Entertainer, Djemaa el-Fna square, Marrakech, Morocco

This was taken on a recent trip to Morocco. I'm looking for tips to

improve my photography. While I like this picture, I don't feel that

it has that certain edge of a really good photo. All comments

welcome...

John--

Despite the sarcastic comment above, this is actually a pretty good picture, but there is room for improvement.

This is basically a shot which captures the character of the entertainer, and as such this picture saya great deal. I love spontaneous travel photos, so maybe this one strikes me especially well.

However, he needs to be in focus to really show who he is. I mean SHARP focus, and the eyes and face especially. Maybe it's the scan, maybe it's the 400-speed film (Kodak Gold is pretty mediocre ... think about plopping some cash down for Supra 400. It's much sharper). But this pic needs to be much sharper.

Next item: the lighting. I understand that this is the sort of picture you have to take when it presents itself, and in this case it happened to be mid-day. But low sunlight makes for better lighting, which is something to consider on your next trip. Nap at noon, and get out when the sun gets low in the sky.

Finally, this picture could be composed differently. I would have tried to open it up more, to show the surroundings and give this subject a frame of reference. Likely many other photographers would go a different route, but the entertainer's expressive body language and the hustle-and-bustle around him don't come through very well the way this picture is set up.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment on my photos.