Village Square

Okay - I went back and forth on whether or not to show you this image ... and am still not sure. But I liked it a lot, so I want to see what you think. Here are my thoughts on it ... tell me if you agree or disagree, and add any of your own please. All input is ALWAYS appreciated!!

 

First of all, I loved (LOVED) the row of red flowers on the low wall. (Are they carnations? I can never tell!) Anyway - I also loved the tree in the middle of the square. I thought that the red potted flowers and the big tree framed the square so nicely. It was the middle of the day, and there were actually a lot of people visiting this small village (including a tour group with bright yellow t-shirted children running around), but I waited for about 15 minutes with my camera held to my eye, and caught this shot making it look empty (I cloned out the white blouse of a woman who was eating at the restaurant behind the red flowers ... and there were a group of the folks in yellow just to the left).

 

Now - the thing that really bothers me is the sky. Yuck!! My eye is so distracted by it, that it almost takes away from the lovely red flowers. And I'm not good enough at PS to replace it with a better sky (it's around the tree leaves that I'd find too tricky for my skills). Yuck!!

 

And I am just not too sure that the composition works. I'll wait to hear your thoughts. Thanks in advance!! :-D

Any comments or ratings are appreciated! :-)

Gotta love a little square like this. Really makes you trigger-finger happy. Those flowers has got to be Geraniums. Aside from the blank, white sky, having a a pedestrian walking into the shot and using a wide angle might have made thing more interesting, IMHO. Perhaps there was a water well, fountain, bicycle, flower pot, etc. to compose as a forground element and using wide angle to give a near-far feel, more depth to the image if you will. Hope it all makes sense. ^_^

Thanks, Wils - I totally follow your points. I just thought that those t-shirts were SO obnoxiously yellow ... like canaries ... that I didn't want them to destroy the shot. I don't even have any samples as proof. :-)

Hi Lou Ann! I think you should have wait later in the day to shot, in order to have the light of the sunset which always brings out the old stones of the houses. On the other hand, why wait until there is nobody on the place ? In the contrary, the people would have give life to this shot which seems as sad as a playground in a sunday.

Glad you uploaded it. I like the composition with the tree balancing the flower pots etc. I agree with Wilson about including a solitary cyclist (but where are they when they are needed?) When faced with an uninspiring sky it sometimes works to look for a place with overhanging branches or a doorway to shoot through.

Looks like a very interesting place Lou Ann.

Where is this place?

Edward - this picture (one in a set of three) is from a village called Perouges. It is one of the "Les plus beaux villages de France". I visited several of those - and most were not disappointing. Glad you enjoy it!

See this link...