Untitled

And then I would crop the top and the right a bit, trying to preserve the aspect ratio.

 

--Lannie

I continue to have problems with the comment on cutting into the sky, as i said before, I

think it is what increases the sense of space, a sense of freedom and possibility, which is

diminished by these crops. None of these crops, top and/or right, seem to have improved

the balance of the image either. In fact the right crop keeps putting the boy in the middle

and diminishing the delicate flow within the image.

 

Almost everytime I see a photo with some blank sky posted here, the comment comes

about cropping the sky, as if there is some rule about this. here there really isn't that

much. It makes me wonder what people would have said if Ansel Adams had posted

"Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico".

Cropping the sky might *appear* like a stronger image technically speaking, since there is a slight imbalance to the image because of that sky. But it also changes the care-free, relaxing atmosphere here which is not something I would suggest doing. That "extra sky" does just that for me: makes it wide open and care free, extra room to breathe play and romp, which is what the kids are doing. Take a measure of the sky away it loses a greater measure of that feeling. Though to be fair to Michael, that was my initial thought too when I first looked at this yesterday. After looking it over a few times and trying to crop it out myself, I changed my mind for the reasons I just started above. It's a happier, better image with ALL of that sky.

 

The problem I do have here IS with the desaturation. I like many a B&W and plenty of times desaturataing works wonders. This, in my opinion, is not one of them by a long shot. Again, it is the wide open, care free, kicking-back and warm atmosphere here that works better with full color in my mind. Usually when we start desaturating we look for dramatic, emotional, powerful types of imagery. Often these types are rather depressing, sad, cold, capturing the struggles people have. Not always of course, but very often. This is not that type of photograph. It is happy and playful. It should have all of the color to make that stand out even more. The color warms up the image. Here is an attachment putting that color back. While the image itself breaks up to an unsatisfactory level, I believe the added color makes it even more appealing, charming, happy and warm.

I'm not sure about what was the intention of the photographer here, but when I look at the boy, laying on the ground, eyes closed, I defienitly believe that this is a wonderful introduction for a dreaming atmosphere. And that old castle, and the young lady, so full of life, but are they real or not. In my reading of that wonderful shot, I found the desaturation perfect and truely effective. And about cropping, the problem with many people on this site seems to be that they are very good technicians, but sometime they sound intellectual when they should be a bit more emotive. In this case, a perfect crop, wich will have reduce the viewable size of this picture, will also have been reducing the feeling of surreal that goes with it. Pictures like that need to breath, and this is exactly what this one is doing. Finally, about the black and white debate, I'm totally again that idea. I saw the black and white version of this picture posted here, wich his also beautiful, but just beautiful... and dead.

I like the original desat version better than all the adjusted versions. It definately gives you that dreamscape feeling which goes along with the sleeping boy.

If I were to fault this photo for anything it would be the centered horizon. Having said that, and not being there to see the actual scene, I'm not sure there would have been a better placement. This is really a minor point as this a very good photograph. Nice job!

Onyo-

With all due respect for the artist's vision, and for those with differing points of view, I do not see this as being about technical skills versus emotion, nor about color versus black and white, but about which technical treatment actually does best evoke the emotions in question. A magenta-cast sky does not evoke anything dreamy to me, nor does partial desaturation. I would prefer it either in more or less natural color or in black and white. Both are powerful images for me.

 

Again, Michael, congratulations on a fine capture.

 

--Lannie

Here is the totally desaturated version.

 

--Lannie

In any case, I will concede to Vince, Mona, and others that it should not be cropped.

 

A look at Michael's folder indicates that he does wonderful and innovative things with color, and with color manipulations. It is all about that magenta-cast sky for me on this particular photo.

 

--Lannie

I look at your bw and full colour versions and... I'm not sure... I think desaturation is a good choice here - it makes mood! Overall: interesting image!

This POW tells us such a lovely history... great, I just love it. And dont crop it (dont you dare). As for the colors. Maybe an intermediate choice: more saturation to the kids (at least the one in front) and everything else desaturated. That may be interesting.

I love the partial saturation! great job. 10/10!!

Thanks very much to all of you for your critics and thoughtful comments on this photo of mine. I have read them all with great interest. I am very pleased to have one of my photos chosen by the Elves as POW and I am particularly pleased about having exactly this one chosen because I like it a lot myself. It is one of those shots where I instantly saw the picture when approaching the scene. I took four or five shots in rapid succession before the boy opened his eyes and became aware of my presence. No cropping has been done. The partly desaturation (no color adjustments) was chosen in an attempt to convey the dreamlike and somehow unreal atmosphere I felt about the scene. However, I can also see the potential of a B/W version. Thanks again everyone for your interest and time.

Thanks, Michael. I am happy to find out that it was a candid shot--that's just icing on the cake. Obviously my own versions above were based on the false assumption that some color balance adjustments had been made. The muted green and what I thought was a magenta cast to the sky impelled me to that conclusion.

