Dark Humor. . .French Cleaners

[gahspidy]

A little dodging a burning and some reduction is saturation, but basically as it was.
What are your thoughts?
thanks

[Overbeyond]

Good homour alright and it looks fine. Theres a little triangle of white in the top right hand corner and I feel it cuts the main signage canopy abruptly. But then again if you were to remove it, it would be at the expense of most of the side of the building and that would be a pity also. Again was there anything worthwhile on the left to balance the canopy?
I love the little shutter gate on the front door.
The front of the building would benefit from a little lift in curves as it looks a looks a little flat which makes me think how a night shot might look here.
It's a great place to have found. I assume it's not open for business.
Tom

[readingr]

Gary

Another good photo - just one thing the triangle doesn't bother me at all but the rubbish in the bottom left of the building down the side street - once it caught my attention I can't stop looking at it because I'm trying to decide if it is important in understanding if the building is still used.

I love the cracked pavement in front and as Tom said the small gate as if that would protect the premesis.

Unlike Tom I think the exposure is spot on and adds to the humour.

Isn't it odd how we all pick up different things.

Roger

[LeeIs]

Nice shot Gary. I think you've done a great job at capturing and presenting this. The only thing that bugs me a bit is how tight the left alley is cropped but that's very minor. Good job.

[gahspidy]

Thank You Tom, Roger,Liban, for your opinions and suggestions.
I'm not particuliarly crazy about this shot, but the scene itself, rather than the execution of the photograph, is what I feel keeps this one for me.
Tom, the triangle up in the right corner is actually sky, and as you said I did not want to cut off that wall that angles back with more graffiti on it.
Roger, yes , everyone sees things differently and comes away with a unique perspective of a given image. I also liked the cracked sidewalk and included as much of it as I felt would be effective.
Liban, originally I had more space to the left and top of the image, but there was nothing over there that would add to the shot, and I just kept it open a bit to give it some breathing room.

The top of the awning gives away the owners name of the establishment and i did not want to give any "bad press" to him and decided to cut it off. The phone numbers were also there to be read, and I cloned them to cut them up so they were not ledgible.
The original color of the building is a very bright red, and with the graffiti popping off the bright colors it was actually hard to look at. So, the colors were muted . The words
"French Cleaners" were a very bright white and I found to be extremely distracting overall and so I had burned it in to keep the eyes from being pulled to it constantly.
YES, this place is open for business. This is actually the back of the store, and the other side which faces the sidewalk and the most pedestrian and vehicle traffic looks quite in order.
Thanks for your comments.

[Seb]

[QUOTE=gahspidy]A little dodging a burning and some reduction is saturation, but basically as it was.
What are your thoughts?
thanks

Looking clean! lol

Actually, I am ambivalent about that one. I like the message and I like your post procesing with the subtle dodging of the ground but the framing seems mistaken with the small "open spaces" on both sides. It's somewhat interesting yet it kinda feels empty (I may not make sense here, its getting late lol)...

I really dig the subject but I think that it might worth to reshot with a different composition.

Seb

[gahspidy]

[QUOTE=Seb]

A little dodging a burning and some reduction is saturation, but basically as it was.
What are your thoughts?
thanks

Looking clean! lol

Actually, I am ambivalent about that one. I like the message and I like your post procesing with the subtle dodging of the ground but the framing seems mistaken with the small "open spaces" on both sides.

Seb

Seb,
Thanks for your thoughts and time to comment. I have done a re-edit and taking everyones suggestions into consideration, i came up with something I think is better, although maybe still not ideal. The place is an awkward shape and if I tried loosening up the composition, then I would lose the impact of the writing and grittiness on the walls. I do not think going tighter would be the answer either. I took out the small triangle patch of sky by filling it in with awning, which was easy enough to do. I opened up the left side as much as there is in the original negative. There is also a slightly, milder, post processing treatment to allow a better look at the small nuances in the textures, although still not readily visible in this web version.

Improved or original?

