Portrait

I am browsing through some old pictures and finding things that I didn't

notice before. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks.

Let me give some perspective. This is a crop of a bigger frame, which is probably understandable. If you look closely, you can probably realize why I picked this image, among several people, only one person is sharp, the rest all blurred. Does that incite any meaning for you? The man's stoic posture, his calm demeanor in the face of the adjoining restlessness, does it stand for anything?

Very well done. I don't read any particular meaning into it but is effective and very photographic, meaning it uses photographic qualities to be expressive. My first gut feeling was that it feels a little cramped. If you want to, I'd like to see the original. Understand if you don't want to do that. Just wondered if there was more story to be told. Feels like part of a story rather than a group portrait.

Thank you very much for your attention to this photo. Here is the original. As you will see, this is rather heavily cropped from the original image.

At first, in the original, it sort of bothered me that the feet were chopped off, but the more I looked, the more that worked, since this is a spontaneous grab and it started to add to that off kilter spontaneity and seem to go with the motion blur. I'd look at this one again, because to me, as you've cropped it, it just feels so deliberate which works against all the movement and action you've captured. So I'd leave almost the full height of the picture (you might crop a bit off the ceiling but remember the discussion we had about your mission picture where the ceiling adds a lot . . . I think it does here as well). And then I'd consider cropping to the left of the pillar just in front of them, leaving some space to the left of that, enough to get a feel for the platform and so the photo is more horizontal than square, about the proportions it is now. For me, it's a more active photo that way, and adds a story line and a sense of place. This just doesn't feel like a portrait and yet you've cropped it as if it were. One thing I do appreciate about your crop is how you've included just a slice of the guy on the left. That was a nice choice. But overall I'm thinking the original scene with just some space taken off the left (and that pillar would have to be straightened) has such a natural and almost whimsical feel. Of course, with more of the original included, there's the potential for an ominous feel as well, but I would just play around with it . . . or not. Obviously, if you're satisfied as is, just take my suggestions as an alternative possibility that may not work for you.

Fred,

I tried to follow your composition cues and came up with an alternative crop which shows more of the space the subjects belong to. I think it also shows the sense of motion since the peoples' legs are in view. Thank you the time that you invested in this picture. I appreciate it very much.

This one focuses more on the subjects.

Great. Glad you tried a couple of crops. Though your crop 1 was what I had been imagining, I'm glad you kept going because I like your crop 2 the best. It feels well framed all around, gives them room to occupy their space and lets the motion by dynamic, and is close enough to maintain their power.