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    London City

    Hi All,

    I've been taking photos for a couple of months around where I work in the City. I'd be grateful of any constructive criticism of these shots to help with my development!

    Many thanks in advance,
    Alan

    _MG_6268.jpg

    _MG_6245.jpg

    _MG_6197.jpg
    www.flickr.com/photos/ileafy/
    www.instagram.com/leafydragonphotography/

    #2
    Re: London City

    Nice set of images

    Tom

    Comment


      #3
      Re: London City

      HI Alan

      I like the mono treatment and you've looked for a different point of view in nš 2 and 3, which is always good to see

      Nš 1 had the potential to have been the standout shot - great background, a classic triangle of people and lots of interest in what was going on. It just needed to be a fraction different.....the man's head turned a bit more, the cleaner's head to be a bit more visible. As it is my eye keeps going back to the the guy on the phone.

      Two suggestions-
      1. consider shooting in burst mode for street photos- you might just capture that one special moment a split second before or after
      2. Chap on phone is in sharper focus than the other two, and maybe-just maybe- the cross behind him compared to the other side. Don't have your exif data but f5.6 to f8 should have been enough. Check out your original image in camera (red squares) to see where you were focussing - maybe there's a lesson to be learned for next time

      My Holy Trinity in photography is composition, light, focus - in no special order - and I think about this before during and after the shot. Your nš 1 is very nearly there so keep at it

      I'd make the vertical columns vertical in nš 1 as they frame the shot and are annoyingly off kilter. You are forgiven in nš 2 as it's artistic!
      Canon EOS R5, R6 plus the usual suspects ......

      https://www.flickr.com/photos/bo_fo_to

      Comment


        #4
        Re: London City

        I think they are a super set of street photos....a genre that I'm especially interested in. The blacks are very black in 2 and 3 which is great.
        They are three very different shots but No 2 stands out of the three to me.
        In No1 the highlight in the window above and to the left of the guys head is a little bit distracting...also you could darken the main subjects coat or add more clarity to him so that he has the same presence as the other two characters.
        No 3 is nice and graphical....enough so that you have a slight hesitation before positively identifying what it is....brilliant.
        i'm no expert but I'd be proud of these.....looking forward to seeing more your work here...please!
        Brian Vickers LRPS

        brianvickersphotography.com

        Comment


          #5
          Re: London City

          No.1 and 3 for me...no.1 especially

          Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

          Comment


            #6
            Re: London City

            Thank you all for your wonderful comments - they mean a lot to me!

            lunarbo - that's amazing feedback and exactly what I was after, thank you. I took the shot from the hip as I'm still building up my confidence and didn't want them to see me, so I'm glad it was in focus at all! However it was at f/2.8 - narrower would have been better as you say, and I kick myself for not thinking about doing bursts. Leadenhall Market, where the photo was taken, is under cover and the lighting was low. I managed 1/160s but ISO was at 1250. It was taken on a 50mm prime lens. I could probably have sacrificed some shutter speed for a narrower aperture, but was keen to avoid putting the ISO up and shooting from the hip I didn't want it to end up being out of focus.

            This has been so helpful, thank you all!
            www.flickr.com/photos/ileafy/
            www.instagram.com/leafydragonphotography/

            Comment


              #7
              Re: London City

              Hello Alan, here are my thoughts:


              Any comments we provide are purely subjective, as you were there and know what you wanted to portray. However, there is a certain lack of sharpness and I believe that is because you are self uploading, which does degrade the image somewhat. If you were to use Flickr as your hosting medium, the images would probably be a lot better.

              I don't need to comment on images 2 & 3, as I rather like them as they are, particularly getting down to pigeon eye level in that shot and again, using Flickr would probably have kept the pigeons sharp.

              Number 1 is where some thought is needed. There are at least two shots within that frame and the task is to extract the best shot, or at the very least, the shot you were after.

              Ideally, everything within the shot needs to contribute to the story of the shot. So examining the detail, is there anything above the customers head that contributes? in my opinion no. In fact, the bright light within the establishment is a distraction as the eye naturally gravitates to the brightest areas, so on that basis, I have cropped that out.

