Critique Required Lone Boy

[Hamish Gill]

Genuinely interested to hear peoples thoughts on this one...

not sure why I felt it suited so heavy handed pp, it just seemed to reinforce the mood


lonley boy by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

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I cant decide


Lonely Boy B&W by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

 

[Ahmad Bhai]

Brooding figure on the left with the boy lost in his thoughts makes it. The boy on his own is a fine image, with the brooding figure it just heightens the senses in a foreboding way. Want to run and protect that child.

 

[Pete Askew]

I think Ahmad has summed it up quite nicely. There is a sense of foreboding about this shot and the young lads expression adds to this. For that reason I think the B&W version is the stronger as the lack of colour results in the subject being much more the focal point.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Agreed. The big orange block behind the boy is distracting in colour, but doesn't register in the BW version.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Cool ... Cheers b&w it is ...
is it actually any good though ... I've convinced my self I like these borderline abstract street photos but I'm not sure if they might just be a bit ****?

I'm deciding I this is worth perusing really ... I quite like doing it if I get in the mood

 

[Pete Askew]

I like and to me it is good. The thin sliver of focus on the boy's eyes make it for me. Lends 'meaning' (though obscure) to the subject I think.

 

[Brian Moore]

I love it! I love the fore and aft oof, as well as the blown highlights on the boy's right side. I'd be proud to have created an image like this. (Is that a human being at the back, high up on the side of the building, waving?)

 

[adam hoskins]

Colour def would possibly change levels in blue and drag the output slider in a bit . Or what would also work well is adding light leak onto left hand side.

 

[Darren Turner]

I love the subject, the idea of the muted colours and the BW and the lads expression

Not sure i like that fact that its not very sharp and that thing to left of shot needs cropping out

Daz

 

[Peter Blake]

my thoughts: the figure on the left can be retained because it contains the image more effectively.

 

[Paul Lange]

I think potentially I am with Darren that visually it would look a little cleaner with the dark area on the left cropped out but I don't think it would imply a storey nearly as well. The black figure-like shape adds to the sinister aspect of it although not necessarily in, shall we say a "topical way" given the recent news stories. I think there is always a compromise to be made between content and composition, sometimes you need the content to tell a story but the composition would look better if the content wasn't in it.

 

[Pete Askew]

Good points Paul. Personally I like the shadowy figure on the left because of the slight sense of menace it lends to the image. Without I think the image would lose reason and would be just another random person in the street type of shot.

 

[Hamish Gill]

To be honest, I'm just happy this photo has generated such a conversation
thanks for the kind words and critique ...

as for the colour Adam ... I could tinker with that til Tuesday and not be happy with it so I'm sticking with the b&w and the final "peice"

the shadowy figure ... Yeah, what Paul said!
although I hadn't thought of the topical reference ...

 

[Chris Dodkin]

For me, it's important that he's the only one looking at the photographer - everyone else is heading the other way

This leaves many questions about why he is going against the flow

Like the muted color one myself - PP suits I think Hamish

 

[Hamish Gill]

Cheers Chris ...