Hokay! Fuelled by a large bowl of Spaghetti Georgeionaise, and a bottle of Great Wall red, and nagged by the fact that I haven't posted anything substantial for a hell of a long time, I have started this thread. While I admit I'm not the greatest photographer on the planet, I do have a certain approach to my photography, and try to utilise this style whenever posting shots. Not every shot is great, or even good, but with digital cameras, this doesn't matter. Simply delete the shithouse ones. I never edit until I have them on the computer.
Lets look at "Faces". Since I posted the original thread, there have been a couple of other threads started along the same lines. Lotus' recent post got me started on this!! For faces, you gotta get in close..."in your face", so to speak! Editing is acceptable, sometimes even necessary.
As an example, have a look at this one, and the rationale behind the editing.
I stalked this bloke for a few minutes until I had the shot. I waited until the snoopy bloke took his eyes off me, and onto the scroll. I used the zoom lens to cut tight, but still showing what had his attention. The background could have been more fuzzy, but I shoot on Auto, so I deal with what I get.
This deserves better treatment. A great face, but why not get in close and grab that expression?? Or crop that dead area on the left! A second "head and shoulders" shot would have been wonderful!
What is behind his head?? A little lateral movement, left or right, would have removed that motorbike!
Another potentially great shot spoiled by not isolating the face.
Sometimes, you just gotta grab 'em when you can. Kids don't stand still for long. With this one I was lucky...and quick with the zoom. Technically, not brilliant, but it's a great shot.
Eagle scores with these two....
I love the second one, as well as a couple of others in that set. Some others could handle a bit of judicious cropping.
This one from Martin is an example of where cropping is needed. The background is entirely superfluous, and tight cropping would improve the shot.
Taking liberties........
To do this sort of stuff seriously, you need a paintshop, or a photoshop program. It's worth it!
OK, enough to start with. Next time, maybe landscapes. Tip of the day...Take the extra couple of seconds to look at the background!