# Trash bin at the Beach - Critique



## Valls (May 7, 2016)

Hello guys,

Here I come again with another photo I hope for you to critique!
This photo was taken at the beach, in a somewhat cloudy day.
My camera is a soperzoom, Nikon Coolpix P500.
This was shot in Manual mode, handheld, ISO 160, f/5.6, shutter speed 1/320s, at about 88,7mm (according to exif data).

Here's the picture:






And if you wanna suggest a different crop/post processing here's the original:





So, I wanted to pass a certain impression with this picture... I want you to tell me what impression you got when you saw it! I could tell you what I wanted you to see, but I don't wanna influence on your opinion! If anyone gets it, I'll let you know!

Other than that, please say anything that come to mind as to how I could have made it better. I know the picture is a bit underexposed, but I was handholding the camera and quite zoomed in (for the shallower depth of field), so I wanted to make sure it was pretty sharp (or as sharp as it gets, anyway).

Once more, thank you guys! Cheers!


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## sleist (May 7, 2016)

The darkening of the grass along the bottom is a problem for me in the conversion.
I think mono was a good choice otherwise.  Cropping is not the best option to correct though.

Maybe using a process that does not darken the bottom quite so much - or correcting in some other way?


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## KC1 (May 7, 2016)

The first thing I thought: "what is that on the horizon to the right side?"
I tend to look long range though.


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## manaheim (May 8, 2016)

Crop the grass out entirely.
It's otherwise a very nicely done (And a bit disturbing) picture.


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## Valls (May 8, 2016)

Hey guys, thanks for commenting!

I kinda noticed the over darkened grass at the bottom by the time I posted, but it didnt bother me enough to fix it! My intention with it when I took the picture was to use it as some sort of a framing, idk... I could correct it with some masked exposure or I could crop it out entirely and give the picture more of a "cinematic" feeling... 

About the thing on the Horizon, lol I saw that either! But I forgot to clone it out before posting! Will do for sure!

I will try the two things, the cropping and the brightening, and post here! If you guys could comment on those later about which one you like better I'll be flattered!
Manaheim, If its disturbing I think its a mission accomplished... Thats exactly what I was going for! Kinda disturbing, creepy, sad, something like that! Thanks and thanks for the compliment 

Thank you all, I'll come back later with the fixed picture


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## Designer (May 8, 2016)

Valls said:


> So, I wanted to pass a certain impression with this picture... I want you to tell me what impression you got when you saw it!


Hello!

I get no impression other than the trash bin is worn, soiled, and cracked. I see the ocean is laughing through his mouth.  The breaker foam looks like the clown's upper teeth.  Other than that, I'm getting nothing.  Sorry.


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## Valls (May 8, 2016)

Designer said:


> Valls said:
> 
> 
> > So, I wanted to pass a certain impression with this picture... I want you to tell me what impression you got when you saw it!
> ...


Thanks for commenting!

You get no feeling whatsoever? No feelings of disturbance, creepyness, sadness or anything? Perhaps I didnt make it clear with the word "impression", I meant more like a feeling than any visual impression!

Thanks 

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## manaheim (May 8, 2016)

BTW, I think the vignetting is a little heavy-handed.


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## Valls (May 8, 2016)

manaheim said:


> BTW, I think the vignetting is a little heavy-handed.


Noted, will lighten this either

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## tirediron (May 8, 2016)

Valls said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > Valls said:
> ...


I think there's a really good photo lurking here, but maybe you're not quite there, yet...  I would be tempted to come back at night and reshoot this.  I think using light painting and some trial and error, you could indeed turn this into a very creepy image!


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## Designer (May 8, 2016)

Valls said:


> You get no feeling whatsoever? No feelings of disturbance, creepyness, sadness or anything?


Correct.  None whatsoever.  Certainly not any of those feelings.


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## Valls (May 8, 2016)

Designer said:


> Valls said:
> 
> 
> > You get no feeling whatsoever? No feelings of disturbance, creepyness, sadness or anything?
> ...


How would you have me acquire that?

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## qy10 (May 10, 2016)

I really like this photo. To me, there is something kind of macabre about this creepy clown garbage can. The fact that you chose to go black and white adds to the darkness/creepiness. The dark grass at the bottom of the photo is kind of distracting for the eye though.


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

qy10 said:


> I really like this photo. To me, there is something kind of macabre about this creepy clown garbage can. The fact that you chose to go black and white adds to the darkness/creepiness. The dark grass at the bottom of the photo is kind of distracting for the eye though.


Thanks for commenting! Thats exactly what i was going for... Except the grass, that was a failure... Next time I try using something for "framing" the picture I will make the same shot without the framing, just in case! Cropping now would give the PIC a weird feeling, i guess..
Thanks again 

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## manaheim (May 11, 2016)

Valls, I think you can still crop it, just crop a bit out of the left or right as well to maintain the aspect ratio.  You should be able to make it work fine.


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

manaheim said:


> Valls, I think you can still crop it, just crop a bit out of the left or right as well to maintain the aspect ratio.  You should be able to make it work fine.


