http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=667217

-- Travis koh (teckyy@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002

Answers

Its not clear whether or not Ashley is sitting or squatting... my guess is squatting but if you were to move back a little bit to include the rest of her it would give the picture more context. Alternatively, you could've filled the frame with her (if she posed against the wall) and used the strong graphical element of the in focus to OOF wall to strengthen the picture as well. It looks like you ran out of exposure latitude as well so using the darker elements in the picture for background and relying less on the very bright elements might have recovered more tonality in the final analysis. Good effort though... would've been nice to see what the other frames look like (if you did shoot a series of frames).

Cheers,

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

Travis' photo

Hope you don't mind but I made a link to make it easier for the others to look at your photo. I like it... nice selective focus and good use of negative space. Did you use an external finder for your M3, or did you just use the whole viewfinder?

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), March 30, 2002.

I framed using the outer limit of the viewfinder.. Ashley was squatting..i missed the chair..;)

-- Travis koh (teckyy@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Thanks Al, can u teach me how to make a link? thanks..

-- Travis koh (teckyy@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Travis, go to the link below (from the admin section) and read Tony's tutorial. I am a complete idiot as far as computers are concerned, but I can do it, so anyone can.

click-able links

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), March 30, 2002.

depending upon the intended use of the photo, the background/context may be important. however, if not, i find the background (copying machine, etc.) to be ugly and distracting. i cropped it on screen by removing the top 1/3, almost to a square, and i felt this made for a much better composition. the pose is odd, but it does not seem uncomfortable or strained. i also like the high key effect here -- quite effective with her black hair, patern on the dress, etc. environmental portraits are great. however, the inclusion of the environment has to ratchet up the interest of the photo to be worth including. i think you have a top-notch portrai here that benefits not at all from the background clutter. thanks for showing the pic.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), March 30, 2002.

come on buddy. framing! and get rid of that background. nice expression though.

dick

-- richard (dickwalsh@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

To paraphrase Obiwan Kenobi (a dedicated Leica user, I'm told), "Use the frame, Luke. Use the frame."

My suggestion would be to either fill the frame with the subject using good composition, or back up to include interesting background elements that tell the story of (at least some of) "the Five Ws" - who, what, when, where, and why.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), March 30, 2002.