 

I hope that you don't mind if I post yet one more, a reasonably saturated version of your posted version, just to try to see what you saw that day.

 

--Lannie

great photo - a time machine - makes me feel like I have been transported back to that

age and a perfect sunny day

I'll throw my 2 cents in on the B/W, partially desaturated, or full color issue. If you dream in B/W, partially desaturated color, or full color, then you have your answer. It's all up to you. Likewise, if this photo makes you dream more when it's in B/W, partially desaturated color, or full color, then you have your answer. Again, it's all up to you. It's a dream.....make the most of it.

The fact that this was not staged, but candid, makes it even more impressive. In that case you really caught this one beautifully! I would like to see the unaltered version if you ever feel like attaching it here. Since you did catch this in real-time, I just cannot see then why you, as the photographer, would actually choose to desaturate this. For me, it makes the image seem quite cold by comparison. The boy almost looks dead. The image lacks warmth only because of the desaturation from my point of view. If you captured such a nice image candidly, then why not post/print it this same, unaltered way?

 

Perhaps I've been around Velvia too long...

For so long photographing in color meant that we were stuck with Mr Kodak's or Mr Fuji's

family's take on what color was supposed to be. Not only when we took the photo, but also

when we printed it--Mr Ilford was a big player in that arena. In that sense, reality was

already altered, but it was not in our control.

 

The computer changed all that, and like black and white printing, we were given "control"

over how we wanted our images to be seen. In black and white, we talked about

previsualizing the final print when we photographed a scene. Now we can do that in color

and I think that may be what the presenter did here.

A mix of Gulliver and little Prince tales, tales of youth... the desat gives a bit of the necessary surrealistic and creates somehow a very nostalgic atmosphere too.

An afternoon in a childhood dreamlike land, a world of insouciance that many adults would like to revisit, at least for an instant. That is what this photo makes me think of... and for that, thanks Michael

Very beautiful legendary like image, with a dreamy atmospher. I think the crop is too tight and IMO the space in the original is needed. I like Sondra's B/W example,It gives the color a punch, but the original composition is very tempting to look at. Congratulations! Pnina

Wonderful! First thought that comes to my mind is that time is frozen. The girl will never do her step over... the boy will never wake up... evening will never come... clouds will never pass...

The tone and the mood maked this photos magic

 

Thanks for share, compliments!

 

Mirko:)

having seen all the other level of saturations that u posted i feel that you made the right decision for the final draft of the picture and the tones fit perfectly with the subject of the photo...congrats on getting POW,

 

conor

To me the girl represents the restlessness of youth... playful, curious, ambitious, while the boy represents peacefulness... meditative, calm, in harmony. The image does have a dreamy feel, but the boy doesn't appear (to me) to be actively dreaming, more like he is in a deep, almost nirvana state. The girl, in contrast, is on the move, ever ready to leap into the next adventure. I also get that sense of frozen time. Perhaps the boy has tired of the girls restlessness, choosing to stop time and extend his blissful sleep, not even allowing the clouds to move, yet preserving this moment until he is ready to awake and once again join in the fun, finally allowing the girl to complete her leap and the clouds to move across the sky. On the other hand, perhaps it was the girl who wished for total freedom to run about, temporarily slipping the boy into sleep, so she can chase the clouds and daydream, knowing that if she choses, she can awake the boy and share the joy. Either way, this image does get the mind going, and I'm sure that everytime I view it different thoughts will come to mind. Keep image as is... no crops, no change in sat/color.

This is a very very very nice image. Lovely in fact. I wish I had taken it. It is a captured moment when everything was perfect. I like it just as it is.

 

Excellent!

 

JOHN

 

www.john-macpherson-photography.com

Excellent work! The mood is right, good perspective and sense of depth, the boy's position and girl's movement are captured at the right moment emphasizing each other by confronting stillness and movement. Overall, very good emotional impact!

 

Now, before I proceed let me clarify a few things: First, I have checked Michael's gallery and I am sure he knows what he is doing so absolutely no need to teach him photography basics here; Second, I personally don't like modifying submitted photographs and posting my edits if not asked by an author; And finally, this is my first post here and I feel breaking my "no edits" principle right away might not be the best introduction, but here is why I am doing it:

 

Some comments have indicated that cropping would improve the overall result. True, cropping would make the subject appear bigger and more noticeable but looking at posted examples I think it actually diminishes the important surreal effect! In my opinion this type of scene requires space to emphasize the subject by confronting it with spacious surrounding. So I have tried to do the opposite from cropping by extending the sky expecting that relatively smaller subjects will dominate the scene even more. Right or wrong? It is a matter of personal interpretation and taste. Have a look.

im suprised no one thought of this before, but i really like it with the sky in full bright colors and the foreground in black and whit