[KillRoy]

I don't know, I kinda like the original better. By losing the "white triangle" that some call it, I think it loses a little in depth perception or something. The awning just looks huge or weird to me. Maybe I am just crazy??

[Seb]

[QUOTE=gahspidy]

Seb,
Thanks for your thoughts and time to comment. I have done a re-edit and taking everyones suggestions into consideration, i came up with something I think is better, although maybe still not ideal. The place is an awkward shape and if I tried loosening up the composition, then I would lose the impact of the writing and grittiness on the walls. I do not think going tighter would be the answer either. I took out the small triangle patch of sky by filling it in with awning, which was easy enough to do. I opened up the left side as much as there is in the original negative. There is also a slightly, milder, post processing treatment to allow a better look at the small nuances in the textures, although still not readily visible in this web version.

Improved or original?

Gary, Moreover, I prefer this second version over the original. I think that the filling works very well, it's an enhancement as far as I am concerned. I also like the fact the the "cleaners" writing is flashier, it gives more impact to the scene.

After a night of sleep, I figured out that the thing that distract me is that the door is nearly centered yet not quite centered. I'd prefer to have the door on either side of the frame but you obviously couldn't do so without any dramatic crop that would basically destroy the picture lol....

That picture grew on me although it's still not quite there as I see it.

Seb

[Overbeyond]

Gary, I think you hit the nail on the head . It's an awkward blooming shape (because of that canopy) of a building, especially for a front on shot.
I'm beginning to think it's just not lending itself to the full front onslaught so to speak and maybe it's saying that "I'll look a lot better if you push off down the road a bit and get me from an angle". So a walk away down the road to the right might result in a composition to include the front and the right hand side. But you will know if that is possible having been there.
Tom

[payn817]

Gary, I prefer the second version. For some reason though, it isn't doing much for me. I disagree about moving away, but perhaps down?

[gahspidy]

Thanks for the feedback on this. This was shot with a wide angle lens while standing about 5 or 6 feet in front of it. What i may try to do is get much further away from it and compose it with a telephoto. This will enable me to compress the entire scene into a reasonably comfortable composition, or so i hope. I am ok with the second version so far, but I think it will be worth a try to gather up a few more attempts and see where it goes .

[villenadecorte]

A little dodging a burning and some reduction is saturation, but basically as it was.
What are your thoughts?
thanks

I really like the Dark Humor series... this is such a great addition. Aside from the upper right that's been mentioned already, I can't think of anything else to add. The desaturation really works in this shot.

B.

[gahspidy]

I went back to this location and did a reshoot. amazing how many people were watching and even the owners came out in concern telling me they cannot stop these kids from writing on their establishment and that they keep the place well kept etc. jeesh, i had to explain to them I merely find it amusing and will cross out heir store identitiy.I do sympathize with them. They softened up actually and started laughing with me in the absurdity of it.
I tried to get this with a telephoto this time compressing the scene and really liked the way the composition appeared in the camera, but there is a tree that cuts right in front of everything and just did not look well with it there. So, this was done again with my wide angle, standing in front of the tree, but i left more space to the sides and i think I'm much more pleased with this second attempt.
How do you compare?
thanks

[Seb]

Gary, I hate to say this but I am not convinced. I couldn't quite explain why but that building at the left in the distance command a whole lot of my attention despite the fact that it is grey and dull. The technical execution is spot on as usual but I am not sure that the new composition is an enhancement...

regards

Seb

[jar_e]

Gary,

I personally prefer the reshoot. I think it has a little more breathing room and a little more context. It's definately a great subject, though you can tell where you covered up there identity on the awning (just comparing all the shots). It's definately a great shot and humorous at the same time.

Well done,

Jared

[gahspidy]

Thanks Seb, and Jared for your thoughts about the retake.
Seb, I see what you mean about the building on the side, and i think i will blur and dodge it out into a non factor before printing, but I do feel alot stronger about this overall composition. I think the previous version was too tight
Jared, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you find the re shoot to be an improvement. This building is just an awkward and weird shape to grab, and I think i will finally rest with this version. It gets the point across, i feel.