Studying the Water

This is another of my intentionally high-grain shots (shot at 1600

with Ilford 3200). I'm particularly interest in compositional

thoughts - is the rail he's resting his chin on too dominant? Many

thanks!

Original moment! Regards.

6/6

Very nice image. Now I see why you like grain.

 

Very nice use of DOF. With a fast film outdoors, you must have been stopped down, yet you have achieved a short DOF to isolate your subject. I know you were using a medium long lens. By any chance did you use a ND filter? Very nicely done.

 

Brooks, No ND filter, but this was getting on towards evening, and was not a particularly bright day. The grain gives a little hand to the bokeh I'd have otherwise on the background and foreground, so it offsets some of the effect of the step down - I didn't record what I shot these at, but this was part of why I shot at 1600 instead of 3200 on the ISO. I should try some of these with ND filters. Best, Sam

Nice composition & DOF. Love the grain. Wouldn't change a thing.

I think you have cought a very powerful moment. I feel that it's me on the picture as a boy. Priceless. Thank you for sharing!

Estoy de acuerdo con usted sobre la fotografia en B/W,,,he sido un apasionado de ella ,,hasta que me atrapo,, la digital,,, se acabo...tus fotos resuman elengancia en la composicion,, y un buen hacer fotografico tecnico,,por el cual te felicito,,,un cordial saludo,,,,Ah!!! y como soy nuevo en estos lares,,,me gustaria saber ,,??que significa la bola del mundo azul ??? Gracias.

very well composed and edited...the light the shallow DOP and in B&W...all r very effictive to the content ...7/7...very well done

Well composed. The DOF reduces the impact you would otherwise get from the FG rail; a good choice, since you can't crop it because his shoulder needs the space.

 

The mouth is great, but the gaze comes through nicely even though he's in profile.

I keep coming back to this picture, like it a lot.

 

Have you thought of cropping it from the left at the beginning of the rail, or just left of it? Just wondering, very nice anyway. And the grain is, considering 3200 asa, very good.

Many thanks for the comments. Theo, I thought a bit about a left hand crop, and thought a bit more about it after your post. My worry is that too deep a crop leaves the rail difficult to identify and the head feeling dismembered, while a shallower crop crowds the shoulder. I think the biggest concern about this one is also the prominence of the railing, and so keeping in the shoulder is good just because the shoulder is not the railing.

 

I like this quite a bit, Sam. I like the moment and what it suggests: thoughts of a child...

I tried to visualize what the face would be like in a square format, but I'm not overly enthusiastic about it after all: your composition works best.

By the way, have you considered or tried a vertical format as well: it should make great sense here imo, since it would somehow "close the gate" in front of the child's eyes, and allow a longer foreground line leading to the kid - as if we had to go a long way to enter his thoughts...?

Grain is very much a matter of personal taste, I think; and generally, and here as well, I am not a fan, but that's no big deal anyway. Well done.

I tried a bunch of different crops with this, but like it best as is. I think at the end of the day every subtraction except at the bottom emphasizes the rail too much, and if I crop at the bottom (for example to put just his face in a 4:5 box with the eye near center), I lose the symetrical sideways "V" from his face and the rail.

 

So, after playing for quite a bit, I generally print it as it came out of the camera, though I also have printed a couple 8x10s that crop mostly from the right and a hair from the left.

I think the crop as it is. The only thing I might change is to darken the bright spots in the background a bit. They are competing for attention with the boy.