hosh Loc: Hollywood FL

The triangle in the upper right is distracting. I would have gotten down a bit lower to take the photo, that would have helped with the background and the angle of viewing your subject.

mper812 Loc: Atlanta GA area

I have attached my version of my previous post and corrected the upper right corner

Adjusted again

hosh Loc: Hollywood FL

This is really nice. I like how you adjusted it. The crop is tighter but not too tight. The triangle is gone and I like how the boy is off center with more space over towards where he is looking. Very nice. I'm just starting to do post myself so this shows how you can start with a nice image but with a little work make it even better!

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I wouldn't do any more than this.

(Download)

brokeweb Loc: Philadelphia

Nice image... I'd crop it closer to the right. you want to make the boy, the unexplainable subject of your image.

Alby144 Loc: Northern Nevada

Totally agree!

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Dave...The real interesting subject in this photo is your grandson. The rest of it is pretty boring. The vertical iron bar, due to the angle at which you photographed it, even appears to be crooked. The only way to save this photo is to crop around your grandson, getting rid of all the iron work. What you are left with is the logs in the background, which do work. It is possible that you will need to run your finished photo through a sharpening algorithm.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Steve has the right idea basically. But it isn't that the rest is "boring", the problem is that it is distracting. The iron bar is essential, and how straight it is or is not has no significance at all.

There is a philosophical way to to approach this type of image, essentially with Gestault Theory, though specifics can vary. Rudolf Arnheim in 1971 wrote an essay titled Entropy and Art, which isn't exactly an easy read but has many jewels of wisdom to study. In the introduction he says:
Processing this image is first a matter of deciding what has to be included as indispensable to showing the subject. The boy's environment is very much a part of the photograph, and cropping too much is detrimental.

But once it is trimmed to the essential parts, there is much that can be removed or manipulated to place it lower on "the hierarchic scale". The rocks in the background are hugely distracting, but with just a hint of their existence they serve a purpose. A lot small detail on the bars and on the sidewalk can be removed to give it a cleaner look and avoid distraction.

Then the color balance needed adjustment and saturation dropped to an appropriate level. That said, I boosted saturation of the shoe down in front, and made it slightly darker, to provide a balance to match the upper part of the image.

Different example of editing

(Download)

gjeff Loc: Chicago Metro Area

Much nicer crop

extrmekc Loc: Joshua Tree, California

Very nice expression and skin tones!

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Crop based on the content - The boy is looking horizontally, so you should crop horizontally - and give him room for his line-of-sight. When you crop this image VERTICALLY, it feels like his line-of-sight is cutoff.

2) Crop to focus attention to the subject - remove all non essential content.

3) Add (Subtle) Post-Crop Vignetting - This helps to focus the viewer's eye on the subject.

(with Vignetting)


(without Vignetting)

Alby144 Loc: Northern Nevada

If nothing else this thread is proof of the saying , "Opinions are like a--holes, everybody's got one."

Coker Loc: Havana, IL

nice job!

kirmar

I agree that more space in the direction he is looking produces more curiosity and more movement in the photo. I'd suggest cropping to his shoulder or leaving more photo on the right. Having that cute young boy in the center tends to keep my eyes focused there without moving. And I would experiment with different camera angles. Perspective changes with each angle and height. It is worth it to see which works best for the photo.

photoguy43

the area in the background is distracting.cropping tighter will help.In the future use the widest aperture .that way the background will be very soft. Works well for me.

photoguy43

Here is another thought.Blurr the area around your grandson post production.I agree that the saturation level could be lowered. Try converting it to b&w.I know you would be giving up the beautiful coloring but try sepia tone???? Love this forum.