Ardeth Carlson
April 2024 - Giving a Hand
About the Image(s)
Being a non-skater, while taking my daughter and granddaughter to a local skating rink, I enjoyed watching people, young and old, engaged in this activity with varying degrees of ability and confidence. This view of one skater reaching out in encouragement to another skater caught my interest.
I had my 150-600 lens (!) on my Nikon D850, shot at 150mm, 1/640, f/5.0, and a very high ISO of 25,600, which Topaz Denoise did a great job with taking care of the issues with that high an ISO!
This round’s discussion is now closed!
13 comments posted
Hello Ardeth!
I would have liked this photo if you had taken it from a horizontal plane as the people at the ends of the image are cropped and would add a little more information to the story, plus you could have avoided all the free space without information. that is in the lower area that does not contribute anything to the image.
The capture of the girl's expression is interesting but it is diluted by the choice of shot.
Regarding the ISO that you used, you could have lowered it several points since the shutter speed is very high taking into account the speed at which people move and the focal length used, I think that with 1/200 sec you did not need to raise the ISO that much. Shutter speed is relative to the movement of objects and the focal length. Posted: 04/04/2024 05:25:44
I would have liked this photo if you had taken it from a horizontal plane as the people at the ends of the image are cropped and would add a little more information to the story, plus you could have avoided all the free space without information. that is in the lower area that does not contribute anything to the image.
The capture of the girl's expression is interesting but it is diluted by the choice of shot.
Regarding the ISO that you used, you could have lowered it several points since the shutter speed is very high taking into account the speed at which people move and the focal length used, I think that with 1/200 sec you did not need to raise the ISO that much. Shutter speed is relative to the movement of objects and the focal length. Posted: 04/04/2024 05:25:44
Ardeth, as Sergio mentioned, I just wonder if you have another image, or this one out of camera before cropping (if you did not crop then would be useless) so we can have the two skiers more in context with the venue, and without amputating them as it appears here, and perhaps the composition would be better. Anyway; the body language of the skier facing the camera shows that she is somehow afraid of falling, and the other girl is offering a hand for security. You did a good job improving the image which otherwise would be very noisy Posted: 04/04/2024 15:51:36
Thank you both for your comments. I always find it interesting to hear how others see my photos! This is how I composed (as much as it is possible to compose in a moving situation), and I did not crop it. I actually waited for skaters to come into the colored lights on the floor, with the shadows leading up to the skaters, so my own feeling is that the colored lines on the floor do contribute to the story and are not empty space. Also, I was only interested in the interaction between these two skaters-the unconfident and the encourager-so I wasn't worried about trying to keep other skaters in the composition. As far as the high ISO and fast shutter speed, I was shooting skaters going by at both fast and slow speeds, and there is no way 1/200 would have captured anything without excessive blurring! I'm pleased with how Topaz handled the noise. So I think this is a case where the photo turned out the way I wanted it, but it isn't reading that way by other viewers, and that is always something to think about. Posted: 04/04/2024 18:10:53
Ardeth, remember that the creation of an image is on the eyes of the beholder, and we all do not see things the same way. Posted: 04/05/2024 16:39:42
Nicely described your pov. I liked the last concluding line too. Each photographer's pov, thinking is different & I respect the differences. That's the fun. That's the learning & the main purpose of joining such groups. Posted: 04/07/2024 02:27:47
I do see that I could darken the bright line on the floor on the right side of the photo, which does probably draw the eye where I don't want it to be! Posted: 04/07/2024 08:58:54
(Groups 2 & 4)
Ardeth, Its good to see that you were able to take a lot of shots with different settings. Indoor lighting like this is always tough. For me there are several ways to read the image. I like the expression on the girl, but I don't read beginner (I read boredom or sadness, like she doesn't want to be there). I can see the story you wanted to tell, but I don't think its so obvious without you sharing what you intended. And as for the skating, - this might be another controversial image where some judges see this as sporting action (I don't, to me this is just a leisure activity) and as such might be a risky image to put into a HI section. Posted: 04/11/2024 01:45:56
Jen, thanks for your helpful comments. Again, I'm working on being able to take a shot that makes the story clear to others. I don't think the viewer will always interpret exactly the way I interpreted the facial expressions, but of course the composition needs to tell a story that the viewer can read! In this case, I think the hand held out tells more of the story to me, whether the receiver of the hand is leary of the skating, leary of the hand, etc. I see your point about whether a judge would view this as a sport if it were entered in a human interest theme. Posted: 04/11/2024 10:51:37
Ardeth
I see a hand reaching out but the reason is not clear. With the assumption that people would move laterally in the image, a landscape crop might be more effective.
