Something about this image bothers me, and it's not just 'cos I edited the s*** out of it... It feels canted to me in a way that is uncomfortable on my eye... but it doesn't seem to matter how I adjust the angle... if I get one line comfortably straight, another one goes off! Help???
I had the same thing with a beach shot this morning- couldn't get the lines to align. Maybe here it's the strong diagonal attacking the smoker who then rolls away on the bike wheel behind him. A sense of potential chaos? Too much weight to the left? What do I know!
@carolinedreams "potential chaos" is an apt descriptor of everything i know right now! maybe i just need to embrace the chaos and go with the flow... or maybe i should just stand in the middle of the square and start screaming "serenity now" ;p
@newbie tx Stacey... altho' i'm not sure how oblivious he really was... i am pretty sure he saw me, and may even have guessed that i was photo-ing him, and not just the arches... altho' who knows... so far the only one who has ever come close to calling me out is the street preacher and I'm still not sure if his comments were directed at me, or at the multitudes with cameras ;p
I like this photo, except that his legs distract me. I often think that men look funny with their legs crossed. Weird? Maybe. My eyes go right there though. Live everything else. :-)
@5unflow3r right... next time i'll tell him to uncross them... ;p ba haa haaaaa! tx Trina... that would never have occurred to me (or i might have waited around to see if he DID uncross them!!!)..
I like it too. I love how the focus pulls to the left. The chaos works. That being said, I have felt the same way about some of my photos and not been able to put my finger on why.
I dont know what you're talking about :) The lines and weight is awesome. I noticed them and liked them right from the thumbnail.
I was going to say crop off a tiny bit off the left to the edge of the chair but then you'd lose the bike wheel so, ignore that. I think its awesome.
When I look at the lines and patterns, I'm not looking at the man. When I look at the man, I'm distracted by the lines and patterns. But It's a fantastic candid shot, I like how he looks, as if lost in his own world. 8)
I can see what attracted you to this. I like that you have got down low and used the seat as a leading line. It could have been a nice restful street scene. But the problem is those thick lines (concrete structures) leading from the guys head He is positioned perfectly in the foreground so my eyes go straight to him as they should. Then they are immediately dragged up by the curved one and out of the frame. Or they are pulled right by the other one and out again. I bring my eye back again and it can't settle on the guy and I can't easily examine the other parts of the image either. It is a very unsettling effect. Also they might have a better chance of settling on the guy's face if there were more contrast between it and that background. It was worth a shot. I hope this analysis isn't more than you wanted!
I like the idea and processing - I think what's happening is that your eye wants to settle on the guy walking around in the background or the flag and they're not the focus, You've more or less given a composition with those lines that does that golden ratio curve which takes your eye away to the right.
It is unsettling you are right but what's wrong with that? I like it, I think the guy likes himself a bit perhaps because he looks a bit like a modern Serge Gainsbourg :))))
Not too bothered about the 'chaos'. I think it would be stronger if his feet were in the shot. That's just a personal opinion and not exactly and educated one!
@yrhenwr tx David... that's very helpful... yes, i think that's what's happening with my eye too, and maybe that's the problem more so than the fact that the lines might be canted...
@johnnyfrs@peterdegraaff i am not a smoker, but as long as i am not breathing in someone else's smoke, seeing this kind of image doesn't bother me... i realize the issue of smoking is huge (right up there with politics and religion ;p) and i have little interest in wading into it...
@365slfportraits Lidac, you don't have to be smoking to be in my photos... you just have to be in toronto... at city hall... or yonge dundas square ;p
@5unflow3r@cheribug ok... i am now forever going to be checking out how guys cross their legs... there will be oodles of photos for comparison purposes... and i will tag you to come see all of them... hee hee hee... this is cracking me up... but seriously, i really do appreciate the repsonses... i find these different perspectives so very interesting... it would not have occurred to me to fuss about this... what DID occur to me was that this is a guy who is tightly wound up and probably really needs that morning smoke!!!
@northy both my boys, my ex-husband and his dad all cross the legs like this. I cannot fathom it being comfortable.. and I do harass my kids about doing it.. -) So bring on the leg crossers...
I like the lines of the bench leading you in and all of the lines in the background. The only thing that jars slightly with me is the bike wheel behind him.
June 19th, 2012
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I was going to say crop off a tiny bit off the left to the edge of the chair but then you'd lose the bike wheel so, ignore that. I think its awesome.
nice contrast on this one ;)
@johnnyfrs @peterdegraaff i am not a smoker, but as long as i am not breathing in someone else's smoke, seeing this kind of image doesn't bother me... i realize the issue of smoking is huge (right up there with politics and religion ;p) and i have little interest in wading into it...
@365slfportraits Lidac, you don't have to be smoking to be in my photos... you just have to be in toronto... at city hall... or yonge dundas square ;p
Great shot :)