Band in perspective

[RecurrentNerve]

Came across this Royal Marines band completely by accident the other day while photographing elsewhere. Took a few quick snaps and noticed the perspective gave a pleasing shot with these three guys.



Original:


ISO 250, f/2.2, 1/4000.
Obviously cropped, B&W conversion and split-toned. A bit of Levels jiggery-pokery to get better separation between the guys and the background.

Looking for critique on the composition/crop, colour treatment and anything else you care to mention.

[RecurrentNerve]

Hmmm, 2 critique posts, no critique. It's either extremely encouraging or extremely worrying! If you don't like it, say so. Wouldn't post it in the Critique section if I wasn't prepared for criticism!

[MrJones]

I like what you did with it although a little dark.
could be a great banner for the band.

[candidrachel]

I like them too. I think if I was you I'd crop the "original photo" to leave the majority of the band in and get rid of the car on the left. That gives it a lovely triangle shape.

I must thank you for your tips on your pp as I have written down the steps that you helped me on a previous post of mine

[Niresangwa]

I saw this yesterday, and meant to come back to it. I like the crop, and appreciate what you were seeing when you did it. The repeating pattern of the bandsmen is appealing.

The PPing, i'm split on. I think the high contrast works well, and the toning is effective (though I have a feeling I would end up personally staying with straight monochrome). Some loss of highlights, but it would seem they were absent in the original.

The biggest thing that I keep coming back to is that 'border' running around the outline of the buildings in the background, and though I hate the term 'distraction' when it comes to an image, it certainly does end up grabbing my eye more than the actual subject does.

[carlyfan]

I really like your edit! I'm amazed it's the same photo actually. The cropped one is a cool photo at a cool angle. The original (to me) looks like you couldn't get your camera out in time and snapped the picture anyway even though the band was past you. It's just the back of a band. The three people in your crop look much more in line than the others, who were kind of distracting. And the original looks crooked. Just one nit-picky thing, I can tell that you blurred the background between the guys. You may want to fix up the edges if you haven't already. I love it though! Great photo!

Lisa

[RecurrentNerve]

The slightly dodgy border on the building and the equally dodgy blur between the band members is indeed artificial - it's dodgy because I did it on a laptop with a mousepad rather than a proper mouse; when I get back to a proper system I'll do it tidily. I felt it needed a bit more depth of field to separate the dark uniforms from the dark cathedral behind.

I did indeed just snap it quickly (along with about 20 others) as they were marching up and down more or less constantly. I quite often do that because so often you get a great shot without really trying!

I will post the straight monochrome at some point; I always vacillate between that and split-toning.

I like them too. I think if I was you I'd crop the "original photo" to leave the majority of the band in and get rid of the car on the left. That gives it a lovely triangle shape.

I must thank you for your tips on your pp as I have written down the steps that you helped me on a previous post of mine

My main reason for cropping down to these three was the guy with his head down, which kinda ruined the symettry of it. I actually originally tried cropping down to that entire column to make it an 'odd one out' but tried the 3-man crop and preferred it.

As for the help, it's a pleasure --bows--.

Thanks for the feedback folks!