Grandpa

[TAWS]

First time posting so I hope the sizing is correct! Any comments?

D3000
1/125
f/5.3
iso 200

[ncbcymtechie]

Hi, and welcome to DPS!

You'll find that many around here don't like selective coloring, and I'm a bit iffy about it myself. But the more I look at this picture, the more I like it—it isolates the personalness and intimacy between the grandfather and the girl. And overall, it's quite a nice shot!

The things that distract me are the patch of blue immediately to the left of the grandfather. I don't know why it's there but it definitely detracts from the selective coloring effect. And also the man stepping off the street—I think it's because everyone else is standing straight up and down but he isn't and his profile stance increases the space he takes in the image. Lastly, I would have liked to see what this was like if you shot them head on at 90º instead of a slight downward angle, but that's just me.

I really like this shot! Well done and welcome!

[BigFuzzy]

As ncbcymtechie said, there are those that'll hate the selective coloring thing.. and unfortunately I'm one of them. It's one of those gimmicky signs of "I need to do something to make this better" sort of techniques that people often use, especially when they first get started. It's not a judgement (as I did it as well), just an opinion on how other photogs might see it. The average non-photog viewer still likes it, so our opinions may not matter in the end.

I can see that this is a very nice, candid, moment and (I'm assuming) has personal meaning to you as well. In the end, for me, it's a bit lost because of how the granfathers arm covers the girl. Not sure if it's possible, but in this situation, I would have tried to use the largest aperture (low f/number like 1.8) to blur out the background so as to make them stand out more as the background, as is, is a bit distracting to me.

In the end, I think you captured a nice moment that will mean a lot to those personally invested, but for me it doesn't do a lot.

[irishmuth]

The selective coloring could work here but I would leave some color in the background. I think desaturating the background withou going completely to gray will accomplish the isolation while making it less gimmicky.

Mike

[lisacollins]

I agree with irishmuth. I'm not one for selective coloring but maybe if the background was just slightly desaturated it would still convey that intimate feeling that the rest of the world doesn't matter.

As for the grandfathers arm being around the girl, I think it is just fine. To me it is just another reminder of his caring for her.

Overall I think it is a nice shot. =]

[lisacollins]

Oh, one more thing I just noticed.

On the top right corner there are a couple blotches of green that were left in processing. Just keep an eye out for small details that may have been looked over. ;]

[klam]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

I can see that this is a very nice, candid, moment and (I'm assuming) has personal meaning to you as well. In the end, for me, it's a bit lost because of how the granfathers arm covers the girl.

In the end, I think you captured a nice moment that will mean a lot to those personally invested, but for me it doesn't do a lot.

+1. Couldn't of said it better.

[TAWS]

Thanks for all the critiques. I agree the selective colouring thing has been done to death.