The Boy on the Path

Shot with kodak Portra 160, 28mm /ND filter. Converted to b&w
What do you think?

Gary, I think you did a great job with your b&w conversion, I'm still trying to figure out the best way for me to do that. I love the sky and the gently curving path, and your exposure looks dead on to me. I'm not a big fan of the pose of the boy in the image tho. He appears to be staring at you, or something, and it just doesn't look natural to me, almost like he is out of place in the image.

Hi Gary,
The composition and good. I especially like the white cloud in the top center, which adds a lot to this shot. I am not sure about the boy facing the camera, I think if he is looking to the right would be better. Nice shot!
yoyo

Thanks for the comments , micheal, and Yoyo. I knew there would be opinions expressed about the boy facing the camera. My intent (as it usually is) is for this to seem somewhat surreal, stark, maybe even a bit weird in the distance, size relation and him looking or staring right into the camera. My want here is for this not to appear "natural" but a little "off" in a sort of luring or hopefully even yet appealing way. Thanks again

Good spacing with great tones and drama. Well done.

Tuna

You answered too quickly, Gary. I wanted to say I thought the boys presence and pose added a surreal element - now I can't of course. I thought he seemed out of scale too. Without him there I would have thought those trees on the right were much closer and that the grass was only a couple feet high. The sky is especially well handled. Very nice.

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Originally Posted by gahspidy

Shot with kodak Portra 160, 28mm /ND filter. Converted to b&w
What do you think?

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The boy facing the camera gives me no problem; it's as if you have caught him being somewhere he should not be, instead of being home in bed.
Wonderful sky and the white cloud is really needed for contrasting purposes.
Tom

Thanks Tuna, Chunk, and Tom. Tom, the white cloud adding the needed contrast is exactly right. It was also the reason for me setting the shot up at that time. Chunk, agreed, the scale the boy lends to the scene is a valid point.
Thanks again for looking

Nice shot and a great area to shoot. The clouds are just breath-taking, and I love the winding path. Though with what others said about the boy staring at the camera, I don't mind it, mostly because he's quite small, it doesn't seem to take away from the picture yet. If anything, I'd rather see him walking with his back to the camera, yet this work well as it is.

Nice shot,

Jared

The boy and the clouds pop out from the rest of the photo and every element in the image seems to compliment another element. The way that the path opens in the fg makes me feel as though I could walk right into the picture.
Excellent b&w, can't imagine this being nearly as good in color.
Mark.

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Originally Posted by gahspidy

Shot with kodak Portra 160, 28mm /ND filter. Converted to b&w
What do you think?

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Hello Gary,

This is another technically excellent and pleasantly strange shot (I really sound like a broken reccord don't I???).

I enjoy the composition as it is but I was thinking that it might be even stanger if you were to put the boy in the foreground at the extreme lower right in such a way that he would appear partly cropped on the right side, looking straight at the viewer (I hope that I am expressing myself clearly here....)

regards

Seb

I love this picture - what else can I say. It's GREAT.

Liz

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Originally Posted by gahspidy

Shot with kodak Portra 160, 28mm /ND filter. Converted to b&w
What do you think?

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I really like this Gary, even though (or maybe because) to me it has a faintly disturbing feel. It looks almost like a still from the latest Japanese horror film about a ghostly child (although which Japanese horror films aren't!).

I think I'd like to see this large though, my screen just isn't doing it justice - I'd like to see some detail in the childs face, which I can't at this resolution.

very cool :)

matt

Jared. . .thanks. walking with back to the camera could work also.

Mark . . .glad to know your thoughts on this. It looks ok in color, but does not have that strange factor going on as much as I like in this version.

Seb . . pleasantly strange . . I like that term. That really describes what I'm trying to do with lots of my scenes. Must remember that i think that idea with the boy in the foreground half cropped looking at the camera would be pleasantly very strange i think it would work. Thanks for your ideas

Liz . . .thanks! I appreciate you just letting me know you feel it works for you.

Matt . . .Glad your disturbed by this:p I agree with the Japanese film comparison. As small as the boy looks, there seems to be something threatening about him. ( Actually, the boy is my son, Kyle, who I pleaded to stand on the path under the cloud and he was not very happy about it. He does not always want to be a subject)
Thanks again. .

I like it, Gary. The composition is excellent with great clouds, nice leading lines, and perfect placement of the boy. I don't mind that he's facing the camera.

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Originally Posted by thapamd

I like it, Gary. The composition is excellent with great clouds, nice leading lines, and perfect placement of the boy. I don't mind that he's facing the camera.

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Thanks for your time to comment. I much appreciate your thoughts on this, Mahesh.