i feel like some feedback...

[back alley]

so, what do you think?

 

[Ranchu]

Pillar makes things pretty static, it's hard to look at the rest of the picture with it there. jmo.

 

[easyrider]

The eye is led to the two protruding pipes in front, then to the pillar. Pic does not work for me. Too much jumbled info -- the guy reading a paper, the ATM sign.
Sorry but you did ask 🙂)

 

[nikon_sam]

3 or 4 steps to your left with the post about 1/3 from the left with the chalkboard directly behind the man...the light at the man's feet cause the eyes to end up there...

 

[dexdog]

I would suggest this, a crop of your original. I think that the central position of the post really limits the viewpoint of the image. Not that I am into nozzles, or anything... I like the tonality of the image, which makes good use of b&w.

 

[kxl]

There are just too many vertical lines in the composition. I hope you don't mind the adjustments, but I think the cropped 6x6 image works better. I think this draws attentions to the Please Use Back Door sign and the door to the right. I also boosted contrast to infuse a sense of mystery.

 

[Bingley]

I like the light, the exposure, and mood a lot here, joe. The more I look at the photo, the more I appreciate the varied textures and strong vertical lines in the background -- mirror/window, doors, brick walls at slightly different angles . But I agree w/ the others about the pillar. It obstructs, rather than adds, to the photo. I was thinking about possible crops, and I think the two suggestions above are worth considering. Either crop would also concentrate attention on the guy w/ the newspaper. Interesting photo. 🙂

 

[t.s.k.]

The pillar is fine on me but...

...that dang pipe! :bang:

The main subject is almost squarely centered too.
Panning to the right might have made a huge difference - composing the gentleman on the left third of the frame.

Besides that, it's quite nice.

 

[followtt]

I really love the light and the exposure.
I like it best when I crop out the door and signs (every thing behind the post and the man) and KEEP the pipe. It goes nicely with the cigarette 🙂

 

[back alley]

thanks for the feedback folks. interesting how we see things so individually. i always think that i make my images too contrasty for most other's liking so i'm surprised that someone would make it more so. moving to the left cut too much of the man's figure and so i thought it would not be as effective. i like the crop with the pole at the far left and wonder about making the background darker still.
as for that pipe...it's there and not much is gonna move it 😉

 

[RF_newbie]

This may sound odd but....
i flinch ever time i look at it because i think water is going to come squirting out of the pipe at me. 😉

 

[Ducky]

This may sound odd but....
i flinch ever time i look at it because i think water is going to come squirting out of the pipe at me. 😉

No worries, that's a feed line for the sprinkler, it has a check valve that lets water in but not out🙂.
I like it joe. I would have cropped it at the far left vertical door frame. It's more a story than just an image, the kind of photo that askes you to write a 500 word composition on what the guy is waiting for or some such.

 

[back alley]

not sure if anyone noticed that he has a cig in his hand, smoke rising...i thought he looked like a guy on a quick smoke break on one of the first warmish days of spring.

 

[Keith]

Ok...seeing as everyone else is having fun altering Joe's image I'll pitch in also.

For me it works much better as a square and for some reason it seems to make the pipe thingy less intrusive. I also toned down the highlights, increased the contrast and darkened the image over all a little.

 

[BillBingham2]

And now for something completely different........

Great exposure and range of tones, absolutely great.

I think there are a couple of different shots here and perhaps a bit out side the frame. I really like the light, shadows and shoes in the lower right of the frame. I think there is an interesting picture with a lot of great patterns there. Not sure what is outside of the frame to know, but the lighting makes it look very interesting.

I can crop the stand pipe out but that darn 4 (of the 314) I can not. I'm thinking tight and wide maybe about the nose for the top and the bottom of the paper at the bottom and then back (left) to a reasonable amount of blackness, not sure about the right.

I think you see the interesting things but from this picture I think you need to follow the SCUFI saying..... Shoot Close Up For Impact and try to fill the frame what what really interests you.

Again, spot on exposure and range of tones, could not get any better.

Hope this helps.

B2 (;->

 

[gho]

I agree with B2's comments on the exposure. The picture has a very nice tonality. Actually this was my first impression when viewing it. The next thing that caught my eye was the central vertical element and the pipe, that somehow put me off. So basically my view entered the frame from the upper center (the numbers) and was led to the pipe. From there I was directly led out of the picture. The next thought was, that I would have been nice, if you had framed it a bit differently, more off center (a bit more tension), maybe a slight shift to the right. On a second glance, you could also have framed it vertically with the person in the left side of the frame.

But on the other hand, as it is, the photo could also be viewed as a dyptich in one frame. Thanks for sharing.

 

[douwe]

I Like the tonality of the shot, and it's nice and sharp. It's composition that everybody is addressing, and so am I.
I wonder if the picture would be easier on the eye if you had included more, not less. If one can see the top of the doors and the blackboard, and perhaps even the roof that the column in the middle is supporting, there would no longer be an abundance of vertical lines. The verticals would now be part of structures like doors roofs and windows that our brain automatically recognizes as such. Perhaps you could have taken the shot vertically. Another thing is that I would not have put that column in the middle, because it is very prominent in this way. I would rather see what is happening in front of the man, rather than behind him, unless he is being attacked of course!
Don't get me wrong, I think it is a nice picture already!

 

[back alley]

 

[Steve M.]

I really like dexdog's cropped version. There's a lot of tension with the image on the far left and the blankness on the right.

But if I look at the original version for a while I like it a lot too. At first it obviously looks cut in two, but after some time w/ it, it works really well. So there's the quick look version, then the extended play version.

I like the other cropped versions that other people did too! Jeeez, I thought I was picky. Maybe it's just MY work I don't like.

 

[Al Patterson]

I liked both of the cropped versions. The original proves to me I need a wider monitor...

(Using an old style 1024 by 768 flat screen. I need a wider screen to see the whole original w/o scrolling)