Hollywood Boulevard

This is the 'real' Hollywood Boulevard -- Not the glitzy, touristy,

Hollywood Boulevard of premieres, red carpets, a brief look at stars

emerging from limousines while overwhelmed by paparazzi snapping

their shutters -- but Hollywood Boulevard for all but a brief block or two --

as two men 'hang out' one recent night. Your ratings and critiques are

invited and most welcome. If you rate harshly or very critically, please

submit a helpful and constructive comment; please share your superior

photographic knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks!

Enjoy! John

Good shot.

I'd probably pan it a little to the right but other than that there's not much to improve. Shutterspeed was probably a tad low because the men aren't as sharp as the car but that was probably unavoidable. It's also a tad flat in the colors but the exposure must have been hard with the headlights and the world or record lights overhead.

Kind regards, Matthijs.

(Vastly superior skill is way more easy when critiqueing(?) than when shooting / postprocessing...)

I had been disappointed at the rates on this until your comment and Ruud Albers rated it (6/6). Ruud does not give a rate unless something meets his standard which is high.

It is not a showstopper photo, but it is one of atmosphere, and as such is not meant to strike one over the head, but to be infused . . . and perhaps be absorbed over time.

The 'flat' colors were partly a result of high ISO, but also were intentional -- this is not a photo to show off a high dynamic range or to show off glitz, but to show off the somewhat 'boring' nature of the scene . . . in other words to show off its rather drab nature and its dullness. As such muted colors were called for.

Muted colors in such a scene do not call for high rates on a service like this, which emphasizes high contrast and intense colors, but them's the breaks. I'll post it as I think it should be seen, not to fish for rates.

I am happy to show this as it is, and whether any one part is 'sharp' or not is somewhat irrelevant to the entire scene, as the photo is one of 'atmosphere' rather than one in which one can dwell on one part or not.

Frankly I am proud of this shot; it means something to me and 'speaks' to me - its composition with the outstretched leg across the sidewalk indicating relaxation and lack of energy in my view is the center of the photo -- without it the photo would have no reason to exist.

I stand by what I post, and I'm glad you enjoyed this shot; not all of my shots are universally accepted; as you surely know, but I do not let that deter me.

I post what I like, and I like this one.

I'm glad you do too.

Thanks for the helpful critique.

John (Crosley)

Though grounded in reality it still has a certain charm. The men look very relaxed and the whole picture has a mediterrenean summer evening feel to me. And that's a good thing in my book because that takes me back to my childhood when my family took holiday trips to campings in that area. Those were good times.

My comments were more on the aestethics than the atmosphere because I was under the impression that you were looking for that. (The challenging remarks during posting made sure of that...)

However the capturing of atmosphere is also a form of aestethics but a slightly different type. The comments were more generic.

Anyway, I'm glad you read between the lines that I do like the image!

Kind regards, Matthijs.