Bus Driver - Texas

Made me look. Twice. My only question, why didn't you rubber stamp out the tripod?

clever shot! had to stare at it for a few seconds to see where you hid the tripod...

Another really good image. If I hadn't read the other comments, I would have missed the tripod. The only improvement I would suggest is to lighten it up a touch to reveal more of the driver's face. Oh, and a slightly smaller uploased file would have been better for me. I had to change from my normal 800x600 screen to view the shot and it still doesn't quite fit.

Wilson, you've inspired me to award my first double-10's to a photo. This is an excellent and creative shot, as are the others in your folder. Thanks for sharing them with us ;-).

Cool, unique perspective.

What you should have done in this picture is get inside the bus and hide yourself in the seats and you some big glass. that way you wouldn't have to use photoshop to hide yourself

There is no tripod in this shot. The pole you can see is the one supporting the mirror on the front of the bus. The photographer is obviously taking this shot from beneath and slightly behind (further infront of the bus) the mirror to avoid being reflected in it. You can see the angle of the mirror by looking at the bus to the left. Very creative shot! Excellent results. Contgratulations.

Made me smile, don't know why. Great shot!

I'm disturbed to hear comments about rubber stamping out tripods and hiding yourself with Photoshop. Yes, digital imaging is a great tool and it's great to edit out some imperfections, but when you're talking about changing the content of the photo, whether it's erasing a tripod or a photographer, you're moving from photography into digital illustration. Be careful about how much you use digital imaging as a crutch for bad technique or tricky situations.

 

Nat Geo got into huge trouble for moving the pyramids a little closer together without informing their readers, and rightly so.

 

I'm assuming that the submitted photo is genuine and unedited and if that is the case, kudos to the photographer for making it work without crossing the line into questionable ethics.

All, Thanks for your comments and observations on this photo. Just wanted to clear up any confusion. Yes, there is a tripod. It is right there behind the driver. No, there is no PhotoShop. I am standing out of view of any of the mirrors. The camera was activated using the self timer.

 

I don't take a stand on either side of the PhotoShop "ethics" issue, but never use it to change the content of a photo, and did not use it in any way on this one.

I love this photo!

This is a fantastic shot! Totally genius! The tripod is fine in this case since it is an arts & crafts type of picture. The only thing that is WAY out of place here is the accusation of violating some mysterious graphic arts ethics. I dont remember seeing a line between photography and photo illustration. It is always funny to see that the purists who so adamantly despise post editing are usually the ones who use films like Provia and Velvia, and graduated ND filters.

Digital editing and photography are two different, but slightly overlapping arts. I personally consider myself to belong to the group often referred to as "purists", that is, I want to belong in one of the above artforms at a given time, unless there is a very strong reason not to. I find no pride in being "purist" just because, just as I find no wrong in not being. But before you choose, please stop and think twice, so that you at least can say to yourself why you chose as you did.

 

I am not an expert photographer, not by far. So when I take a good picture I find great joy in that I could do it without having to resort to a computer and PhotoShop to make it great (I am much better at handling a computer and digital manipulation software than taking pictures). Of course, the things you easily can do in a lab (cropping, contrast, etc.) you should not necessarily restrain yourself from doing with Photoshop. But when you start removing things from photos because you don't like them in your photo, you cross that thin line between photo enhancement and into photo manipulation. I don't say that it is wrong, but please think twice. Why not reshoot the photo or if you are really into it, try to do it in a lab using "old" manipulation techniques? I think that would give more satisfaction.

 

As for filters and choosing film for the moment: it is all part of the craft.

 

I wish that I one day will become good enough to be able create great photos and personally, taking the hard way is a goal itself for me.

 

And about the photo: Great! I love it. A really interesting and innovative photo.

Please critique this photo.

"The only thing that is WAY out of place here is the accusation of violating some mysterious graphic arts ethics. I dont remember seeing a line between photography and photo illustration. It is always funny to see that the purists who so adamantly despise post editing are usually the ones who use films like Provia and Velvia, and graduated ND filters."

-- kyle martens

 

You don't seem to get it, Kyle. The problem with all this "photo manipulation" is that photographers lose credibility. Someone sees a great photo and immediately think "PHOTOSHOP," leaving the photographer to defend himself against such comments. How many times have you seen it here? I've seen it too many times to count. Photographers need to resist the urge to "enhance" their photos through digital means or no one will be able to take a picture anymore and claim it is a photograph. Please take your inflammatory remarks elsewhere.

 

Sorry to turn your critique into a debate, Wilson.

I have seen other shots using vehicle mirrors, but this one has a lot more content than those. One thing I wish, though, is that there was something more interesting going on beyond the mirror-maybe another bus in the background or sky. I don't know. Well, you can't always have everything. Nice shot.

Photoshop or no photoshop, this pic is amazing !

You must have had fun setting this one up. I like it as is and don't care about any digital retouching or the lack of it. Just a good fun photo ! jerry

Great photo BTW.

Very nice idea. And nicely shot. Good work.

What a great and original shot. Keep up the good work. This shot definitely caught my eye - I rarely click on the featured photos. Congrats!

Hey, Craig (is it Craig or Wilson?) -- nice to see this shot on the front page of photo.net as a "featured photo." I came across this photo at random one day, and it was the first on this site that inspired me to award double 10s ;-).

Good shot. Not sure why people are so quick to tell us how you made the photograph, without taking the time to study it.

 

As for the troll on ethics, I'll bite: it depends. National Geographic should be held to a higher standard as far as photographic manipulation goes. Photojournalism should be held to a higher standard (IMHO). Without turning this into a dissertation, I am not saying all photojournalistic manipulations are unethical--just that in photojournalism, photographic manipulations should be held to a different, higher standard.

 

But for art, or photographs meant to be merely interesting, pleasing, etc., manipulations are usually neither unethical nor ethical.

 

If I had to guess, most people concerned about manipulation have trouble distinguishing between photographic arts in general and photojournalism in particular.

Absolutely the best car mirror shot I've seen. (Normally they stink.)