Pool/Model, Which Crop is best, C&C Welcome (imgs)

trisweb,

Thank you ...
You are probably right ... questionable if the trees add anything.

fyi: wish I was staying there as well
We did have a pool side room ... but only for 5 hours.

Those Wailea Hotels in general are too expensive for my budget lol ...
4 seasons is one of my favs there. This one is the Marriott.
HG

trisweb said:

Certainly the 2nd. The incomplete distractions in the 1st are not needed and just detract from the subject. Also, the connectedness of the reflection to the sky is more intriguing in the 2nd as the trees don't immediately give away that it's a pool. Much more interesting.

Excellent shots as well, nice work. Wish I were there

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Michael,
Thank you for your kind words and comment.
HG

Michael M Fliegel said:

Great picture. Go with the 1st one.

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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Aloha Bill,

Thank you for looking in and commenting.
Your advice is valued.
HG

Bootstrap said:

Ross,
After going back and forth for several minutes, I prefer the 2nd.
Very nicely conceived and executed.

Bill Turner

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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Ryan,

Thank you for your comments.

I think you hit on what the the 1st crop needs more of.
Simplify.
HG

Ryan21 said:

The first doesn't do it for me. My eye doesn't know where to settle down at and the second one is very nice, I am partial for simple compositions so I am a bit biased.

Ryan
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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

On what you want the image to portray.

Remove the bar in the lower left corner of the first image and you have an evocative landscape, with the model providing visual interest.

The second crop focuses on the model, with the clouds/reflection providing a backdrop.

So, the choice is whether you want the image to be about the landscape, or about the model.

Rule of thirds, et al, are only starting points and shouldn't be used as the final assessment of an image. Some people seem to forget that beyond technique, a good photo should tell a story, or at least evoke some sort of narrative within the mind of the viewer. Otherwise all you have is a "nice shot" which is soon forgotten.
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Jeff,
Thank you for commenting ... very helpful
HG

Jeff said:

The second is very nice. It really focuses on the relationship between water and sky, and the model breaks the symmetry in an interesting way.

To me, the first has too many things going on -- the second is clearer concept.

Very nice.

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Jeff

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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Christa,

Thank you for your comments.
HG

cnb said:

I'd say definitely crop out the rail; from there it's either with palm-tree frame (I'd also crop a bit of sky for proportion), or complete focus on the infinity pool as in the 2nd shot. Anyhow, nice!!

Cheers
Christa
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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Aloha Larry,

Nicely done on the edit ... I do feel it is an improvment on my fist ver.
HG

Larry Lynch said:

I liked the first one best BUT, I didnt like the bar (lower left)..

Cropping out the bar (or what-ever it is) made the shot too WIDE, so I took a strip out of the middle, and blended the shot together..

this is the shot I ended up with.

Model still there, but NOT dominating the image..
Trees still there framing the image, Bar gone, but shot NOT super wide looking.



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Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

I would have even favored the hat slightly below the horizon, so that the person is not "cut" by the line.

Cheers

Claudius

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I like the wider shot, and I'd clone out the railing.
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bobinsandyeggo said:

agree you should clone out the bar.

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lol, don't know what I was thinking ... leaving it there.
must have thought it was cool that it pointed to the girl

bobinsandyeggo said:

I like the trees. I like the symmetry created by the size of the palm on the right, and the clouds on the left.

The scale of the tree on the right to the scale of the tree on the left to the figure moves my eye into the picture. To the vanishing point created by the "X" intersect of the clouds. The trees give a context to the picture, imo, which is lost when they're cropped out.

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Love your analysis here.

It was sooo nice to have the clouds and trees set up that way ( vs having to PP it in lol ) ... I was just lucky it happened "before" they turned on the pool pumps , which created small waves in the pool.

OK, what do you think about keeping the Palm Tree ... but cloning "out" the other Tree (which is not really Hawaii-ish).

bobinsandyeggo said:

If the figure were large enough to absolutely dominate the crop, say, maybe she is way up in the foreground, it might work. Kind of Maxfield Parrish-ish, with the clouds and those killer brilliant blues. Maybe on the left third vertical? Your eye goes from her, to the tree on the right, back to the tree on the left, to the vanishing point of the clouds.

