Fishermen

[manthos]

Two photos for today that make a little simple story. I would like to hear your thoughts about their composition/structure, BW conversion or anything else that comes to mind!

1.


2.

[jiro]

Hello, Giannis. I am really intrigued by the first image. I've been looking at it for some time now and still I can't find the right words to say about it. I am not so sure if the elements are working together for a common message. Here are the things that baffles me:

1. The foreground object (the empty boat) is really big in size and it is sharper compared to the other elements . If I will base my comment on my initial reaction I'd say it's probably the primary subject due to its size and prominence on the scene. However, based on your title, it's just a supporting element.

2. The man on the shore looking at the fishermen at the sea can also be a main subject because he looks "elevated" (his position in the frame). The diagonal line of the shore is also pointing at him. That is a strong leading line for this subject. He's probably a fisherman, too. However, his position is too near the side of the frame. That is a contradiction if he is really the main subject. he needs to go near the 1/3 focal line to create a strong point or impact.

3. I think the fishermen at the sea is the main subject on your image based on the title. I wish that are tack sharper than the rest on the image. The lines of the boat on the foreground also acts a leading line to these fishermen. But as I have said, due to the enormous size of the boat on the foreground it made the main subject weak.

If I will edit this image I would probably sacrifice the boat and replace it with some shore data. Then, I will rearrange the position of the fisherman looking at the sea and position him lower and near the 1/3 focal line to the right. If I will do that I will only have 2 major elements inside the frame - the fishermen and the guy looking at the sea. However, this will totally change the concept of the scene but still keep the idea of the title "fishermen". For me, after the edit, the title that I am thinking would be "waiting for the catch."

Here is a very crude edit on the first image. I really hope I did not offend you here, Giannis.

[manthos]

Hi Jiro,

Your comment points out exactly the issue I noticed when I looked at my photo. I decided not to mention it so as to see the viewers' reactions unbiased.

It seems that these 3 elements don't cooperate so well together. Having them alone and eliminating the others will make a nice but not so strong image. Having them in pairs (e.g. the three figures or the boat and the two figures or the boat and the figure that is alone) makes it stronger. Having all of them together is the most difficult but I think can make the strongest image.

However, the lines of the boat at front are leading to the figures but I don't know how obvious that is or if it makes up for the seemingly (or not) unrelated elements.

No offence about the edit Jiro, I understand what you want to say.

By the way, all of them are fishermen.