Boy.

Little boy on the stairs...

 

Simone

Too much bakground.. the sky and the brighness of the background distracts.

Great composition, Simone. I suggest to rotate the photo counter-clockwise a bit to sraighten the vertical lines. Cropping the top 10% may also be beneficial because it would help the eye to concentrate on the child and the shadow, and also because the tones of the sky are not very pleasant. What will be left of the sky can easily be given a less cyan hue and a bit less brightness in photoshop.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try!

 

Simone

Simone, A fine shot with great timing & excellent exposure. I believe the top half of the frame to be distracting & redundant as the type of location is established by the child's clothing and the brick wall. I offer another crop for your consideration. In return, please feel free to take a big stick to my portfolio. :) Best, LM.

Thanks Len! I really like the cropped version. I don't usually crop more of 1/3rd of a picture because this makes for a lot of quality loss in enlrargements. I could crop only the sky, but to keep a "standard" size (2/3) I should crop part of the shadow since cropping the boy is not an option... the attached picture shows an acceptable crop (for my "standards", that's it :) but I like the original better.

 

Thanks for your comment!

 

Simone

Simone, When one has little time to get the shot it is prudent to crop at least a little loosely in the camera & do a final, minimal, crop for the finished shot in order to maintain high quality. Your decision to crop vertically in the camera does indeed limit your options now & I must agree with you that perhaps a horizontal crop now would take the edge off the crispness of this one. You've probably done the right thing. That you could see this one coming indicates an advanced level of photography. The question to ask oneself is 'would I do things differently if I had the chance to photograph it again?' Best, LM.

I like the way you have isolated the child in front but it contrasts with the jumble of Rome behind. This solitary feel in winter shadows is evocative of everyone's childhood. I wouldn't change the composition at all. By the way, please look at my Pantheon photo and let me know what you think.

Simone, crop as you wish but, definitely, do NOT crop the shadow!