Photography Thailand Forum

[David Procter]

I pass this shop everyday as i go to work.

[Marc Schultz]

That is great David. Great framing. I would though crop it so he is more in the 1/3rd zone to pull him a bit more out of the center (see attached). I am also not such a big fan of the reddish sepia tone you have chosen so I changed it as well.

If you get a chance to shoot him again I would say try a shot with him standing in front of the tires or move the tires out of the way. Somehow I feel since he is a major focal point of the composition, he should be more outstanding in some way.

Hope this helps :)

[David Procter]

Brilliant advice Marc! Thanks very much for the input.
I've been trying lots of different things and I posted this hoping I'd get such feedback.
I've been struggling with both the crop and the tones as it happens. I wanted to present him as really part of this little rabbit warren of a shop with the autoclutter all around him. I took a couple from different angles but he wasnt particularly happy about having his picture taken. I might just have a chat with him the next few morinings before I go back again with my camera. I'll process the others and post them.
Thanks again.

[Marc Schultz]

Your welcome. I think you achieved what you wanted. Meaning you got him amidst all his clutter as such. I can understand him though not wanting his picture taken. I mean I understand his perspective in that it is his everday life, his plight, and he doesn't see the beauty or anything in taking his picture amidst his clutter. He probably also has concerns of being a spectacle showing up in some magazine on the other side of the world talking about how Thailand is a 3rd world country when it is not. Or maybe he doesn't think all these things, but just tell him you enjoy taking photos of Thai people in their everyday lives and maybe he will loosen up a bit more. Communication with your subjects can be good in situations like this.

The tone by the way I did using a Hue Saturation adjustment layer in Photoshop. Click on the colorize button within the Hue Saturation dialogue box, set the hue to 50 and the saturation to 9 and you will get the same result. Usually I use very subtle tones in the range of 35 to 50 on the Hue and Saturation between 7 - 12 points at most. I don't like heavy sepias. I prefer just a tinge off of B&W, but that is just me. Subjective of course.

Also, I can't be sure bringing him outside in front of the tires or moving the tires away will produce a better result visually. It is hard to be sure. A lot of it will have to do with what sort of expression you catch on his face when you snap each of the shots, but if you try various angles then you can choose what looks best later when you get back to the ranch.

[David Procter]

I always try to show people in their best light and am not interested in capturing poverty or people who are experiencing difficult circumstances, photographers such as Natchwey have that responsibility and audience - I recall discussing our thoughts on photographing Thais before.
I always like to take time to talk to the people I phtograph but I didnt in this case and I just think I caught Od at a bad time. His shop is right next door to my school so I'll try and catch him again sometime.

[agitlits]

Hi David,

A very nice result. A photo depicting the working class of Thai people very nicely.

Marc - thanks for the lesson in hue adjustment - all other methods of introducing sepia tones seem much more complex.

Alex

[bjorn slis]

Nice work David,
what usually helps a lot is showing somebody some work, maybe bring a print of this shot next time you meet him.

[Marc Schultz]

I think compositionally the first shot you posted works better. If you look at it, it is actually broken into 3 zones each being 1/3 of the picture. Compositionally that is a very good formula. You have the person (who is in many ways the main subject), the steering wheels, and then radiator grills.

The second shot for me lacks a point of focus to draw you in as the first one has. It seems the composition is just a bit too "loose" the way you have it.

Maybe that shot taken vertically or cropped as a perfect square would work better, but a shame the tire creeps up on his lower torso so much and covers his hand a bit. As such, it renders the tire a bit overpowering.

[Marc Schultz]

Attached is a 3rd option on cropping for that picture. I also wanted to suggest, the more you shoot, the more that composing shots like this will become instinctive when you are actually shooting. Anyway, it is always good to shoot things both vertically and horizontally in genereal in order to give yourself different options to choose from later, especially if the shot were for an assignment where the pictures might be going into a print layout.

[David Procter]

Thanks again. Yes Bjorn I always take prints to the people I take pics of.
I posted the second one for comments and I completely agree it lacks compositional interest. What I was going for and often the best pictures I take follow my initial thoughts or reaction to a character and scene. Often I try to return to a scene but often its disappointing. I am a string believer in instinct and  letting my subconscious make the decisions but also allowing for creative accidents. I am pleased with the first shot and in this case it was the first I took of the series.
Shooting both vertically and horizontally is great advice during a shoot.

[David Procter]

The crops you included greatly improve the shot. Cropping out the obsure details to the left of him is a good idea but it doesnt quite have that fizz does it.
Thanks for the input Marc
Very useful indeed

[kinginexile]

Since you brought up a thread about square frames, I think this type of shot can be the best candidate for that format, just as Mark illustrated in one of his workshops on your pix. First, one has to admit that you are introducing a subject too many tend to overlook, that is that of one's daily life or space, and that this subject can allow more than a diary-like snapshot, but indeed allow to compose as richly as the imagination can lead you. This has to be inspiring to many of us.

I think the square crop definitely takes us right into his world, the eye can't wander as easily from edge tp edge with no formal or contextual asides except from what is squarely within his physical reach. This confinment, working so well with his trade, is paramount to show the machinery as concretely being his daily world, behind which, even as he poses, he is clearly defined by, at least at work. For example, a rectangle or paramount frame props up a more human focus, the man detached fom the machine, which, IMO, creates less depth to the imagery. On the contrary the constant ping-ponging concentrating within the confines of a square crop, ultimately induces more humanism from the symbiosis of machinery elements and him, than a simple here and there depiction thru a wider frame. Not a rule of course, but here, Mark's square crop  is making a good point for that framing option.   

[Regis Madec]

Hi David,

Your first picture is great either in B&W or sepia.
It reminds of industrial shops that are also very common in some districts of Hong Kong.

Regis