This is how I go to work Photo

Photographer’s Note

Rideau Canal, Ottawa, Canada.
What I am trying to show through this picture is what it is like for people who skate everyday to work on the world's longest skating rink(7.8 km.). This canal gets jampacked in the weekends but there are relatively few people on weekdays. I did'nt include any important landmarks of Ottawa along the canal in this photo as I wanted the subject of my photo to be a normal skater just going to work with a backpack and her shoes dangling on a any normal day in the winters.

This is again not a very technical photo or anything, but since this place has a very special place in my my heart, I am going to upload it anyways.

by the way, this is how I go to work too during the winter months when the canal is open for skating. I live 6 km. from the university along the canal and it gives me an excellent opportunity to skate everyday.

I hope you will let me know if I have been able to capture the mood in this photo or not
Critiques would be appreciated

To really get the feel of the canal go to Reideau Canal click on "Virtual Tour" and than on "Skate the Canal" for a video of the whole canal.
I hope you like it as much as I do.
Thanks for visiting

ravish, sih107, Beataja, willow_of_god has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ravish (140) 2005-04-23 16:48

namaste sarju,
i feel the compositiopn and the POV in this photo is great.its nice i got some knowledge about the place after reading your fervent notes.well,i would have liked to get this photo in a B&W but the pinkish look it carries is interesting but anyways a well composed shot.nice work.
regards,
ravish.

maurajn (902) 2005-04-23 17:08

I think you are close to your desired effect here. I'm out of workshops today... but one thing I would suggest is to watch your horizons really closely, you are off-parallel just a bit here, it needs to come over ccs 1 or 2' I think. That is, unless you are trying to put the sway of a skater into the photo in which case - brilliant! Did you shoot in black and white, or convert it from color? If it is originally in color, have you tried highlighting your prominent skaters, inverting the photo and then desaturating everything else, to give a black and white background. Sometimes this effect is really powerful, especially in photos with a lot of stuff in them, one's eye does not know where to look. I gather the light is flat, so you have a white sky anyhow, and the buildings and trees are unremarkable. I'm not sure of that effect that I have described and can't try it out here. Just wanted to mention it though. - Maura

manny (21378) 2005-04-24 23:15

I would suggest a simple BW here. The immaculate snow will then contrast with the skaters. Good picture though because of the compo of B and "W" tones.

cessy (13647) 2005-04-26 7:56

love this shot ! how excellent skating to go to work, never imagine that :)
very nice, Sarju

Beataja (452) 2005-04-28 22:54

:-))) nice path to work. Very good shot.

willow_of_god (360) 2005-04-29 11:41

Très bonne utilisation de la perspective et du monochrome. La jonction entre la diagonal de la fumé et celle qui relis les deux groupes de deux patineur est sur le sujet principal. Bien vue, nice shot.
Je post un WS sur un léger détail, la ligne d’horizon.

[workshop] [compare] +

nmess (2289) 2005-05-05 23:57

I never thought of people skating to work before. You're right, technical merit is not high here, but I think that a little adjustment to level the horizon and conversion to B/W might bring more merit. I think it's the subject of the image more than the image itself that makes this interesting to me.

ScottHale (0) 2005-08-29 15:12

I like this photo because it shows everyday life that's very unique. I never have heard about this skate to work "highway". What a good way to stay in shape! I like the gray/pink colors in this shot. Very Nice capture. Thanks for the great notes.
Scott

annagrace (2463) 2005-12-01 16:27

Wow, now this is really crazy looking to my Southern eyes, LOL! I can't believe you actually skate to work. I'd kill myself, I don't doubt! Cool pic. Next time I'd desaturate it because it seems to have a blue tone.

TFS,
Alli

sergio1 (12150) 2006-01-17 5:09

Hola Sarju

Bonito momento que fotografiar. Una paisaje helado que invita a patinar.
La fabrica del final le da un toque industrial.
Saludos
Sergio