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The Watchman
The Watchman
Andrem


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Hidden Faces (Advanced Editing III)
Camera: Canon PowerShot A70
Location: a block away from my home, in Markham, ON
Date: Dec 25, 2004
Aperture: f 4.80
ISO: (Auto) - 50 ?
Shutter: 1/1002
Galleries: Humorous
Date Uploaded: Dec 26, 2004

This caught my eye as I drove by early Christmas morning - it reminded me about a "hidden faces" challenge I had recently read about, that maybe was still on. When I got back home, after verifying that the challenge was indeed still open, I walked back to the scene and took the shot.

My first submission. For the heck of it. I hope it brings you a smile.

Very little editing: crop, adjusted levels, unsharp mask 70%.

Statistics
Place: 52 out of 97
Avg (all users): 5.1388
Avg (commenters): 5.8889
Avg (participants): 4.8696
Avg (non-participants): 5.2714
Views since voting: 741
Views during voting: 346
Votes: 209
Comments: 11
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
01/05/2005 07:33:07 AM
Greetings from the Critique Club

First off, welcome to DPC! Glad to see some new submitters here.

A strong first entry --- 5.1388/47% is nothing to be ashamed about. As far as working with this image itself, I would have liked to see a closer crop on the face, which is the focal point of the photo. By getting rid of the distractions, the major element really stands out and is more obvious to people. This also helps give it a less of a snapshot feel to it as the viewer subconsciously realizes that extra time and effort was put into the making of the photograph. When people see a snapshot on DPC, they tend to vote it down because the effort is not there. To me, this was borderline and overlooking some things, I gave it a six as above average.

If I were to go back to this location and reshoot for this challenge, I would have braved the snowbanks and gotten nice in and close to the hydrant. In that instance, without worrying about a distracting background, you could then really understand the focal point immediately and more obviously than in the way you have presented it here.

Techinically, this shot is not terrible. The focus is fine and on. The snow seems underexposed which is a common fault in modern camera light meters. The way around this is, if your camera has the options to manually overexpose the shot by 2/3 of a stop or more until the snow is a nice white color. You could always bracket exposure to assure that you get the right exposure. Alternatively, you could use a handheld light meter to measure the amount of light falling on the snow rather than the amount of light reflected off of the snow which you camera reads.

Overall, I think this image is good, but there is always room for improvement. Good luck with you future submissions!

If you have any questions or comments feel free to Private Message me from my Profile.

Lee
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/02/2005 10:46:07 AM
Very cute. Bumping up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/31/2004 12:01:35 PM
Cute. Nice find. Maybe smige tighter would have been better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/31/2004 09:53:02 AM
Sharp! There's just no question why you took this photo. Snapshot-like, sure. But show it to an uncorrupted grade-schooler and their sure to laugh at what you saw and perfectly conveyed. ( I suppose you could also color correct so that there's less of a yellow cast to the snow, but I live in a valley where this is the reality.)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/30/2004 03:25:44 PM
I might have cropped it a little tighter on the top to get rid of the houses
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/30/2004 02:49:20 AM
The snow hat really makes this face. A closer portrait and shallower depth of field would improve the shot. (6)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/29/2004 10:09:54 AM
Cute! A tighter crop might have worked a little better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/29/2004 09:54:12 AM
Sort of busy. I might have gone for a horizontal drop and try to eliminate more of the foreground and background.

Oops, thanks for the PM. That was a typo. I meant Crop instead of Drop. Anyway, I thought if you had cropped it Landscaped instead of Portrait it might have focused more on the hydrant.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/29/2004 07:58:25 AM
Would be better with a tighter crop. The subject was very good and fitted the challenge. A close up or fill the frame would be my suggestion Good find though
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/28/2004 02:24:29 PM
Yep. . . the face sure jumps right out at you, with his snow hat on and everything :) Good job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
12/26/2004 10:07:18 PM
Background needs bl
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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