Selective Processing and Prominence

Take an image that I I have previously used and selectively process twice. Once so the figure recedes into the setting and then the opposite so the figure stands out more.

 I chose an image I had used in an earlier exercise.  I had converted it to black and white to try and give it some depth.  It had been a difficult image to process as it was nearly all the same tone. This was how I presented it back then:

Looking at the image and reprocessing it thinking about making the image blend in or stand out.  Thinking of the various parts of the image. The first process I made global adjustments, making the figure blend into the setting.
Even this is better than my earlier processing.

I then made adjustments to the pavement, the light grey wall on the right and parts of the building on the left.  Using curves and contrast I have lightened the background.  This makes the figure more prominent.  For this image I think this is a better edit.

The last image improves the picture and I have learnt to think a bit more about how I want the picture to look, it is still better to get it right in camera.  The light is flat in this picture so is never going to be a great picture.  Ideally I need to go back and reshoot in better light.

Balancing Figure and Space

For this exercise we are to produce two images using the same general viewpoint, varying the balance and attention between the person and the setting they are in.

In the first image I am standing on the corner looking down the street. There is a cyclist walking his cycle up the footpath.  This image has not made a very strong picture. Although standing on the street corner it looked interesting.  As a picture it is boring.

 

By crossing the street and moving just a few feet I have taken the image below.  The cyclist is little closer to me and now is a bigger part of the picture.  It is the same light but the reflected light off the lighter coloured walls on this side of the street make the picture lighter and brighter.  There is less empty space in the foreground of the image.   

The horizontal framing enabled me to crop out the sky which on a grey day adds nothing to this scene.

 

I found this exercise valuable in thinking more about the scene I was photographing and how very minor changes make such a big difference.  Being aware doesn't need to take much time. With these two images I didn't have very long to change my view if  was to include the cyclist in the picture. Two minutes and looking and thinking.

Making Figures Anonymous

For this exercise we are asked to to make between two and four images using different techniques, deliberately making the people anonymous but is primarily about the place.

The first image I have used the technique of facing away.  To achieve this I have taken the picture from a higher vantage point so as to obscure the faces of the the two men having coffee but to show the table and chairs and pavement.

The next image I have used the technique of partly obscuring the person. I have deliberately taken the image so that the faces of the people are in the reflections of the water on the ground.

The next image uses the technique of taking the person in silhouette and making them small.

My final image for this exercise is to use motion blur.  Even though the person is facing me by using a slow shutter speed while they are walking past blurs the face making them unrecognisable.