Smoke Break

[Tuna]

 

[otherprof]

View attachment 281580

Nice shot! I wonder if it would be improved by cropping down diagonally from the top left toward the man?

 

[Jeff15]

A good shot ....

 

[Tuna]

Nice shot! I wonder if it would be improved by cropping down diagonally from the top left toward the man?

No, I don’t agree. That would just be an image of the man rather than him and his behavior within the environment (looks like a book/media market of some sort). He is in his private corner using his precious break time - rather than more centered as in a standard street portrait. It’s also a more dynamic composition avoiding stagnation. If you’ve seen any other street shots of mine you will see that more often than not, environment is included and important in telling the story.

To satisfy your need for a more constrained composition, here is another street shot that tells a different story within a more straightforward composition where only behavior is important - not environment.

 

[cgw]

Agree that a tight crop on the waiter would kill the environment/context of the shot. Works nicely as is.

 

[otherprof]

No, I don’t agree. That would just be an image of the man rather than him and his behavior within the environment (looks like a book/media market of some sort). He is in his private corner using his precious break time - rather than more centered as in a standard street portrait. It’s also a more dynamic composition avoiding stagnation. If you’ve seen any other street shots of mine you will see that more often than not, environment is included and important in telling the story.

To satisfy your need for a more constrained composition, here is another street shot that tells a different story within a more straightforward composition where only behavior is important - not environment.

View attachment 281590

I just found the sign at the upper left distracting - but that’s why they sell vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

 

[cgw]

Again, it's the Cartier-Bresson-like environment that makes this shoot. Cropped down, it's just a waiter smoking somewhere/anywhere...

 

[Mattp311]

Fantastic - I love this.

 

[terri]

Fabulous shot. Terrific environmental portrait with great tonal range and texture. Love it!

 

[jeffashman]

Very nice shots!

 

[slat]

Nice shots.