              Turning to the young man on the left, he is pre-occupied with his phone and therefore separate from the main activity, so there is no reason for him to remain. Unfortunately, removing him also loses the crest and pilaster on the left, which quite nicely balanced with the same items on the right, but often we have to compromise and the bonus of this action is a much improved composition. The customer is now firmly on the vertical thirds whilst the shoe-shine girl is now on the horizontal thirds, which both strengthen the composition. I have kept the shoe-shine board to aid the storyline and then just a fine bit of fiddling to finish the shot as follows:

              • Toned down the brighter tones on the remaining background, crest and pilaster.
              • Added just a touch of blur to the background.
              • Added a touch of sharpening to the main subject matter.


              Hope you like the result and aren't too offended by me altering your shot.




              _MG_6268a by Colin Cross, on Flickr
              Colin

              Comment


                #8
                Re: London City

                Hi Colin - that's fantastic, thank you. I'm finding that it is precisely because I as the photographer was there but the viewer was not that I sometimes get lost in the 'what I saw' rather than actually focusing on what the viewer 'would like to see' so it is so helpful to have another pair of eyes give their opinion.

                I really like your edit. As soon as I saw it I could clearly see that it was a better photograph, and this has really helped me to understand how to take my photographs further.

                I actually have a second shot where the person on the left (who is a young lady by the way!) has a better pose but the customer / shoe shine lady don't. I certainly need to work on my editing skills to be able to splice the two. I note that you've managed to edit her out in your version in a way that doesn't stand out too much which is a skill that I have yet to master.
                www.flickr.com/photos/ileafy/
                www.instagram.com/leafydragonphotography/

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: London City

                  Excellent stuff. This kind of critique & help doesn't just help the OP, you know!
                  Chris
                  80D - 10-18 IS STM - 15-85 IS USM - 55-250 IS STM - 50 f/1.8 STM - 100-400L IS II USM - 100 f/2.8L Macro - 1.4x III

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: London City

                    Number 1 is where some thought is needed. There are at least two shots within that frame
                    I do like Colin's edit but in doing so he has taken out the elements that I found attractive -namely the triangle of people & the structured background(not often found in street stuff). With a bit of tweaking of the bright window light and trimming of the top,the image is good IMHO

                    This shows us is that we all look at things differently- and a good thing too.

                    The point is, Alan, that there's a shot there - and you saw it. So well done
                    Canon EOS R5, R6 plus the usual suspects ......

                    https://www.flickr.com/photos/bo_fo_to

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: London City

                      I agree with Bo on this.....and as Colin says there are a few shots in there.
                      personally I prefer keeping with three people and cropping the top from just below the light spot.......but we're all different.
                      Brian Vickers LRPS

                      brianvickersphotography.com

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: London City

                        I managed 1/160s but ISO was at 1250.
                        Never worry unduly about using higher ISO. With the light on the UK, we often have to make compromises with our settings and I try to choose the shutter speed I need, the aperture I want and then compromise with the ISO. Whilst it is evident that higher ISO can introduce digital noise, that is generally only apparent in areas of similar flat tone and where there is plenty of detail, you can get away with higher ISO. A sharp shot at higher ISO with a little digital noise is far better than a soft shot with no digital noise.

                        I mostly shoot wildlife and because of the high shutter speeds required, my normal ISO range is from 800 to 3200, often venturing into 6400 ISO. Oh for strong African light and 100 ISO, but we take what we can get and make the most of it.
                        Colin

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: London City

                          Thank you - yes, sometimes choosing 'the' shot from the available options is the hardest part isn't it! I certainly visualised the trio - with the aim of contrasting the traditional method of shining shoes with the more modern past time of browsing a mobile phone ... but take all the points raised on board. More time / burst could have nailed a better shot for that vision and perhaps 'the' shot should have been something different entirely - such as the duo created by Colin. That part to photography I know comes only with experience!

                          I've updated the shot and loaded it to my Flickr - link in my signature. I won't try to repost it here. I looked through the instructions on how to post from Flickr but had to have a lie down half-way through! (Plus I'm presently on an iPad which seems to preclude it).

                          Appreciate the comment on ISO too. I guess it's easier to make an ok shot better by being sharp that it is to take a good shot in the first place - but thats mostly self doubt talking!

                          Thanks again all!
                          www.flickr.com/photos/ileafy/
                          www.instagram.com/leafydragonphotography/

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