Personal  :: 06.09.06   photography  :: 04.02.07   Travels  :: 04.20.05   Other  :: 07.24.07   © 2008 Jace Mouse. All Rights Reserved.

Photography : Photo Of The Week : #70 06.01.2003   I think this is a good example of urban street photography.  The photo "works."  But as with most photography like this, I'm at a bit of a loss to explain why.  I think a significant reason is that it offers a "glimpse" into urban life.  The shot is conflicted.  On one hand, it has interest that makes me want to look.  On the other hand, it's not that interesting.  I think the reason it works is because it makes me hungry for more.  If I can find intrigue in something as benign as this, what else must exist to capture my interest in the city?!   I like the way the taller buildings reflect off of the front of the Vespa.  It helps to convey the urban feeling, and also relays a pleasing yellow cast of the setting sun on the buildings. This shot has me thinking about doing a collection of urban street scenes. --------------- Now, on to a photographic discussion.  Ah, the power -- and torment -- that comes with Photoshop....  I debated around a couple different version of this image.  The first debate was whether the yellow barricade detracted from the image.  The second debate was whether this image was better-served in color, or in black-and-white (duotone).  Take a minute to look at the images I've included below.  I decided that the image is better when I removed the barricade. Then, I converted the image to black and white using Photoshop's Channel Mixer.   I like the "mood" that's set by the duotone version, but I regret the loss of the reflected buildings.  If I felt it was critically important to the image, I could have done some work to preserve them. But then I took a look at the image after returning the barricade to the scene.  Is it just me, or does the color version look best sans-barricade, while the duotone version looks better with the barricade left in? Barricade Removed with Clone Tool Barricade Removed, in Black and White Barricade Restored: Original Image, as Black and White Camera:  Canon 10D Lens:  28-135mm, USM EF IS Mode:  Manual Metering:  n/a Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec Aperture: f6.7 ISO: 100 Focal Length: 135mm (216mm effective) Firmware: 1.0.0 Contrast and Sharpness were set to +1. Filter: Hoya SHMC Circular Polarizer Original File Size: 3072 x 2048,  1,590K