CookyJar's Streetwalker Photos

[CookyJar]

Portrait photography is one of the most difficult of this art form - but the one that seems to interest most.

I don't know if you visit the Southern NJ General thread. I just posted a few pictures there that may interest you. Click on this link: Maria teasing to check them out. I tried to post them in sequence but the forums new photo manager has a mind of its own.

CookyJar.

[CookyJar]

Thanks, Roamin Roman.

Basically, when an arm or leg is pointed toward the camera, a foreshortening of that limb occurs. The more the limb is in line with the axis of the lens, the "shorter" the limb will appear in the photograph. The visual result will usually be unappealing, because that limb is not in proportion with the rest of the body. An additional problem, as Cephlapod and CookieJar have been discussing, is the challenges posed in cropping such a photo. It's a rule of thumb in photography (but not hard-and-fast, as Elmer Batters so amply demonstrated in his body of work).

Cephlapod's point about the use of lines is another guidepost of photography, using them to lead the viewer's eyes toward the subject. You've probably seen any of the iconic photos of Monument Valley, for example, in which the photographer uses the road (which extends into the distance) to lead the viewer "into" the Valley. The use of a model's thighs, as he notes, to guide the viewer's attention to the focus of the picture is another example.

Thanks

And here is another generalization I missed: "If it bends, bend it. " I should have bent that leg. But, that is not the bad part as I see it. I missed an opportunity to capture a very pretty girl in an otherwise very nice position. Checkout her facial expression, her finger. I wanted to capture her with that nonchalant expression in a pose that wasn’t just about her party parts. For me, this is another one that got away.

CookyJar.

[CookyJar]

I learned the Rule of Thirds in my very first college art class, way back in the seventies. It was that and color wheels.

An interesting discussion on cropping. I try not to crop, but sometimes I have to because there is some object that I didn't notice when taking the picture and I cannot retouch it out. When I do crop, I try to follow the rule of thirds. In fact, I try to follow the rule of thirds when composing a photo...

Creative Cropping is the art of changing the original composition in order to show specific points or make a detail more prominent or dynamic.

Cropping can be done in the camera; Glockman's preferred method or during editing. I agree with Glockman, his is the better method, IMHO. The more that is done, the better the original and the less that will be needed to be corrected in the lab. (We don't need labs anymore, do we?) Most instructors, today, teach their students that a good photographer does not need Photoshop.

However, because of the situation that 99.999% of my pictures are taken, I need all the help I can get. Time is limited, squalid backgrounds and most of my models would rather be somewhere else and I am in the middle trying to capture whatever I can. I once had a session interrupted by a brawl and a brick being thrown through a window. In the neighborhoods I travel, the less equipment I have the better. Even the TV camera crews have bodyguards or police protection before going into certain sections of Camden NJ.

CookyJar.

[Roamin Roman]

As a general rule of photography, the subject should not have either leg pointed toward the camera lens. Bad results generally follow. Not always, but usually it's the case.

Roman.

Why is this so?

Basically, when an arm or leg is pointed toward the camera, a foreshortening of that limb occurs. The more the limb is in line with the axis of the lens, the "shorter" the limb will appear in the photograph. The visual result will usually be unappealing, because that limb is not in proportion with the rest of the body. An additional problem, as Cephlapod and CookieJar have been discussing, is the challenges posed in cropping such a photo. It's a rule of thumb in photography (but not hard-and-fast, as Elmer Batters so amply demonstrated in his body of work).

Cephlapod's point about the use of lines is another guidepost of photography, using them to lead the viewer's eyes toward the subject. You've probably seen any of the iconic photos of Monument Valley, for example, in which the photographer uses the road (which extends into the distance) to lead the viewer "into" the Valley. The use of a model's thighs, as he notes, to guide the viewer's attention to the focus of the picture is another example.

Thanks

[Glockman]

Why is this so?

Becuause like many generalizations, there are so many exceptions as to make it useless. I can post lots of photos with ladies legs pointing into the camera that should get your attention. Any good photogrspher should be able to.

[Glockman]

And how long did it take you to "train" your eye to do this while composing a shot? How did you go about that training?

It took at least 55 years. One learns by one's mistakes. And in 55 years of taking photographs, I have made a lot of them. Oh, and the grids on the focusing screens on my Nicons show me where the four points are in the rule of thirds. 😀

[Cephlapod Love]

Ten characters needed.

[Cephlapod Love]

When I do crop, I try to follow the rule of thirds. In fact, I try to follow the rule of thirds when composing a photo.

And how long did it take you to "train" your eye to do this while composing a shot? How did you go about that training?

[Glockman]

An interesting discussion on cropping. I try not to crop, but sometimes I have to because there is some object that I didn't notice when taking the picture and I cannot retouch it out. When I do crop, I try to follow the rule of thirds. In fact, I try to follow the rule of thirds when composing a photo. However, there is an even more interesting composition or cropping technique referred to as the "golden ratio. " You draw a diagonal line from one corner to another. From an opposite corner, you draw a straight line that intersects the diagonal line at a 90 degree angle. Where the two lines intersect, is the point of interest. Edward Weston, the great photographer, was a master at this technique as you can see in the photograph of Charis Wilson below. He used this technique in many of his photographs. When you look at a photo taken with the golden ratio, it looks really good but you can't quite place why.

[Cephlapod Love]

As a general rule of photography, the subject should not have either leg pointed toward the camera lens. Bad results generally follow. Not always, but usually it's the case.

Roman.

If one wants to get technical about things like picture composition, then one can start to examine LINES in a shot and where those lines take the eyes.

That is why CJ is right about the V shape of the legs in the G eats G shot. The strong lines of the legs take your eyes to the face of the girl performing DATY. Which after all is the point of (subject) the photo.

Portrait photography is one of the most difficult of this art form - but the one that seems to interest most.

[Admin2]

As a general rule of photography, the subject should not have either leg pointed toward the camera lens. Bad results generally follow. Not always, but usually it's the case.

Roman.

Why is this so?

[Roamin Roman]

It is easier to make a good picture better. The difficulty begins when you try to make a bad one better. It often turns out worst.

As always, a lot depends on personal taste.

Here, IMHO is an example of a bad picture made worst by cropping.

CookyJar.

As a general rule of photography, the subject should not have either leg pointed toward the camera lens. Bad results generally follow. Not always, but usually it's the case.

Roman.

[CookyJar]

I may not be able to respond quickly, but I will always take your suggestions serious.

5) I played with the cropping a bit to show different effects and how all the bits aren't needed to tell the story. The third one shows a technique of composition known as "thirds". One doesn't necessarily want the subject or important pasts in the CENTER of the picture, sometimes better to capture it in 1/3 of the frame. So here, her head/face are in the right 3rd of the shot.. Does this make it more interesting? (that is the concept anyway)
So some suggestions fwiw.

You are one hundred plus percent right, I should have cropped that picture. Why I didn't? Your guess is as good as mine. It could boil down to flat out laziness. Maybe it was due to my frustration at having blown a perfectly good date and chance to photography a very pretty young lady. (I never should have picked up the older Betty. And! I should have taken the younger Betty to a hotel or nicer location.).

At any rate, you were right.

Next to your examples are two examples of what I should have done.

CookyJar.

[CookyJar]

It is easier to make a good picture better. The difficulty begins when you try to make a bad one better. It often turns out worst.

As always, a lot depends on personal taste.

Here, IMHO is an example of a bad picture made worst by cropping.

CookyJar.

[CookyJar]

For the record 99.999% of my pictures are cropped as part the resizing necessary to post on USASG. I also crop for effect (and to remove distractions).

Here is just a small example.

CookyJar.