Apologies if this ends up a mess; I'm an uneducated HTML first-timer. I've been quietly following this forum for a while now and have really enjoyed the images shared as well as the quality of comments and questions posted by the community here. I'm a 21 year old student working towards an English degree (coming to the McDonalds near you...) and hoping to get into journalism, though I love good fashion photography as well. Image was made with an 85/1.8 lens originally on RDPIII (I found BW more fitting) in Kathmandu. I saw the man, wanted to make a quick portrait, and after giving him the Rs5 he wanted for it, made two quick exposures of him in the doorway of his shop.

-- Eamonn Aiken (eamonn@emulsionz.com), July 24, 2001

Answers

-- Josh Wand (josh@joshwand.com), July 24, 2001.

The light and the tonal reproduction are lovely. For me though, the composition is awkward, with that jumble of hands and, something, a knee (?), at the bottom. What was your intent when you framed it this way, and do you feel you succeeded?

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), July 24, 2001.

Thanks Josh. I more or less copied the HTML layout from the "how to" section, substituting the proper address and dimensions for my image; where did I go wrong?

Struan, I agree on the knee and wish the hands had fallen in a more photogenic manner. I also wish I could say I had reason for the bottom half of the frame being slightly jumbled (I didn't find it quite as confused as you did) but it's more the result of a first time traveler (and fairly inexperienced photographer) at work- it was my first day in Nepal and I remember concentrating so much on his face that I got a touch lazy with the frame edges. He and I never spoke verbally, just with gestures, and I never gave him any direction; I was just there to record. For me the knee isn't a major distraction and the hands are something of an "if only" consideration and I think a bit of burning in of the knee will make it less of an obstacle when I finish this image for use in the little written project I'm putting together for university credit. I do feel that despite being far from an ideal portrait, it does succeed as a "street portrait" in showing what I saw, especially in that I am viewing it in the context of an illustration to a written text. Thanks again Josh and Struan, and all else who comment.

-- Eamonn Aiken (eamonn@emulsionz.com), July 24, 2001.

Well, cropping suggestions are the ultimate unimaginative critique, so I thought I'd ask before wading in.

If this were my image I would crop it just above his arm, but below the lowest button. I would also take a sliver off the right side to maintain the tall-thin look, which fits well with his physique. The light on his face is so good it should dominate the image without distractions, and it's clear from his expression that he's relaxed, so you don't need the hands to show that.

I would also burn in the horizontal end-wood streak just above the peak of his hat. It's fighting with the frame more than with him, but it's distracting nonetheless.

-- Struan Gray (struan.gray@sljus.lu.se), July 25, 2001.

Terrific photograph. The only thing I would do would be to crop out his knee, leaving the remaining small portion of his hand showing. I also might burn in the right background just a bit. Very nice job.

-- David Cunningham (dcunningham@attglobal.net), July 25, 2001.

Thanks again to Struan and David for the suggestions~ I'm definately still struggling with the skill of editing my own work, making forums like these very valuable to those of us with limited experience but plenty of desire... I worked with both of your suggestions and after looking at the final result (even after such seemingly minor alterations) I was quite surprised with the difference. The face had always been to me strong enough to override the rest, but as the one who tripped the shutter concentrating on that very face, that seems natural. I burned the edges further and cropped according to David's suggestion (taking the hand out as well left him looking a little confined) and took some off of the side as well to maintain some of the strict vertical look (thanks Struan) and the new image (also sporting a stronger toning job and posted on the excellent Usefilm.com's portait site) is definately stronger.

-- Eamonn Aiken (eamonn@emulsionz.com), July 29, 2001.