Help Me Edit my San Juan Images

[Lars]

Re the first set: for me the last image is by far the strongest composition. You made good use of negative space to focus the attention on the man walking. This also gives movement. Moderate DOF gives depth, leads the eye progressively in, along the pidgeons, to find the person on the bench to the right and then along the benches to the person to the left. There is also a good balance of diagonals, with the obvious one leading along the row of pidgeons right and up. The down and right diagonal formed by the pattern in the street stones. Finally B/W reomves some distracting colors to focus attention to tonality, contrast and form.

The bus photo OTOH gives me nothing. It's a static center-heavy composition with no depth and no movement. It's flat. No contest.

The girls: First frame, for reasons already mentioned. I particularly like the way the far right girl is cropped off, communicates presence much stronger than the second frame.

 

[cmb_]

I tend to agree with Lars on the Bus image and feel there is a lack of depth and movement.

However, the bus image with the women on the left cropped out - right up to the mirror on the bus - and cropped down some on the top and bottom works very nicely for me. There is then a nice relationship among the man, the woman in the ad and the viewer and the image picks up some movement. The man is still a little flat against the rest of the field but I think it works better. Try and see if you like it.

 

[glenerrolrd]

First this has been great for me .. especially as comments were supported with specifics. I am really trying to get better at this because (1) it improves the photographs I take and (2) it speeds and improves the editing process. I think I can see something new in every comment. My perspective is that of the two with the older man ....the open plaza shot in B+W has the most potential as a single image. Better composition and maybe with a master printer ..better light. But the Bus shot with its flaws has better content and shows better in color...I know its too centered and the separation of the man from the bus "sucks" . Its fits the story line of what I saw in a day in Old San Juan and reminds me of europe. Thats the one I picked . The two shots of the girls ...I could go with either one but I picked the first. I like how the girls in the foreground lead you to the one girl that looked. I also thing the white sleeve in the front gets your attention right away. The 2nd shot is cleaner and a safer shot. I read something recently where the author indicated that you should not be afraid to leave the frame a little messy. LOL If you want to see what I did with the collection go to rogerdunham.com and look at the Old San Juan Collection. No password required. Again thanks for the input ..priceless. :thumbup:

 

[glenerrolrd]

Thought you might get a laugh at me taking the pictures of the school girls. I am never safe with Carolyn armed with her Vlux. I just moved into the doorway as they passed.

 

[tollie]

You know Roger, I think I'm going to have to get a V-Lux for my wife as well
Its a great camera.

Todd