Certainty and Doubt Photo

Photographer’s Note

Riding a pumpboat in Boracay, the "captain" exudes confidence and determination while his little brother does not seem to share his bravado.

I just wish the sail and cords were not there and the clouds a little more dramatic.

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Critiques | Translate

Ronan (335) 2003-09-02 5:08

Excellent picture. We really feel the emotion of the child. I post a workshop for you.

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chalcone (761) 2003-09-02 5:16

Ding, wonderful that you've captured two contrasting emotions in the same frame! My only gripe is the processing artifact generated by ... over-sharpening, perhaps? (I see white specks on both characters' hair).

SirWilliam (410) 2003-09-02 7:02

Very good photo. I disagree with you that the sail and cord are distracting ; it adds to the story in a non-disturbing way. Also about the clouds i am not sure; a dramatic cloudformation would give a crowded photo, with 3 subjects: 2 people with interaction and the clouds. ( on the WS it looks as if the clouds are smoke from fire, imho)Now there is this good shot from this sturdy skipper, and some interaction from the boy behind him. Perhaps crop away the land in the background, this would clean the image a bit, although you'll have to sacrifice some part of the arm of the captain.

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Geo (1239) 2003-09-02 7:46

A wonderfully expressive picture. I, too like the sail in the picture to tell me where these people are and what they are doing. I would be tempted to clone out the bit of land on the right which pulls my eye away from the subjects and fix the white specks.

joseelias (367) 2003-09-02 9:16

Very good photo! Both expressions show the feelings very well.

I agree with the land on the right beeing a bit distracting.

Have you tried to increase the contrasts? The sky would benefit from it I think...

ninadev (5225) 2003-09-02 11:48

Wow shot! Love the expression of these two guys. I like that the focus is on the kid. I'm not a fan of B&W but in this case it's really great. Like the others I would remove the white specs due to sharpening and correct the very light tilt of the horizon.

zorro (580) 2003-09-04 0:44

welcomw to TE...i agree with you.but its a great shot...maybe you can show this in a different medium like in colored.

Luko (13896) 2003-09-06 14:00

This is a great shot, I agree with everything that has been written before, however you're just inches to lead it to the perfect status, while it has the potential to.
For me there's first a compo issue with the right side : its emptyness doesn't match the interesting left side and somehow balances off the kid face too much against the right frame.
You're right when you say that the captain is a confident looking person, there's no problem letting him overrun the foreground, just as his shoulders were covering the whole world : I suggest you crop even more this image.
Other than that I think the captain's face is not blurred enough, his monolithic strength allows you to blur it even more, that would even enhance his brother's sharpness.
I have done a WS with your excellent (I mean it!) image, putting my ideas to practise, let me know what you think.

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