The House of Learning Photo

Photographer’s Note

It is my pleasure to introduce TrekEarth to the sleepy town of Santiago...

Santiago allegedly has about 60,000 people to its name, but i found the city lacking in the culture and life that i've found in just about every other Latin American city i've ever visited. Seldom was there a pick-up game of football to be seen, parks were few, far between, and empty... there wasn't even a very definite center of town where people congregate.

This picture was taken at a secondary school a short walk from the Hotel Melior, where i stayed with the group of students that i was leading for the summer. i got the 50mm 1.8 lens shortly before this trip and promptly fell in love with it, as it worked miracles in low light where my light-eating 18-200 walkaround faltered, to say the least. These students were watching a presentation intently, which allowed me to frame my picture from my seat on the floor.

inuit66, jwmunro, AmiBe, flory has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dvlazar (6468) 2007-07-30 0:20

Same, I like your creative subject placement idea, but I think it may just be a bit too far to the side. The eye has to really wander to find the focus point - it doesnt immediately jump out.

I like your shot all the same,
Regards
Dave

chicken (1781) 2007-07-30 5:24

I like the use of color and DOF in this image. The cyan goes very well with the brown skintones and just a few hints of other colors. Also very nicely composed, maybe cut a tad too tight in the top-right. I love my 50mm prime too :-)

yanseiler (20) 2007-07-30 5:44

Hi Sam, I love the composition, absolutely superb, however I think that the OOF is way too strong, a f4 or 4,5 or 5 would give much more details, here they melt too much into the background... Otherwise very nice...
Yan

inuit66 (659) 2007-07-30 14:57

Hi Sam. Your 50mm really has handled the light well, as it allowed you to shot in 1/30 of a second under these conditions. The lack of sharpness in depth is well chosen here, and the opposite would has been an ordinary photo with to much distraction. Here the focus is a very small place - well chosen on the girl wtih the concentrated expression - and the rest of the students blurred leaves a lot of thought to the viewer. Congratulations with this shot and your new lens. Greetings Jens :-)

jwmunro (6561) 2007-07-31 7:32

Hello Sam -

I like your subject and your idea but I think the composition needs a bit of work. Your subject, IMO, is too far to the right - she should be just a little to the left and closer the compositions right thirds intersections. The extremely shallow DOF can work in some situations but here I think something in the range of f/4 might have had a better effect. With your subject so far to the right and the shallow DOF too much of the image is OOF causing the viewer to search for the subject and then wonder what is so special about the image. Now with that said there are some constraints that I see that may have forced you to this composition and they are good points but I think I might have worked a bit harder to cut back the area of OOF detail. Anyway, it is a well conceived idea.

Thank you for sharing.

John

AmiBe (6042) 2007-07-31 12:21

Hi again,
I also love this one, the compo is very good and you were invisible.
I like this blue... and the short DOF.
rgs

Furachan (0) 2007-08-01 0:29

That is really hot, dude! Strong, bold shot, focus just where you wanted it. Very solid work, the kind you find in "good", that is to say "animal-free" Nat Geo pieces ;o)
Love it,
Francis

bantonbuju (48358) 2007-08-07 23:30

hey sam,
this is more than a photo, this is a visual evidence of your invisible participation in the lesson "event" and it works perfectly...
i think that it is one of the best examples of how to use that "aperture" settings ring or button...
wise photo,
bw, j.

kensimage (8539) 2007-08-18 16:44

The students look pretty much like students everywhere--a little bored, but still more or less attentive. I like your use of shallow DOF to put attention on one particular girl. Perhaps I'd have chosen the girl behind her, though, rather than someone up in a corner of the frame. But it still works! Regards, Ken.

jenofonte (882) 2007-08-31 10:39

Estuve este invierno en Santiago y comparto tu opinion, aparte de calor no encontre nada demasiado interesanre en Santiago, salvo las personas, que siempre son lo mejor

rbcy1974 (20742) 2007-09-04 13:21

Hello my friend
>Its nice seeing you again. Very interesting scene, great use of bokeh, nice repetitive pattern of the kids uniforms. Very well done
Welcome back
Regards
Daniel

vapours (7913) 2007-09-05 4:20

School classrooms aren't such a common subject on here, so its always nice to see a photo like this posted. Some good quality and colour in the image, with all heads looking towards the one direction.

chc (1468) 2007-09-05 13:26

Excellent work! In a natioanl geographic style. The blur is really well controlled. Congrat
christophe

Luko (13880) 2007-09-05 15:45

You unleashed the power of your f/1.8 lens bokeh in this one, didn't you... I think your focus and composition is a textbook one. I wonder what I like most here, either the focused part, a very unusual choice because it's the one that ends teh reading, the creamy bokeh effect melting shapes iinto a sky blue wave or simply the composition.

Highly informative and probably the best shot I've seen from you, Sam.

flory (4802) 2007-09-06 23:02

hi Sam,
hm,interesting,first because they have uniforms(here a real problem,they don't want to carry....)
after is a good work,'seating on the floor',exactly focus ,give us an effective blue repetitive.
well seen!
Flory

AnimeshRay (8886) 2007-09-11 21:14

Marvelous shot. This is a rare view into schools of far away places. Your critical focusing has worked well, and the bokeh is wonderful. Very nice color also.

scalerman (25633) 2008-01-05 9:22

Sam: I'm back from 6 months of travails [sic] through pan-Himalaya and down into the subcontinent. I didn't have a lot of time to critique or participate on TE while I was gone. Just an occasional upload was a chore. Your critiques, and photography, for that matter have always been of a high standard and progressive. I'm surprised that you're still around TE. I'm surprised I am.

OK the picture and note, loving what you did with the DOF here. That lens on your D50 is really showing off here. I have alot of time now in the American Southwest to shoot landscapes - the next frontier - the road goes on forever. regards, c