I took this photograph in Havana, Cuba as the light was fading towards the end of the day. You will notice that the musician is in focus, but the women are not. For me, the blur of the women indicates motion.
So many times we come across a street scene that exists for only a few seconds, if that. We don’t always have time to adjust shutter speed so we take the shot, and before we can take a second photo, the scene has changed. Upon pulling this image up on the monitor, I saw blur. Does that mean the image is lost or irrelevant? Not necessarily.
I could have cropped out the women and just showed the musician since he is subject of the image, however, the women walking past seem to ignore him, as if this is nothing new or interesting to them. That adds something to the story that the image tells. Without them, it is the musician. With them, it is a more complete street scene.
I look at a lot of photographs in galleries, museums, books and online, and there is often a flaw of some kind, like blur. Think about this. Does it really ruin the image or does it perhaps add to it in its own way? If, like me, you’ve competed in photography club competitions, you may well have heard the judges criticize various images because of a slight cut-off of a person, or a blur, or some other minor element. Hear what they say, but decide for yourself. If the image works, it works. I think this one does. Feel free to disagree.
So many times we come across a street scene that exists for only a few seconds, if that. We don’t always have time to adjust shutter speed so we take the shot, and before we can take a second photo, the scene has changed. Upon pulling this image up on the monitor, I saw blur. Does that mean the image is lost or irrelevant? Not necessarily.
I could have cropped out the women and just showed the musician since he is subject of the image, however, the women walking past seem to ignore him, as if this is nothing new or interesting to them. That adds something to the story that the image tells. Without them, it is the musician. With them, it is a more complete street scene.
I look at a lot of photographs in galleries, museums, books and online, and there is often a flaw of some kind, like blur. Think about this. Does it really ruin the image or does it perhaps add to it in its own way? If, like me, you’ve competed in photography club competitions, you may well have heard the judges criticize various images because of a slight cut-off of a person, or a blur, or some other minor element. Hear what they say, but decide for yourself. If the image works, it works. I think this one does. Feel free to disagree.