Andrew Gould's Images
Red shoes
Posted by Andrew Gould (Sydney, Australia) on 20 May 2008 in Abstract & Conceptual and Portfolio.
Taken today in Sydney.
(Please note that references, below, to a negative comment refer to one that was malicious in nature. I have now removed it, as it was not in the least bit constructive.)
Please see my photojournal on my website, where I am now posting:
http://www.andrewgouldphotography.com/Galleries/Photojournal
Emilio Garcia from Pleasanton, United States
The title says it all. A simple but powerful "snapshot" with an interesting composition where the colorful shoes guide the view and grab all the attention. The light tiled pavement provides a nice contrast to the highly saturated rest and complete this nice photograph.
20 May 2008 4:26pm
Alun Lambert from cheshire, United Kingdom
Interesting image, but i do feel that the pavement is over exposed a little.
20 May 2008 5:03pm
@Alun Lambert: I welcome your comments here, as always, Alun, although I don't understand how you're seeing the pavement as overexposed. I am now on my brand new work pc, which also has a high resolution screen. This one too is calibrated very carefully with the Eyeone Display 2 which tells me that the brightness is within the correct range when set at 50%. Even when I turn it up to 100%, I can still see full detail in all the highlights with no burn out whatsoever.
Unless you mean that you just feel that the background is rather brighter than you would like to see it, I can only conclude that you have your monitor brightnes set too high.
Please don't take this as a rejection of criticism. As my new note below the photo states, I really welcome it where viewers feel it necessary. In this case, though, I don't see it as an exposure or postprrocessing issue, as explained above.
elmenut from Salt, Spain
no voy a entrar en polémica,(yo no tengo la suerte de disponer de un monitor calibrado,pero en el mio el suelo se ve perfecto).
me gusta la espontaneidad de la foto,los zapatos fantásticos...
la "mancha roja" colocada en un punto de atención.
en definitiva no tengo el mismo concepto de composición que el sr-sra Observing
pero tampoco me sabe mal que la gente de sus comentarios,como tú bién dices...
20 May 2008 5:08pm
Graham Russon from Cape Town, South Africa
Cool shoes, the whole pic has a sort of snub at conformity feel to it, from the shoes to the composition and angle. Great work, Andrew.
20 May 2008 7:13pm
Ron from Saint Louis, United States
This is a woman who doesn't mind calling attention to herself!! And she's got the legs to pull it off!! Great candid shot, Andrew ... by not showing us the rest of her body you left it to us to let our imaginations run free!
20 May 2008 8:14pm
Tracey from White Hall, United States
I love the shot. Eye catching with the contrast between the neutrals and dark black with the bright red polka dot shoes!
20 May 2008 11:31pm
Michael Rawluk from Prince George, Canada
I like the shoes but have to agree that the pavement is blown out. I have a good calibrated monitor. I don't think the fuzzy focus is a big deal. Sometimes it can be a benefit to the shot.
21 May 2008 3:40pm
@Michael Rawluk: Thanks for commenting, Michael. I still don't understand how at least some viewers, including you, are seeing the paving as blown out. When I mention this, I do hope that anyone at all who reads this will realise that I'm in no way disputing any criticism of the photo, itself, on artistic or technical grounds. What I must find out, though, is whether there's something wrong with my Pantone Eyeone Display 2 Colorimeter or the software that controls it.
Looking at the paving on the screen of my one year old Toshiba laptop screen, I can easily see enough texture in the tiles to not consider them overexposed and blown out. This is with the brightness set to 5 on a scale of 1 to 8, so as to put it within the correct range according to the Eyeone. Even if I raise the brightness to the maximum level, there is still sufficient detail in the brightest parts of the ground so that no one looking at it on this screen could say that the highlights are blown out.
As I've mentioned in another reply, the same holds true when viewing this photo on my brand new Dell pc at work with its 20 inch flat wide screen, which I've calibrated similarly.
Note also that the two screens mentioned above are being viewed under totally different unadjusted room lighting. This is not really ideal, as room lighting should also be adjusted with the Eyeone's ambient light sensor for absolute precision, but I haven't bothered at home, and couldn't arrange that at work, even if I wanted to.The reason I mention it, though, is because this shows that there is plenty of leeway in this regard.
The paving is bright, I know, but that's the way it still looked to me yesterday, when I again passed by the place where I took it and saw it once more in direct sunlight.
Another photo in my portfolio that should be a good test of monitor calibration is this one:
http://andrewgould.aminus3.com/image/2007-10-11.html
I can see just enough detail and texture in the sail of the boat to say that it's not blown out. True, the light is very bright, but I can see feint lines fanning out from the bottom right hand corner of the main sail, and what looks like an indentation (the darker area) about two thirds of the way up the sail, which gives a bit of body to it.
I would appreciate it if you, and anyone else who reads this could give me more detailed feedback so that I can find out if I've been wasting my time doing hours and hours of postprocessing using this monitor setting for more than a year.
Thanks!
Barbara from Florida, United States
I love the shot, the shoes make a statement. After reading the comments I almost hesitated to comment. One seemed cruel rather than constructive criticism.
Since you did ask for others to respond I will say that the brick walkway is bright like you said, I do see pattern to the layout of the bricks but it is on the light side.
My very first impression of the image were the shoes and the fun in it and that is where my comment is really focused on.
I view this from my 17" laptop and have not intentionally calibrated my screen.
22 May 2008 3:53am
@Barbara: I do appreciate your feedback on this, Barbara. I'm glad that you like the shot, and knowing that you can see detail in the paving is reassuring. It is very light, but that's the way it looked to me more or less at the time of taking it, and that's how I wanted it, so as to produce as great a contrast a possible with the subject. It's my interpretation of the scene, anyway.
UPDATE: I've come back to this since writing this reply, as I have decided to delete the unpleasant, destructive comment refered to.
Ronnie 2¢ from London, United Kingdom
Wow . . since I’m partial to women with pretty legs in outrageous shoes, I doubt I’d care if she was walking on iridescent cow dung . . but, there again, I’m known for making everything too dark, myself. Great opportunity shot . . and what would have been wrong with a throwaway camera, anyway?
24 May 2008 1:19pm
@Ronnie 2¢: Thanks for your input, here. Much appreciated!
Arash from Dubai, United Arab Emirates
You have good eye to capture this shot with a good composition ;)
27 May 2008 6:40am
Judy from Brooksville-Florida,, United States
I've studied all the comments and your replies, Andrew, and have gone to your bright sail photo also. My 17" monitor hasn't been calibrated and all the lines on the main are clearly there.
I struggle with people who 'pick' while at the same time want to learn from constructive criticism, so I appreciate the time you've spent on this.
I see the pavement very clearly - the lightest area is where it simply reflected the light - and your camera captured exactly what it 'saw'. Perhaps the high ISO contributed, but it is no deterrent for me. I do, however, wish the right (non-moving) shoe was in slightly sharper focus (or perhaps it's my eyes). Her bag is very sharp.
Keep shooting ......... as I know you will.
28 Jun 2008 2:41pm
@Judy: Thank you so much for your feedback on this, Judy. It's much appreciated. Yes, the shoe could be more in focus. It was one of those cases where I had literally a split second to grab the shot before the girl moved off the plain surface and there would have been distracting objects in the background.
Canon EOS 40D
1/250 second
F/6.3
ISO 1600
200 mm