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Critique
An ancient traditional way of washing clothes in Kerala-India
#STREET
hussain alqattan PRO
1 year ago

 

Daniel Springgay CREW 
1 year ago — Senior critic

Hi and welcome  I will jump right in as they say. Composition I don't think any changes are required. I did use Nik Tools Tonal Contrast to add texture and more impact. White's and highlights rolled back quite a bit. Some Dodge and burn tool work as you can see. Last Topaz AI sharpen with noise reduction.

 

 

hussain alqattan PRO
1 year ago

Thank you Dear Daniel for your kind criticism and photo correction point

Edited: 1 year ago by hussain alqattan
Cicek Kiral CREW 
1 year ago — Senior critic

Hello, Hussain

Welcome to our forum. Like my friend Daniel I think no cropping is needed in this image. Though it needs some sharpening as well as improvements in contrast. The  settings you chose made it difficult for you to maintain a well focused image as far as I can see. There is some hue in the B&W and I think that an accurate B&W image would have been more effective. Then there is another issue that I want to stress. I think for an image like this one, choosing a wider lens would have helped it to be understood more easily. The theme of the image is difficult to be understood from this composition. I would recommend to add a description to it for people who do not know the area and the tradition. I wish you good light. Çiçek...

Steven T CREW 
1 year ago — Senior critic

Hussain,

 

Thank you for posting the photo in Critique.  It is a good action shot in my opinion, showing a man washing clothes in centuries-old fashion.  As Cicek pointed out it's good to have a title or description that explains to viewers what's happening in the frame. 

 

The subject must be washing that garment with great energy - even at 1/400 second there is some blur.  I think that was a good choice of shutter speed as it shows a good blend of detail and the blur that shows the action. 

 

At f/1.2 with an 85mm lens the depth of field is very shallow.  Some of the softness can be corrected with sharpening in the editing step, but it might have been better to stop the lens down to f/2 or f/2.8 even though that would make the background sharper and possibly more distracting.  It's a common problem for photographers to face - choosing the settings for the best balance between depth of field, motion blur, and background bokeh, and especially difficult for street photographers who can't always anticipate what the shot will require.  

 

The sepia tone suggests nostalgia, so that works in my opinion.  As Daniel mentioned, the highlights in the man's shirt are quite bright and lowering the highlight values would restore some detail there.  In this age of digital imaging viewers somehow expect to see detail in the brightest highlights and deepest shadows. 

 

I won't offer a sample edit because I think Daniel's is already very good. 

 

. . . . Steven, senior critic