Question on composition and B/W conversion

[toddbartush]

EXIF:

Canon SX130
f/4
1/60
Exp -1/3
Focal length 7mm

I took this shot of my son while hiking at our favorite lake. He was a little bored, and a little tired. Knowing him as I do, I felt this shot captured the feeling.

As for the PP, I edited it in Paint Shop Pro 7 by expanding the midtones in the histogram adjustment, then did the B/W conversion. I've already cropped out more of the blown-out sky on the right of the photo, which prevented me from adhering to the rule of thirds.

So for my specific questions:

1. Does the fact that my son is in the center of the frame bother anyone?
2. Does the feeling I was trying to capture come through to anyone?
3. Is the partial blown-out sky in the top center too distracting?
4. Does the photo look too processed? I could provide an alternate B/W and the SOOC if anyone is interested.

Thanks in advance!

-Todd

[metoo]

I see no one else replied so I'll bite.....

it seems over exposed in the sky and the right side of his body.

I think the crop is off...I like his stance, and Iike the path leading in and out of the frame but I'm finding the backround a bit to distracting. I think different crop would help.

the focus is also off. you can see it when you look at the large version on flikr. It looks like your shutter speed was to low and and you have some camera shake/motion blur going on. I have kids too and I can rarely get a decent shot under 1/100. Personally I don't know how to recover from this in post process.

I do like the feeling and the over all composition.

[toddbartush]

Thanks for the input! There is definitely some overexposure, and I've already cropped bunch from the top and right of the original. I'll play around with the crop a little and see what works.

Where are you seeing the blur? Just in his right leg or somewhere else?

[LeeR]

Quite often the best thing you can do for an image is crop it. Remove everything that isn't essential to remove the distractions and concentrate on what is important. At first, this can be painful as we think of all the pixels we are wasting, but in time we learn to do it in-camera. That is a skill worth having.



The two most important lines in this image are the sides of the path which converge at your sons head. I could wish you had lowered your camera a bit so they converge a bit lower and allowed his head to be on it's own above, but that's hindsight. You'll know what to look for next time.

[metoo]

I like the crop that leer did.It makes your son more the main subject in the photo. And for the record as a parent the blown skies don't always bother me. Sometimes that all the choice you have a blown sky or not getting the cute shot with your kid in it.

You can kinda of notice the blur in the smaller image. Something seemed off to me with your sons legs and the trees. So I looked at the large version on flikr you can really see it there. I would be worried cropped so tight it won't print well. It looks like motion blur to me from your low shutter speed. You can see it on your sons legs and the trees to the left (maybe a breeze)? I'm not pro though.

[toddbartush]

I hadn't considered such a tight crop, but now that I see it, I like it. Thanks! I'm still at the stage where I shoot first and ask questions later, so getting the shot right in the first place will come in time I'm sure.

[sk66]

I like Lee's crop, but I would leave more foreground as the "idea" is that he has gotten bored/tired of walking on this long path...leaving more of the trail already "walked" feeds into the idea.
Since this is a conversion, maybe you could redo it without so much contrast. his neck/face being blown out is rather problematic to me.

[vkohar]

Hi Toddbartush,

1. Not really. It's nice as well atthe centre. But since the sky is too over exposed, I prefer crop 3x2 or 1x1 to crop out the sky.

2. Yes.

3. Hmm...yes..

4. Nope, it's good. The contrast in BW is very nice.

5. His neck is also slightly OE but not a lot.

[toddbartush]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I do see the blur when I go back to the original color shot. The shot was taken quickly and I have no problem believing I moved a little.

The blown-out right side is worse on the original, believe it or not. My processing skills are not what they should be yet, so I'll definitely be going back to this image as I gain experience.

-Todd