I’m generally modest about my photos, but sometimes I feel like I’ve really nailed one. This photo is one of them. If it’s not obvious already, this photo was taken near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. True, it’s hard to get a bad shot in this wonderful city, but to make an image that feels better than the rest is an accomplishment for me.
I took this photo on the first day that my wife, Liz, and I arrived in the City of Light. We were both hungover with jet lag, but we forced ourselves out of the hotel after a brief rest. Ten minutes into our walk we found ourselves in an open plaza with hundreds of people milling around, relaxing, having lunch, walking by, talking, laughing and watching the various street performances going on. The Eiffel Tower made a great backdrop to the scene, but between the fog in my head from the flight and WAY too much visual stimulation, I couldn’t see a good shot. Then I saw the violinist in the center of everything, with life whirling around him.
Here are the thoughts that went through my head as I worked the scene:
“This guy has a great look, good expression and a nice suit. That could make a sweet shot!
“There’s too much going on around him, though. There are people dancing, picnicking, selling souvenirs, enjoying the sunshine, singing, etc. They distract from the main subject.
“I need to isolate the violinist so there’s less distraction in the photo. I have to get lower to the ground and point the camera up at him.
“OK. Crouch down—wait, where’d Liz go? Oh, there she is. OK. Back to the performer.
“Check my camera settings in the viewfinder.
“Still too many things in the frame.
“I need to isolate him more, so recompose with the sky and tower behind him. Get a little lower.
“I don’t want the tower in the photo competing visually with the violinist. Open the lens aperture to soften the sharpness of the tower. This will make him “pop” more in the photo.
“Click. Shift position a little. Wait for people to pass behind him. Click. Shift again. Wait and make sure you get his eyes open. Click. Shift. Click. Shift. Click. Shift. Ouch! Gravel in my knee. Click. Shift. Click. Done.”
I didn’t know how good the image was at that point, but I felt that I had pulled everything from the scene that I could. It was time to move on. Besides, I have to make sure that when we are traveling together that I balance my photo obsession with Liz’s desire to move ahead.
Once I got home it was time to edit the photo. Just like my shooting, my editing has a deliberate thought process. In spite of being a tech nerd, however, I don’t like to spend a lot of time editing a photo. I work my way through cropping, the basic RAW adjustments, sharpen and vignette if necessary, and maybe use some type of filter for an accent.
In the case of this photo, I knew I had a good image, but I had to bring it out in post production. Below are the edits I made and how they impacted the image. The spot edits at the end (Image 6) were used to remove the people’s heads in the lower left corner of the image. It looks like I need more work on this kind of edit.
In the end, there are other edits that I might have added (and still may), but I feel that the photo is strong as it is.
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
Image 6