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Just a really difficult photo?

Sherlock77

Sherlock77

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Long story short, I managed to accidentally find a rave/dance party on the weekend, in the middle of nowhere/Alberta Badlands, as dusk settled in...

This fabulous vintage travel trailer was there, with a perfect background... I tried with my Fuji, and some with my Google Pixel phone (night vision)

I'm really not happy with it, an incredible opportunity for an interesting photo, but something about it doesn't feel right, but then the light was very challenging, kicking myself right now... Maybe it should have been a long exposure, but I don't have a set up for that and rarely (if ever) do long exposure...

Google_01B.jpg


I also took a few photos of the people there, including this stranger portrait of Roberta, in virtual darkness...

Rave 02.jpg
 
Really like the portrait shot. The clouds in the top picture are just breath-taking. Beautiful pictures.
 
I have said before and I will say again that you beat yourself up too much. The photos are great :)

And I’m like you and Silhouette Mirage, I take pictures of everything lol
 
I think both are fantastic – the portrait really does conjure a whole story and the lighting on the first picture is actually quite interesting – it’s subtle and almost somber, but with that tiny orange glow right above the trailer. I think it’s really nice.
 
Sherlock77 said:
I'm really not happy with it, an incredible opportunity for an interesting photo, but something about it doesn't feel right, but then the light was very challenging, kicking myself right now...
Click to expand...
I hope you don't mind an honest critique of the trailer image. I dislike it when others are insincere to me so I do my best not to propagate that error. Here is my take:

I think you did just fine with the light. Everything is properly exposed and nothing is blown out. My problem is that I'm not quite sure what the message or story of the image is because my eye doesn't snap immediately to any one thing other than the white car at the left, which I find distracting. It seems to be at odds with the atmosphere of the rest of the image. I think you'll see immediate improvement by going to a square crop and knocking the white car at the left out. If you want to feature the trailer, I'd suggest a bit of dodging and burning to make it pop more.

I see why you were attracted to the scene as it's compelling, it's just that there are some competing narratives in the final image. Some editing can make it pop more, but the next time you have a scene like this maybe just take a moment before hand to ask:

1. What is the story I want to tell?

2. What can reinforce this story? (Leading lines, texture gradient, lighting, etc.)

3. What elements distract or present competing stories (shift position, crouch down, stand higher - change the viewpoint).

Apologies in advance if I have caused offense - not my intention.
 
I think that you would have to either overexpose the sunset or shoot the trailer from the other, better-lit side. Generally, after sunset photos are of the sky, the most dramatic pics are with a low sun, and the best illustrative shots are with a fairly high sun shining through heavy haze. Sometimes clouds make good reflectors for fill light with a dramatic backlight on the edges. This subject is problematic, because the mirror finish makes it blend in to the surroundings.
 
So in other words, I completely fumbled a really neat photo opportunity, but I do see your point... @velociraptor @Shevek But I knew that something about this photo bothered me, but I was having trouble figuring out why, couldn't see it... :rolleyes:

Why you folks are the only people to see this photo, and it might stay that way, I always screw up a perfect photo opportunity...
 
My mother was a photographer, so when she was in the darkroom, I had to be too. Lighting is usually the key. I waited months to take a picture of a house for a friend. Ansel Adams would wait all day or week for the right weather and sun angle. Studio photographers spend a lot of time and money on lights. If you look at pro video of outdoor interviews, you can often detect a big reflector being used to highlight the subjects.
 
Sherlock77 said:
I always screw up a perfect photo opportunity...
Click to expand...
Not screwed up at all.

You had fun finding the subject.

You had fun capturing the image.

You will go straight back to a good memory every time you look at the image.

That's a success. The fact that you took an image differently from how I would have isn't that important. Please don't let a critique rob you of the joy of going out with a camera. I wish people would view making art as being more about enjoying the process than stressing themselves over the final product.

The most important thing to me is that you took the time to find something wonderful and share it with others. The world would suck a lot less if everyone else did this.

You should be feeling good about yourself AND your art right now.
 
The portrait is really pretty.
Perfect to me, really.

I agree with the trailer shot, as others have said, it's the lighting.
Everything has a blue-grey affect.
It is still interesting and the background with sunset is really nice.
My eye goes to the pyramid behind the trailer. That's oddball me though.

I always enjoy your photos. Unique perspective that shows.
 
I hope the people in your pictures are okay with that you are posting it here. I mean it´s public. I hope and think that you obtained their consent before uploading them.
 
I don't think that there is any shame in being a student and learning from mistakes. Even Shakespeare stumbled over his first English lessons. When I was about four, I was having trouble with a drawing, and thought that my photographer/mother could help. What she should have said was "I'm busy cooking now, but I'll try to help later."
What she said was "That's nice."
I never asked her another question.
 
From my own perspective as an amateur photographer I consider most any backlit scenario to be a "difficult photo".

Where even bracketing different exposures may not solve the problem. Made worse if and when you're dealing with a real-time setting sun.:confused:
 
Colour negative film has a useful range of 20:1 - you can see details in things with that much variation in lighting. Slide film is 12:1, but with electronics, it is only 8:1 without combining different exposures.
 
I was out shooting slides for a presentation on bicycle facilities, and got a huge, bright red lens flare in one shot. It was well received with the description "Here's a typical scene, a girl riding home from school, closely followed by a nebulous ball of fear."
 
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