I like #1 a lot, as a picture, but I think it could work with her in the foreground, too.

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Intersting idea, Thank you!

I did not shoot a comp. like that ... But, I have standing poses of her I could PP in like that. Great idea. I should have done at least a few a little edgyer, for myself at the very least.
Just wish I thought of that on location lol
Well, next time ....

I did shoot model floating in a tube ... as a foreground sub. ... but, I was not happy with the mood. and it was hard to keep the waves on the pool surface down as well. (if anything, I would have to clone it in)

But, those floating near subject shots, will still be useable for something else

bobinsandyeggo said:

Nice work, man. Really nice.
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Thank you Bob ... apreaciate it.
HG

bobinsandyeggo said:

bob naegele
san diego, ca
http://www.rjndesign.com/

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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Aloha CharlesB58,

You bring up a great point, best crop also depends on intent.

and your point about beyond the technical ... "tell a Story" !

That is so much the journey for me ... trying to get more ... mood, feeling, Story.

HG

CharlesB58 said:

On what you want the image to portray.

Remove the bar in the lower left corner of the first image and you have an evocative landscape, with the model providing visual interest.

The second crop focuses on the model, with the clouds/reflection providing a backdrop.

So, the choice is whether you want the image to be about the landscape, or about the model.

Rule of thirds, et al, are only starting points and shouldn't be used as the final assessment of an image. Some people seem to forget that beyond technique, a good photo should tell a story, or at least evoke some sort of narrative within the mind of the viewer. Otherwise all you have is a "nice shot" which is soon forgotten.
--
http://saro_shots.photoshop.com

Click to expand...

--

Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

ShatteredSky said:

I would have even favored the hat slightly below the horizon, so that the person is not "cut" by the line.

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Claudius,
You do have a point ...
On this shot I had to balance the low angle, with where the line would be.
What I did not want is the Horizon line to be at her neck.

I could still correct this in PP ... but, would force me to make her appear smaller.
Not sure if that would improve the image.
HG

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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

Aloha jfinite,

Thank you for your comment ...

Very helpful in making me realize ... leaving that in, was a "what are you thinking" moment.

HG

jfinite said:

I like the wider shot, and I'd clone out the railing.
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Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

I changed permissions on the image on my page, so unless someone wants to see it there will be no image in my OP.

Thanks for looking.

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Good shooting.

• Adam

Equipment in plan

Hi,

glad you like it. I do find it myself significantly more dynamic compared to the original or the variants where both trees stay in the shot. Was not so sure on the water/sky ratio, but I found the sky to be more interesting, so I did not push the horizon at the 1/3 imaginary line.

I am in the same situation as you are - not sure that moving the model in the "scientific" correct place would be the best. Maybe just a tiny bit to the left (by building more to the right), but not that much as to do it "perfect"

All in all, it is a great shot anyway - always good to have something like this to start processing. Please let us take a look at the final version .

Regards,

Liviu

I pondered for a while and even tried some of my own crops, but came to the conclusion that the second crop seems to work the best . The first crop would have been nice had it not been for,

1. The pool bar in the bottom
2. The incomplete trees on either side. Maybe one complete tree may have helped.

Hope that helps.
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I like both, very much.

On the wider shot, I'd merely clone out the metal bar in the foreground.

The feel of each is very distinct. I don't think that either is "better" -- both are quite wonderful.

'gday HG

Depends on the client in the end, BUT for me #1 says tropics (pity there wasn't a palm either side, but it still says tropical), I have no problem with the half trees someone mentions nor the hat on the horizon. I feel her pose is a little strained—pity (that's just her inexperience most likely). Simply clone out the hand rail & they should be more than happy.

As for #2 could be any where it tells me nothing about the location....it's just the back of a girl & an infinity pool it, tells me nothing else. Just file it & if they ask for anything closer then show them, if not you may be able to use it some place else down the track.

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I think the second shot is best. I would actually move the girl to the left a bit more. And go in even tighter if you can.

I would love to try to shoot in this situation. I would look get the camera closer to the model. Put it on a tripod in the pool, and use a remote trigger so you can wait for the water to become glass-like.

I would also play around with getting some light onto the model - maybe with off-camera flash or a reflector.

Did you try any other poses?
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• Andrew