Ok, so I made too attempts... First I made the bottom grass brighter, so it looks a bit less distracting... Then I cropped it out and a bit from the left side also! Both pics I removed the horizon distraction. Here's what I came up with:

The cropped one:





The brightened one:




What are your thoughts on them?


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## manaheim (May 11, 2016)

First one is better I think- I don't think the grass will ever work... but you lost your perspective a bit.
Try cropping proportionally from the bottom and one of the sides. (in photohsop-  if you're using that- hold shift key and drag in from the lower left or lower right corner. (I suspect the lower-right)).


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

Ok, so here's the shift-holding crop from lower-right corner:



 

If only I had some sand between the grass and the clown, so I wouldn't have to crop the clown's bottom to remove the grass, I think It would look even better! If I had another chance of taking this same shot, I think I'd _dolly_ in a bit further so I could include some sand in between the grass and clown... Other than that, I feel I've achieved the kind of creepiness I wished for, just as much as I could with my point and shoot.. If I could do long exposures I'd definitively go back there at night, add some moon to the scene if I was lucky enough and maybe do some light painting! Perhaps I'll try something like that if the clown is still there when I get my D5300!


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## waday (May 11, 2016)

I understand wanting to make it landscape orientation, but have you thought about portrait?


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

Well, It kinda looks happier to me, don't know why! lol I think the off-centered disposition of the clown kinda added to the creepiness, somehow... maybe the negative space is somewhat important for a more "deep" feeling in the photo, but I'm just guessing! I would definitively go for that portrait if that was a person in the pic, tho! Not sure about the B&W with a person, tho, but probably would work also! What you think?


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## waday (May 11, 2016)

Valls said:


> Well, It kinda looks happier to me, don't know why! lol I think the off-centered disposition of the clown kinda added to the creepiness, somehow... maybe the negative space is somewhat important for a more "deep" feeling in the photo, but I'm just guessing! I would definitively go for that portrait if that was a person in the pic, tho! Not sure about the B&W with a person, tho, but probably would work also! What you think?


Hmm.. he's going to be smiling no matter what, so he always looks happy! 

If you want the negative space, maybe take the photo with even more negative space, to almost make it look deserted. So, the clown trash bin would be small/smallish in the frame, rather than dominating most of it?

I'm just throwing out ideas, so please feel free to disagree with me!


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

I tried (and deleted) a wider angle shot of this scene, to increase negative space while still keeping the clown pretty big, but my depth of field was too large and the ocean behind the clown was too much in focus, got kinda distracting for the matter.. Also there was people at the beach so it was kinda hard photographing the clown alone! But I like your idea and, if I had the gear, thats probably what I would have done! I would have increased the negative space and then cropped in a sort of a panoramic view (not tooo big of a panorama) keeping the clown all by himself in a desert kinda blurry beach and well, kinda creepy even with the smile on its face! hahah


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## otherprof (May 11, 2016)

Valls said:


> Hello guys,
> 
> Here I come again with another photo I hope for you to critique!
> This photo was taken at the beach, in a somewhat cloudy day.
> ...


I like it. There is something sinister about that clown. It reminds me of "Killer Clowns from Outer Space."


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

Hahahah thanks, otherprof!  That's indeed one sinister garbage can I'd never throw my garbage in! I'm glad you like it!


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## Derrel (May 11, 2016)

This image is a good example of a number of issues that we face when we go out and photograph street life...color or B&W? Close-in, medium distance, long-range point of view? Horizontal, square, or vertical aspect ratio? What is the subject to background relationship, and how much of each is needed to make a good picture? Is the photo mostly about the subject, or is the environment the subject, or is it the subject-to-environment relationship that is the story? How much does the title of the photo affect how we evaluate the picture? Can any photo be improved by cropping, to the point where it is a satisfying or successful picture? The grass at the lower edge of this photo, for example: did the decision to include a small strip of grass across the bottom edge help, or hinder, the post-shoot image cropping options? So,so many questions that this photo brings up!

I mostly like the subjects, clown figures, and the ocean, but I think I have never once seen the two juxtaposed, so that alone makes this an interesting subject, novel, shocking, unexpected, and so on. How successful this photo is depends on each individual viewer's feelings. I don't have much experience in judging clown representation + seascape type photos.


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## Valls (May 11, 2016)

Thank you, Derrel! For real! I really really appreciate your thoughts and you actually make me feel a bit more confident, even... I knew I thought it to be an interesting photo by the time I took it, but I didn't quite figure what was so interesting and creepy for me about it, until you brought it up! I mean, a clown and the ocean, who would ever think of that!? I like your approach to the issue! Thank you very much for commenting!


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## Tim Tucker (May 12, 2016)

Play a word game:

Creepy: Surreal, lurking, unbalanced moment...
Clowns: Surreal, larger than life, grotesque...


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## Valls (May 12, 2016)

Nice crop! Thanks!

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## KC1 (May 12, 2016)

I get a happy feeling of families having a day at the beach together and then visiting the clown as they leave.


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## Valls (May 12, 2016)

Thats unexpected!! Thanks for your comment!


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