Afternoon Reading

[theantiquetiger]

This is the front porch of the store/library in Madrid, New Mexico. The porch is about 2 meters high and as I was walking up, i saw this lady just enjoying the late afternoon sun. I am still on the steps, about 1/2 way up.

newmexico9b by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

[Iguanasan]

You picked an excellent vantage point. I love that we are almost on the same eye line as her. If you don't mind me saying so, you should totally crop out the garbage can on the left.

[theantiquetiger]

If you don't mind me saying so, you should totally crop out the garbage can on the left.

I tried, it hurts the image, losing the book shelves and/or the tables on the bottom right, so I left it in. I going to try and remove the green sticker so the can won't be a eye draw.

[Marko]

I'm with iggy - The image is stronger with half the bookshelves and no can... here's my crop.

[theantiquetiger]

I'm with iggy - The image is stronger with half the bookshelves and no can... here's my crop.

I tried several ways and didn't like the feel of them. It steals too many leading lines going to her and/or places her in a bad location. Like I said, I am going to try and clone out the green sticker, making the entire can black, so your eye won't be easily drawn to the bright spot.

[Runmonty]

I hear both sides of this discussion. I do like extra space in the original.

I know it is photo-manipulation, but if you didn't know what to do with those hot Louisiana nights, you could sit down in front of the computer and give something like this a try. This is as rough as guts ( definition here ) as I only spent 5-10 minutes on it this morning before heading off to work.

[theantiquetiger]

Run, that would take some major manipulation and I just don't have the skills to make it look natural.

I did do this crop but I still think the original is stronger with the roof showing

newmexico9c by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

[Runmonty]

That is still a fine image and I like it.

I just liked the idea of there being more space around her, and her occupying less space in the frame, which (to me) emphasised her being alone (but not lonely).

[theantiquetiger]

That is still a fine image and I like it.

I just liked the idea of there being more space around her, and her occupying less space in the frame, which (to me) emphasised her being alone (but not lonely).

Thats the feeling I get with the original, and is lost with the crops. I am sticking to the original. When you have 2 seconds to grab a shot like this, you gotta take the surroundings as they come. This is actually one of my favorite images I took on the trip. I did clone out the green sticker on the can, but it didn't look natural

[Runmonty]

This is actually one of my favorite images I took on the trip.

You got some great shots from that trip (but you still haven't shared on this forum one of my favourites that I saw on Flickr i.e. newmexico12)