Using S 1/650, appears reasonable given the possibility of a variety of scenarios to photograph. Did you consider lowering your aperture to f 4 and using manual and auto ISO. This would have lowered your ISO. In low light situations such as skating rinks, did you check where there were higher areas of illumination in the rink which would provide better light to take advantage of the lighting.
You mentioned that the color lights contributed to the story. I think that the colored lights pull the viewer's eye away from the story. The neon pink behind the girl has strong visual impact and my eye sees the pink and outstretched hand but not the girl's face. Attached is a comparison in monochrome and cropped differently. In monochrome, the impact of mood created by color is eliminated.
The image has several technical flaws: low light creates patches with lack of detail (i.e. hair), crooked horizon line, skewed. Posted: 04/11/2024 05:32:58
I see a hand reaching out but the reason is not clear. With the assumption that people would move laterally in the image, a landscape crop might be more effective.
Using S 1/650, appears reasonable given the possibility of a variety of scenarios to photograph. Did you consider lowering your aperture to f 4 and using manual and auto ISO. This would have lowered your ISO. In low light situations such as skating rinks, did you check where there were higher areas of illumination in the rink which would provide better light to take advantage of the lighting.
You mentioned that the color lights contributed to the story. I think that the colored lights pull the viewer's eye away from the story. The neon pink behind the girl has strong visual impact and my eye sees the pink and outstretched hand but not the girl's face. Attached is a comparison in monochrome and cropped differently. In monochrome, the impact of mood created by color is eliminated.
The image has several technical flaws: low light creates patches with lack of detail (i.e. hair), crooked horizon line, skewed. Posted: 04/11/2024 05:32:58
Thank you for your comments. For me, the black and white and the close crop takes away everything that appealed to me, plus it feels like your edit actually flattened all the detail in the clothing and the face and hair. I think if this photo doesn't work for the viewer, then it's just a miss as a competition photo! Posted: 04/11/2024 10:52:48
Ardeth
For some of the PSA courses I did, I photographed the Huff and Puff hockey team (men over 55 playing hockey). Thus I tested what was the minimum shutter speed I could use, where to stand under an overhead light and where to point the lens to capture the puck going into the net. I found this different from looking for a human interest story on a rink in broad daylight where people's movements were unpredictable (not chasing the puck).
Your image was challenging since you were "looking" to capture a moment which reflected your sensitivity and working in a low light situation. Posted: 04/11/2024 11:21:53
For some of the PSA courses I did, I photographed the Huff and Puff hockey team (men over 55 playing hockey). Thus I tested what was the minimum shutter speed I could use, where to stand under an overhead light and where to point the lens to capture the puck going into the net. I found this different from looking for a human interest story on a rink in broad daylight where people's movements were unpredictable (not chasing the puck).
Your image was challenging since you were "looking" to capture a moment which reflected your sensitivity and working in a low light situation. Posted: 04/11/2024 11:21:53
I think the skater whose face I see best is looks tentatively interested but afraid to join the other group of skaters. Karen Kohn Posted: 04/12/2024 15:58:01
I think several stories could be going on. To me the girl is uncomfortable and feeling alone and would like to have a friend to skate with. I like the colors on the rink. Maybe a horizontal including more people would convey her feeling of aloneness. Posted: 04/16/2024 10:10:46