Evening ride

Taken a while back but I keep coming back to it. I am thinking about cloning out the stop sign, Thoughts?

The intense blues and greens are almost blinding. Beasutiful scene. You have taken it into the realm of myth.

Yes the sign needs to go as it is too close to the driver and the pole above her head isn't contributing to the image either. Nice shot , though possibly could have been taken a bit lower but I suspect this one was a grab shot as the rig is moving away.
Possibly a slight brighten as well.

I love this! Personally, I would not remove the sign unless this was being used commercially and the client wanted it removed. My photo ethics don't allow me to remove stuff from photos and I think it's a risky habit to develop. Did you see that a recent National Geographic photo contest winner lost their prize because they'd cloned a bag out of an image? Better to learn from this experience and time it better next time - or even find these folks and see if they'll give you the opportunity for a reshoot.

I love the buggy and colors in this photo. The only thing I'd do to change it is crop it so that the buggy isn't so centered. There's plenty of empty space at the bottom and you could crop a bit from the right or left without really changing the content of the image. Using the rule of thirds would strengthen this image a lot.

That is an awesome photo. Inspiring

Very nice capture of a beautiful scene. What's pulling the cart - a dog?

I would be more inclined to clone the pole above her head than the stop sign, though both could go. Maybe take a look at some tighter crops with this image. I also would tone back the saturation a bit.

btw - I would call the dislike of cloning a personal preference, not ethics. IMO, as long as it is not designated as something like Photojournalism, it is about the image, not the process.

Terry

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Originally Posted by OldClicker

I would call the dislike of cloning a personal preference, not ethics. IMO, as long as it is not designated as something like Photojournalism, it is about the image, not the process.

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Fair enough. I guess I didn't make myself clear, but I said, "my photo ethics," meaning that I don't apply that standard to everyone else. But personally, I wouldn't remove it.

I agree with OldClicker because ethics are rooted in obligations towards others and there is no obligations in art. I present my work to the public willingly, the way I want it to be presented without feeling obligated to anyone.

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Originally Posted by geraldb

I agree with OldClicker because ethics are rooted in obligations towards others and there is no obligations in art. I present my work to the public willingly, the way I want it to be presented without feeling obligated to anyone.

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That's fine but if we really want to get into an ethics discussion we should do it on another forum. This forum is for photo critique. Do you have any useful criticism to offer Adamo?

I'm sorry but I don't see what is really that great about this shot, It's pretty mediocre, a bit over saturated and out of focus. I really don't see what all the fuss is about.
Sorry just my opinion and observation.

Wow, so I have been out of pocket for a week and I come back to a surprise, a debate and an insult. For those that actually gave me critiques thank you! I left the crop as is because I wanted to keep the tree trunks in the shot without pushing them too close to the edge. It is actually a miniture horse pulling the cart, I have other shots which show the horse but I liked the composition in this shot best. I'm not sure about the saturation comments, I have a calibrated NEC monitor and the colors seem fine to me, even on my cheap work monitor they don't seem too saturated. I used a polarizing filter which effects the greens and blues, but just a little vibrance boost in LR4. The full size image a very sharp but thanks for the input. As for the sign and pole, and wether it's ethical or not to remove them, I don't think I even want to touch that one. I left them in, the driver of the cart loves the shot as is, and that is all that matters in the long run. Thanks for the sticky, deserved or not, and thank you for your comments.

After reading the comments, here are my thoughts:

1- I like the subject, and the photo. It works, I can actually feel being in the shoes of the photographer. and that the lady likes it is testament enough.

2- The only reason to remove the sign and/or pole, would be really really nitpicking... They don't take away from the photo. Not unless you draw direct attention to them. Better to keep them in. Not really worth the effort to remove them properly.

3- I do agree on the crop though. The cart is just off center. However, I agree about the trees. I wouldn't want them to go away. The limit of where I would crop personally is basically the trunk on the left, having it be the left margin, and then cropping from the bottom. From the left since the cart is already to the left.

Nice colors, nice scene, nice shot. Thanks for sharing!

Well I am 50-50 on the sign. I do clone sometimes but lately have worked hard to try and make an image work as whole. So when I am shooting its final look, items that would be cloned, are not included in the original shot. Sometimes it's unavoidable. Here I think it's fine as is as I didn't really even notice it until I read the comments.

Matt - Meant to reply to this earlier but for whatever reason I could not see the full image, only the thumbnail in the POTW.

I like the colors and the foliage here. The lighting, graduating from light to dark as depth increases, is also very good. I think it really works good in showing how the subject (the woman and the kid) interact with the environment. In that respect, it has a lot of character and mood. The path also really works in creating an expansive feeling.

I can't really offer much on how to improve it, other than the horizon (edge of the foothills) is a bit close to the exact vertical center of the image. I also wonder how the image would feel if the riders were coming towards you, rather than away from you... Maybe not any different, but maybe a lot?

G