Paris - Musee D'Orsay

[mattp]

I took this a while back in colour with a camera and film that were really unsuitable for the lighting conditions, so the only way I have been able to rescue anything from it is to convert to b&w and up the contrast a lot.

I still quite like it because i think it makes a pretty strong graphic image, and also some of the people in the shot are friends of mine, but I'm afraid that upping the contrast has pretty much destroyed its credibility as a photo. I'd be interested if anyone has any thoughts though.

Thanks

matt

[jar_e]

Great picture, and b/w work. Atleast with black and white you can't tell that they're posing for the picture (I believe they are?). The only other thing which is somewhat of a nuisance is the big black bar in the top quater of the picture, but it still does add nice contrast.

That's just my opinion!

Great shot,

Jared

[mattp]

Thanks Jared. The people, my friends included, were all just admiring the clock, but I hung back for the photo op. Between me and the people is a rather large drop (you might be able to see that they are leaning back against a railing). This meant I was pretty limited in terms of composition, and I'm afraid the girder which cuts across the face was unavoidable. I guess the architect didn't have me in mind when he put it there, which was a little selfish of him.

matt

[CarbonTerry]

The girder spoils the entire composition IMHO. Try cropping below the center point of the clock.

[gahspidy]

This is very good, but agreed that the horizontal beam takes away from the composition. The black and white and heavy contrast does not take away that it is a photo. Nonsense. Cropped into a square just below the beam and it's quite nice.

[Chunk]

Very nice!

I agree with Gary's crop suggestion. If this is a place that people normally come I think it could be worth a reshoot, trying different combinations of silhouetted visitors (although I like this combination) and timing it about an hour later so the complete hour hand would be in the shot.

It would add a funny twist if one of the subjects was obviously checking the time on his wristwatch. I don't know if that could be done effectively with these spaces.

[mattp]

Chunk - LOL, I like the idea of someone checking their watch! I'm sure I'll make it back to Paris again, and if I do I may try a re-shoot, it is a wonderful gallery/museum and always worth an excuse to visit.

Thanks for the feedback.

matt

[bobbythebandit]

I agree with all the posts here, good shot !
Bobby

[Overbeyond]

I took this a while back in colour with a camera and film that were really unsuitable for the lighting conditions, so the only way I have been able to rescue anything from it is to convert to b&w and up the contrast a lot.

I still quite like it because i think it makes a pretty strong graphic image, and also some of the people in the shot are friends of mine, but I'm afraid that upping the contrast has pretty much destroyed its credibility as a photo. I'd be interested if anyone has any thoughts though.

Thanks

matt

Great photo. The bar is the only problem.
Why do you think that upping the contrast has destroyed its credibility as a photograph.
Tom

[Steph_B]

This is a nice pic. Puny Humanity huddling together and looking at the immensity of Time.... Some strong messages here!

I would up the contrast even more, making it more harsh than it is!

On the minus side, well, ... there is the bar. But there is nothing to be done with it I'm afraid.

One thing though: you should tilt the pic so that the bar is straight (2-3 CW deg). The overall tilt is very distracting to my eyes, more so than the bar.

Inspiring pic! Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

Steph.

[mattp]

thank you for the comments, I'm pleased this has had a largely positive response, and I'll take on board the helpful suggestions.

i was worried that by upping the contrast so much that i lost any tonal range at all it somehow diminished the 'reality' of the image, and just turned it into some sort of dull featureless sillhouette. That why I referred to it more as being a graphic image, almost like something you would draw, rather than a photograph.

I suppose it raises a broader question of how much you can manipulate a photograph on your computer without feeling that you have somehow 'cheated' the image you started with. I guess this question is probably one which occurs to all of us for whom the digital world has for the first time turned photography into a creative act that doesn't end once you've pressed the shutter - something that has been known for decades by people with their own darkrooms.

[FadderUri]

I think it makes a wonderful statement in sillhouette. Nice and sharp, and the high contrast works... I might have tried to open up the shot a bit to include the left and right edges of the clock, but other than that, I think it's a great shot.