A picture of a bronze head of HC Bosman, a story teller who was a teacher, a writer, and a murderer. He lived 1905 to 1951and became known mainly for his stories of the Marico district of South Africa which abuts onto Botswana ( Bechuanaland in his time ). Despite being Afrikaans he wrote in English using a unique style.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Charles_Bosman
The picture started as the rather underwhelming colour picture, now made into the dark one.
Pentax K-20D 24mm, Lightroom and Photoshop. Light from a north-facing window at midday.
Edit: new crop added. This seems to be the average of the various "ratios" and what I like.
I really like the first image here. It is a beautiful work of art - both in sculpture and photography! I love the way the lighting and black and white set off the texture on the sculpture and the shape of his face and hat. Nicely done!
I would suggest tweaking the crop as he seems a little high or somehow 'off' to me. And, since I find that when people say things like this to me and then don't tell me why, it isn't helpful. So, this may sound really back to basics but I can't think of another way to explain what I'm thinking.
When I have a really stripped down image (and therefore the crop is really important) sometime I get out the old templates like a golden spiral layover and see what it says. I might not follow it but it is fun to check it out sometimes. I inverted this image because my spiral template is black and then laid the tool over the image. It shows that, using the eye as an anchor and the right side as the edge, you need more space on top. This tool gives the top right corner crop and the rest flows from there.
Again - this might be too basic it is meant to be helpful!
Ruthie
PS- I checked out your portfolio - nice seascapes!
Thanks for the suggestions - I shall try them out.
I meant to write in my note that this is not my sculpture, but one in the HC Bosman museum at Groot Marico village.
Thanks for the remark about my waves.
I certainly think you've taken the colour original to another level, Arthur, to create a powerful work.
Subjectively, I share Ruth's reaction to the composition. Although I remain ambivalent about "rules", her template and the alteration it suggests does result in a more pleasing, harmonious composition, (not that Ruth is saying we must obey any rules - she's been known to be naughty herself!).
It is good to thoroughly know the rules so you can then break them properly!
:)
Well done Arthur. I really like your low key edit. The new added crop is really good!
Thank you. I appreciate all the help.
The original BW picture was squeezed into a sort-of Golden Ratio shape.