Loner by Loco Jain

[locojain]

Hi,

I am back with another photo of mine which I really like. Its one of my fav images.Would love to get your view on it.
Is the composition good enough or there is something i could i have done to improve it?
How about the exposure? Do you think is it under/over exposed?
It was shot it color and I used Lightroom to convert it into Black and White, as i felt B/W would best show what i wanted to show in the picutre. Lonliness. Serenity. Peace. Do the horizontal lines rightly convey that? or is there any flaw?
Is the editing ok? That includes contrast level.. Do you think a low contrast pic would have been better?
Most importantly I would like to get to know your views about this photo. How would you read this image/photo?

EXIF:
Camera Canon EOS 550D
Exposure 0.077 sec (1/13)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 29 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Program Aperture-priority AE
Subject Distance 3.49 m
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Flash Mode Off



Thanks a lot

Loco

[Eileen D]

I had a very quick reaction as your image came up on the screen, Loco. My first thought was I like the composition, like the choice to use B&W, don't like the grain.

For me the placement of the figure and the use of the lines definitely work here. I also like the point of view you have used.

You ask about the B&W and my thought is that the image would be less effective in color. I think the monochrome fits the overall mood. The conversion looks a little uneven to me -- in the figure the darks seem too dark, the lights too light. If there were a greater range of tones there, he might have more impact.

As for the grain, I know some of it is the texture in the stone, but even the figure looks somewhat grainy and unclear on my monitor. One other detail about the figure that I find distracting -- I assume that's a backpack by his side but it gives him an odd shape. On the other hand, the coffee cup on the other side is an effective detail.

Part of why I find the image appealing is that it suggests a story, a situation, makes me curious about him, and when you can make a viewer start to imagine what is going on, then you have involved us in what you captured. TFS and I look forward to seeing more of your work!

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by Eileen D

I had a very quick reaction as your image came up on the screen, Loco. My first thought was I like the composition, like the choice to use B&W, don't like the grain.

For me the placement of the figure and the use of the lines definitely work here. I also like the point of view you have used.

You ask about the B&W and my thought is that the image would be less effective in color. I think the monochrome fits the overall mood. The conversion looks a little uneven to me -- in the figure the darks seem too dark, the lights too light. If there were a greater range of tones there, he might have more impact.

As for the grain, I know some of it is the texture in the stone, but even the figure looks somewhat grainy and unclear on my monitor. One other detail about the figure that I find distracting -- I assume that's a backpack by his side but it gives him an odd shape. On the other hand, the coffee cup on the other side is an effective detail.

Part of why I find the image appealing is that it suggests a story, a situation, makes me curious about him, and when you can make a viewer start to imagine what is going on, then you have involved us in what you captured. TFS and I look forward to seeing more of your work!

I agree with much of the above. In addition, I think the contrast should be adjusted to eliminating the grain effect and give a more distinct first impression of the subject on a roof, using the dynamic range to emphasize this. Also, maybe a crop to keep the subject in a rule of thirds position but making him larger relative to the rest of the background would be helpful. So, I think the intended message might be more effective with a larger subect and more uniformity and less distracting speckel in the background and reduction, through cropping, of the relative amout of horizontal lines.

[locojain]

@ Eileen D : Thanks a lot for your comments. I would agree with you that the "The conversion looks a little uneven" I did not realise it until i relooked at it now. I think i am goin to fix it and the grains as well. I think it woudnt be hard to fix the grains since it is shot at a low iso-200.
I am glad you see what i am trying to showcase..

@chicagojohn.. Thanks a lot for your comments too John.I would adjust the contrast and now i see its at very high contrast. will fix it..i kind of got carried away i believe :P

As far as cropping is considered I think i did try to do it, but I wanted a large part of the image to be empty to show the serene feeling in it. it was intentional to keep the subject in small size when compared to the whole frame for the reason mentioned before. but thanks for your advise.. i look forward from hearing from you again on other photos of mine