I’ve cropped this just about every way possible but keep coming back to this one. There is a chunk of empty asphalt. It also isn’t going to do as well in a small view as it’s easy to miss the kid on the handlebars and the cigarette- the very things that make the picture. I posted it for some feedback in one of the Flickr groups I like about street photography. This is an excerpt of one of the comments.
There is absolutely nothing of interest on the entire left side of the frame. It is hard to imagine composing a photo so unbalanced. Whatever you edited out surely was more interesting than that huge expanse of empty asphalt? If cutting out whatever it is you cut out seems an improvement to you, then the original must have really really sucked.
A bit rough I thought. I don’t mind direct feedback but still feel like basic manners1 ought to apply in most things in life.
All that being said, I still really like this photograph. It may be that I can claim no credit for what makes it good as that was all in the moment and the content. I was there and I saw what was happening in time to take the shot. There’s a part of me that feels like that’s much of what photography (and other stuff) is- being open and appreciating the beauty and interest of the moment.
From the shore on a lake in Georgia. Every leaf looked like this. I liked the mix of texture and color.
This is the rotting carcass of a sturgeon killed by a boat collision. It’s about 5 feet long and smells pretty rough. It was in a large tub at the VCU Rice Center. This was another one that I liked for the texture, color and purely prehistoric feel of a sturgeon’s scutes.
This is one of the few times I really wish I had shot with a greater depth of field. I love the lady’s expression and the counter pose of the man behind her. Technically the photo could probably use some other help but I still love the moment.
Another in shot that falls in my Americana category. I just happened by this place when heading to the highway in Georgia. Crazy cars. Strange looking people. That’s America.
This reminded me of a flag. Yellow stars on a field of green with a white stripe and a circle . . . or something like that.
Virginia creeper is another interest of mine lately. The graduated color change on the leaves and the crazy colors don’t feel real to me. This particular contrast between organic growth and technical order always appeals to me. I like to look at how humans and nature order things.
This is one of those odd moments I like about working at VCU.
Happy halloween from a chihuahua dressed like a bat.
1 This guy is from NYC and I have a historical/cultural issues with this type of conversation. Maybe he also reviews papers?
To my untrained eye, here’s the thing about that top picture: I love the left side of the photo because there’s a beautiful line that runs straight from the bike’s tires, along the seam in the asphalt, down the stain line heading down the street. It’s almost like a trajectory line for the bike, linking the foreground to the street horizon deep in the photo.