Very good candid shot of busy market. Liked the composition too. Close-up of one person at b/g of long lane of the market. The expression on the face of the main subject speaks about how much hard work he has to put & what a tough life he is leading.

But I feel ISO could have been reduced as shutter speed shows that there was enough light to capture photo. the shallow DOF effect of F4 aperture is washed off by Topaz plug-in. I am finding sharpening achieved by Topaz plug-in is overdone.   Posted: 04/15/2024 00:14:56

Michele, I agree that this is a good candid shot, with light and color seeming to be true to life. While I think you did well with your crop of the original, I'd love to see you crop just a bit more on the right (from the green pole). It's quite amazing what a little more cropping can do for so many photos;^))   Posted: 04/15/2024 01:08:31

Hi Michele, nice image of life in a market. I actually like your crop and the inclusion of the scales to the right. You have caught the attention of the lead guy well.

I was wondering whether there was enough information to know which continent this is on and concluded the signs help someone who knows this market to recognise it - I believe this is the yardstick.

I wonder if you were to lighten the shadows a tad for all areas other than the right side in front of the green doors, to help take the eye into the image better.   Posted: 04/15/2024 10:49:51

Hi All,

sorry for my belated reply but unfortunately my father passed away 10 days ago and life has been difficult.

Vinaya: about the ISO, I was shooting in an environment were lighting conditions were changing continuously, so I opted to have a higher ISO to be sure I could use a shutter speed to freeze the action. Shooting f/4 at the distance I was, would not create a shallow effect because I was not close enough to the subject. Ideally, I would have preferred to use a more narrow aperture but I had few seconds and did not want to miss the shot.

Sherry: thank for your positive feedback. I tried different crops, including the one you suggested but I think this one is working better because in my opinion (and I can be wrong) it add something to the story. More, I tried to keep all my horizontal images in the 3:2 format for consistency in my work. Cropping out the green post and keeping the format, would lead to crop away part of the scenery.

Adrian: thank you for your comment and assessment. I am happy you agree the signs would help to realize where this image was taken. I agree opening the shadows a little could have help.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions

Kind regards

Michele
  Posted: 04/20/2024 04:43:22

Michele - My previous comment apparently did not post, hence this late one.
I'm so sorry to hear about your father's death. My thoughts are with you.
As for the photo, your crop is perfect. It is very difficult to emphasize specific figures in a busy market scene, and you have done that very well with the two primary subjects facing forward. My only suggestion would be to lighten the guy on the right a tad, to bring the exposure to be about the same as that for the other fellow. This would make the photo more balanced. You might also consider reducing the saturation of the bright green bag in the front, which draws the eye away from the two men. But overall, the photo is very well done!
  Posted: 04/26/2024 15:35:24

Sorry about being late to the party, but I have hardly had my hands on a computer for a couple of weeks in which I had open heart surgery and new mitral valve. I personally think I would go with more crop on the right, but I agree I prefer a 3:2 or 4:3 or similar aspect ratio. I am not sure I would want to crop top or bottom to restore it. The face of the man is sharp and that it important. The image does not seem to be excessively noisy so to me while the selection of exposure settings might not be ideal, they worked.   Posted: 04/27/2024 15:38:51