Rescue india shot...

[james_c]

Hi everyone,

I took this shot on a recent trip to India.



I like it, and think it had the potential to be an really nice shot - but it didn't quite make it - the front of my boat sneaking in there being the most obvious.

What would be your suggestions in general to try and rescue this? (if at all) Is there a crop that works that doesn't bring too much attention to the front of the other boat? And what would you have done differently if I could take it again? (would you have shot portrait?)

Thanks everyone!

[clockdoc]

I think you have a nice shot there and I wouldn't be too picky about the front of your boat in the image. On my monitor the overall image is a little dark and flat (low contrast). I woud not have noticed your boat had you not mentioned it. Try flipping the image left to right and see if it keeps your eye in the frame a little longer. My eye enters from the bow, through the person and then over to the treees and out of the frame. Flipping it, the man will become a sort of barrier to keep your eye in the shot. Portrait format would be a little too confining for my taste.

[FocalFrenzy]

I agree with clockdoc. If flipping the image horizontally doesn't satisfy your needs, then you could try cropping a little tighter on the left. This will give the person more room to move to photo right. If the bow of your boat bothers you, you can crop it out. with your permission, I would like to try these fixes myself. I can always use the practice on my post processing skills. Thanks.

[james_c]

Hi guys - thanks for the feedback. FocalFrenzy - please do feel free to experiment! I'd be very interested to see what you come up with.

I'll try and have a go myself over the weekend.

[PHugger]

I had some free time and love to play around like this. I hope you don't mind.

I cloned out the other boat
I did some noise reduction
I cropped it just a bit
I adjusted the saturation
I kicked up the exposure

I worked on the large size image, so if you want it, let me know.





PCH

[james_c]

Wow - cool! Thanks so much. I don't mind in the slightest. Please do send me the full image - I'll PM you with my email address.

[aakash_vakil]

Which part of India is this shot taken? Kerala? I would try a close up of the guy navigating the boat and see if I get some crisp facial expressions.

Regards,
Aakash

[james_c]

Yep - the backwaters around Kumarakom - absolutely stunning area! I wouldn't need much of an excuse to go back. Will have to go back just to get another set of shots... hehe.

[jiminyClickit]

james_c,

As an answer to your question about shooting portrait, P=1000W:



If you didn't want to keep pole-disturbed water, you could place man more on a thirds line. I liked it shown, and considered shoreline, bow of his boat, and pole as on thirds. For a futue shot, is this more interesting to you than landscape?

Lightening and contrast are up to you, this is just flipped and retouched with cloning.

[PHugger]

Very nice Jiminy, I like it!




PCH