minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Risky submission:

I don't normally do street photography but when I'm in New Orleans I can't resist. I'm no good at it, I know, but trying to improve. I definitely don't do street portraits, but more streetscapes with people in them, if there be such a thing.

The fellow on the right, the captain, is a character I see hanging around Jackson square almost every time I go, and I have other shots of him with his great bag of stuff.

The processing is LR plus a color reduction in topaz. I tried a b & w but it seemed too dull. I do more weird stuff with this kind of subject than with landscape shots. So, tell me what's wrong (or even right, though I doubt it) with it, and make any edits to illustrate. Original posted below my edit.

my edit


original zerod out for sample editing

Aldebaran Loc: Florida

Love the first one

Nightski

My eyes go immediately to the girl with the legs. Then I find him ... sitting there...looking very alone. This is a clever image. He is the subject, but if my eyes went directly to him first, I would miss the point.

Nightski

Why? :hunf: you need to make some points about why you like the first one. PC&A Section..:-)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Minniev, I must admit I admire your landscape work much better than your street photography. That being said, of your two renditions, I prefer the shot with full color intact. I realize this is very subjective, but the first shot appears to me like a faded newspaper article, or a magazine page that's been sitting out in the sun for a year or more. The yellowish background just isn't my favorite color.

Now, as for street photography, I think this one is way too busy. There are two many things to concentrate on, so you can easily overlook the man sitting alone.l And the man? Even in the original, his face is rather obscure in the shadows. We can't see his eyes, nor the expression on his face, and we need that.

Most eyes will zero in on the girl in red, just because that color attracts attention from the cooler blue. If anything, I would desaturate that particular color, or lower the contrast, to direct the attention elsewhere.

Nightski

I don't want to argue with anyone, but I think you've had a Graham moment. Notice..his images are soft. He does it on purpose for effect. You may not have done it on purpose since it's not your thing, but you have a very clever capture here. Now I don't know if the whole b&w with a color pop thing could be done better. I am not good at that. I do like the girl with the legs being in color though, and the man being more soft. It emphasizes the feeling of him being alone in a crowd. I'm a newb, I know. But I just think this is genius. I'm feeling very passionate about this one.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

Well I'll just add my two cents, for what it's worth, A great street scene. I would just have trimmed it down some. Taken some of the top of the trees, and on the right side, leaving the girl, but removing close to her. I would leave it in full color but would have brought in some HDR, to just enough to help bring out some of the contrast. And you are right about New Orleans. You have have to get the camera out. It's such a colorful place and happy place. Yeapers, camera heaven for street scenes. I enjoyed your photo, the second more then the first.

Since you haven't made it down loadable, it remains untouchable by others. LOL

magicray Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

I agree with nightski. I really love your edited version with emphasis on the girl. It's busy but it works well. Tells a story. Composition is excellent and draws me in. Did you try leaving the girl in color and the remainder in B&W? Good work. I can't find anything to criticize. Nice job. :thumbup:

One tip for the guy on the fence - you're looking the wrong way! :lol: But then again, maybe there's something more interesting down the street. That's what I love about this shot. You can read a lot into it. What's in the bag?

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Thanks to all who responded - those who liked the shot as well as those who didn't. All feedback helps me in this quest. My apologies for not ticking the Original box, just forgot.

I agree with Bob - I like my landscape photos better than my street photos too! Landscape is my main interest and I've logged a lot more hours of study and practice in it. But I do want to get a little bit better in some of the other genres. If you think my street stuff is bad, wait till I post a portrait! :)

Advice about cropping and composition are duly noted. My big-landscape bias sometimes hijacks my frame and I leave too much in - that's more detrimental in this genre than some others. I have tried a few with narrower focus, will post some more another time for your advice.

So, I'll put your feedback to practice next time I'm in the city. I am sure the Captain will be there. Magicray, his bag contains all his earthly belongings, as you probably guessed.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

I love your processing, suits it perfectly.
My take on your shot - its gotta be about the girl, she is brilliant. They pay people a lot of money to learn to stand like that and still look natural.
Do whatever you can to take any distraction away from her.
I would be tempted to remove the old guy altogether .. somehow.
Yes, easier said than done but I would be very tempted to try to clone him out, falsify the DOF with guassian blur to put the spotlight well and truly on her, and also to soften over any deficiencies in the removal of him.

Nightski

I love the girl too. She definitely should be emphasized. I thought someone had something about doing her in color and the rest in b&w. I liked that idea. I like all the stuff going on around her though. It adds contrast to the situation.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

With some trepidation, I have continued to work on the New Orleans shot in response to some welcome suggestions. I didn't take the scene totally B& W, but I desaturated everybody but the girl more, then applied topaz pseudoHDR to the girl.

Lighthouse - thanks for the tips and the encouragement. I have no idea how to clone out anyone else without making a royal mess. It was hard enough for me to get rid of the stovepipes in the sky city shot. But I did crop out some more people and stuff from left and top and did some selective blur of everything but her. Too much blur I suspect, but it is an experiment.

Part of the scene that caught my eye was how alone all those characters were on the crowded street. You can't really tell from the photo, but the girl and the captain were the only ones NOT on cell phones. Every one else was chattering on one with a bluetooth or headset.

I won't be the next Cartier-Bresson but I hope to keep having some fun with this, and I'll share more later. And I'm quite comfortable with my weakness in this genre, so don't be afraid to tell me you don't like them. The captain will surely make a return- a lot of my New Orleans photos are like a Where's Waldo of him. I don't see him until I enlarge a photo onscreen.

magicray Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

I love your last version. Perfect! imo

:thumbup: You caught the girl at exactly the right moment. Peak action I would call it even though there isn't must action.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Honestly this does nothing foe me. The situation is shall we say 'banal' but the real problem is the half baked de-saturation. If your intent was to isolate the young woman it failed. (Look at the back of her leg in your last try! man...)

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I agree with you! The backs of her legs are terrible. This was my first try at this type of processing, undertaken as an experiment at the suggestion of some responders, and it is fraught with problems some of which were already present in the original but magnified in the edit. But, I'd had several folks suggest selective coloring of this and other B & W photos so thought I'd at least give it a try. Looks like it would take study and practice to get anything presentable and not sure I'd ever use it much.

Thanks for the helpful comments.