. I lost. My wife won. And that is part of why this photo is amazing.

Bellissima immagine, mi ha colpito fin da subito l'eleganza femminile che rappresenta anche stando seduti su dei gradini, e il simbolo di "gruppo".

complimenti.

Amazing to read the comments of some here who have trouble believing this photograph is natural, as the

photographer found it.

 

Even more amazing to see the suggestions for altering it to make it "perfect".

 

It's fine as it is, a natural scene with a natural relaxed look about it. Who cares if an arm is wrong? That's

life, guys. Marco did agreat job in seeing this scene, something most of us would hurry past, on our way to

getting it exactly right.

Very nice compositon. great capture. You know what to do with your images. Excellent.

I also agree with Tony.

 

 

When criticism are about arms looking too big or shee looks " too " hunched over...its criticms for criticism sake and no longer about photography.

I love the composure because the more you look at it you realize it is not (overly) staged. The lighting is great, the colors are

great and I don't mind it not being perspectively correct. Sometimes angles are not square and all still can be right in the world.

I think the symmetry of the perspective corrected photo is too posterific.

too much perfection in a photograph always makes me suspicious of it's authenticity.

It is perfectly naturalthat a group of people who perform as a unified troup, with considerable formality and intensity in training,should subconsciously form themselves into an organized shape, especially just before a performance.They are attuned to each others movements and positions by the very nature of their relationship and theimpending performance.

And I thinkthe guy's jacket fits him as he wishes... the sleeves appear to be pushed up, in deliberate style.

Perspectivedistortions that are not extreme also seem natural to me. You see these "distortions" with your eyes, why notshow them in a photograph that is meant only to reveal what was before the camera? Since the image was made witha 105mm lens on a full frame camera at f11, I don't think perspective distortion is a significant factor. I believeMarco's observations about this point are good ones.

I commend him for not second guessing himself intosterilizing this excellent image by making it too "perfect"... t

I strongly prefer the original version. There is no life left in the second version. It's too pristine and unnatural to me.

 

Dave

I like the dancer on the left with her arm in that position. It softens the straight legs o fthe dancer in the middle, and it completes the symetry of the circle.

great picture. well done.

 

I like the original without the crop, it adds to the perspective and the natural look of the photo. Cropping it makes it

look more flat and posed, as if it were done for a symetrical sake.(that may not be worded right, but you know what I

mean?) I love it that I now know you did not make yourself known, so this is truely a great raw photo, which is my

love. Unposed, yet if you notice every single dancer's arms are different creating an interesting effect on top of the

beauty of the photo. Yes, the dresses are beautiful and frame it outwards like a flower. The girl on the right's arm is

wonderful, I never noticed it looked bigger till people were critiquing and saying it did. The way it lays actually frames

the outside edge on that side; drawing your eyes back to make a circle again. It is a wonderful natural shot which to

me is much more of an art form than correction, this proves you have a natural talent in the eyeing and framing of

your photographs. The only thing I can say is not good, is the white mark, but the eyes are so drawn from it, it isn't

that much of a problem. Good job.