Collaboration with Dad

I am still working on the NYIP second assignment, but in the meantime, I'd shot some scenes from a San Diego lab building that I find very intriguing. I will post some more of these photographs in a few days. In the meantime, while working in Photoshop with the picture below, however, I was frustrated with how to get the right emphasis let alone tonal quality. I knew the light and its reflection in the glass were important, but I was stymied as to how to make the image work. Dad was visiting for Christmas and so I asked for his opinion. It's is amazing what other people see, and I feel lucky when they are willing to share their candid suggestions.

 

While looking over my shoulder, Dad was complementary as always, but said, "I'm guessing that what interested you was the light fixture and its reflection in the office window, but I find some of the other things in this shot distracting so why don't you crop them out?" Duh! I had been focusing on other issues of exposure, contrast, etc and forgotten that it's OK to crop, especially when it improves the composition. Once we cropped it down to the key elements, what needed to be done in the digital darkroom became immediately apparent! Dad had reminded me of an important fundamental: Always keep in mind the subject of your photograph and remove or avoid distracting elements.

Best wishes to you and yours for this holiday season and for a prosperous new year!