Cock Fighting in Bali

[daq7]

Dude did not seem giddy that I was documenting things. No we saw not actual fighting. I amn't interested in animals ripping each other to shreds. But this is what they were doing with their hard-won leasure. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[LeeIs]

Hey daq

I like your subject here, he's got a great expression on his face and not looking directly at the camera. The thing is though, He gets semi lost because of the over processed background that's as bright as your subject. there isn't any separation and because of that the picture becomes flat without any real depth. The overprocessing also introduced lots of noise in the background that doesn't really work, unless that's the look you're aiming for.

Also the big plank of wood in the foreground is definitely distracting.

But overall i like your photos and your eye for seeing nice scenes, but in my opinion, you gotta ease down on the post processing a bit, and leave the depth that is created by some areas being a bit darker in the photos.

[daq7]

Thanks for the comments. I largely agree with them.

Noise: I currently do not pay a lot of attention to it but I do intend to. I will get noiseware soon. Since I like to tone map, and there are more often than not noise issues, I need to pay more attention to it.

Composition: Yeah the post is a problem. I can super tight crop to take it out, but unfortunately I think the picture is better over all with the taller crop. This is the funny thing about shooting outside of a studio, especially with people. You get all self conscious about it and being in a hurry keeps from really looking for the perfect shot. I was definitely a bit nervous shooting this guy, probably for no good reason. What he is doing is not legal, but I bet he gets photographed by tourists a billion times a week.

I think you are largely right on the background, although it was tonally similar to the foreground even in the original. But it would be child's play to layer and mask it toned down a bit and I will likely do so some time in the future. I like the background the way it is, but it is true that darkening it a bit would improve the overall drama.

[Anbesol]

Dag - I was curious as to the settings you used on this, so I downloaded it to check exif (which you stripped!). Anyway, when I opened it the color was very different and exposure was darker in the windows image viewer than it was on my browser. You used an entirely different colorspace (Samsung ICM) which changes the tones on this entirely. When I opened the image and assigned (not converted) the profile back to sRGB, the image looked much better and the bizarre image grain on the top of the image goes away. I dont know if this was your intent, but personally I think the sRGB version looks much better.

My only complaint of the image is the big plank of wood in the front, the background does not bother, in fact I think it adds to the shot. Use of a black gradient from top to halfway through bottom w/adjusted opacity would help the shot hone in on the subject, but I think it works either way.

*edit - I just tried a gradient on it and I definitely like that!

[Greg McCary]

As much as the post the guy hanging out of the frame is distracting too. A great character to capture though.