TODAY AT SARATOGA RACE WAY

[WEEGEE]

Shore leave

 

[DanielJones]

Now that is a nice classic black & white vintage look. Great job!:eusa_clap

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Feraud]

A cool photo!

 

[BJBAmerica]

Great Shot!! :eusa_clap

 

[Rick Blaine]

Today at Saratoga... or 9 August 1947?

There is nothing in that photo that couldn't have been extant 50 or 60 yrs. ago. Brilliant!
I might crop out the Officer, far right, but that's just me. A lovely & evocative image!

 

[RBH]

WOW! Now that is a piece of art!
:eusa_clap Fantastic work!!! :eusa_clap

 

[fatwoul]

...I might crop out the Officer, far right, but that's just me...[/SIZE][/COLOR]

Ditto. Personally, I'd also crop to the sailors' waists, because I'm a real fan of golden section, and by doing that, this photograph has it in spades:

Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing. Very nicely done. Love your site, by the way. Great work on there.

(I don't know if what I just did is terrible photo etiquette around here - I'm a member of several photography websites where people don't mind that, but WEEGEE if I've done the wrong thing PM me and I'll delete that picture immediately - I made it very small to make sure nobody would rip you off!)

 

[carter]

I'd also crop to the sailors' waists, because I'm a real fan of golden section,

For us uninited readers, what is the golden section?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Great Photo.

 

[WEEGEE]

Nice Crop

fatwoul... Very nicely done:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The original photo's great, but I also like the cropped version as well. It looks a little more focused-in on the topic (sailors watching the horse) and getting rid of the "half-officer," as something else noticed, seems to enhance the picture.

 

[HamletJSD]

For us uninited readers, what is the golden section?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Great Photo.

If I remember correctly, though more proper mathematicians should feel free to correct me, the Golden Section (or Golden Ratio) is a mathematical equation that the ancient Greeks believed showed beauty, as the ratio shows up in nature, geometry, on our bodies, etc.

The practical side? Very roughly speaking, if you draw lines in a photo that divide it into thirds horizontally and vertically, the subjects or your photo should be on the lines.

Try taking a picutre of a person centered in your camera's viewfinder. Then take a second, immediately, with them off to one side of center. Generally the photo with the off center subject, with the subject one one of those "thirds lines," will be aesthetically more pleasing.

Someone tell me if I am way off ...

 

[HamletJSD]

Oh, and, sorry ...
FANTASTIC photo either way. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[fatwoul]

fatwoul... Very nicely done:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Hey it's your picture.

If I remember correctly, though more proper mathematicians should feel free to correct me, the Golden Section (or Golden Ratio) is a mathematical equation that the ancient Greeks believed showed beauty, as the ratio shows up in nature, geometry, on our bodies, etc...

That's the one.

...The practical side? Very roughly speaking, if you draw lines in a photo that divide it into thirds horizontally and vertically, the subjects or your photo should be on the lines...

Yeah, pretty much. In this case, cropping it placed the row of sailors' heads roughly a third up from the bottow, and that felt like it balanced the sky, which together with the darker trees in the background, occupies the top third of the frame. The horse sits roughly a third in from the left.

Golden Section divisions are actually a little more complicated than just thirds, and place the divisions slightly closer to the centre than the edges, but they are more difficult to visualise, and for the most part the different between "The Golden Section and "The Rule of Thirds" is unnoticeable in many photographs.

...Try taking a picutre of a person centered in your camera's viewfinder. Then take a second, immediately, with them off to one side of center. Generally the photo with the off center subject, with the subject one one of those "thirds lines," will be aesthetically more pleasing.

Someone tell me if I am way off ...

Not way off at all - it's good advice. When we were at college, we were told never to place the subject in the centre of the frame, until we understood why. We were also told never to decide a photograph through the camera, but to look first. And not just to look from eye level; to get on our knees, or even our stomachs, to climb on a chair or a wall, or whatever put our eyes at a position that showed the subject in a new and different way.

Once we understood the rules, we were allowed to break them - afterall, sometimes you want an image that is visually more peaceful or relaxing, and doesn't force the eye all over the shop; sometimes the subject does need to be in the centre, and sometimes the subject should be photographed from eye-level.

That's what is so effective about WEEGEE's image here: it conveys a restful afternoon of shore leave at the races. Interestingly, a lot of the really famous and powerful images from the past are more traditional in their composition - mostly by choise, but also because the photographer was more constrained by more cumbersome cameras, and a more delicate photographic process. It could be this traditional composition that compliments the post-war era feel of the picture so nicely.

Sorry, guys - you got me started on my passion. lol

 

[barrowjh]

'The Golden Mean' derives from the ratio between numbers in the Fibonacci number sequence, and as you climb higher in the numbers, it consistently settles in at 61.8%. Its square, 38%, and square root, 78%, are also useful.

I like the bowler! I won a homberg recently, but when it arrived, I was surprised to find the pencil-curl brim was the same all around, not like a homberg at all. I had to steam the brim, add weight to the front and back to pull them down, which in turn pulled up the sides to restore the homberg look. It occurred to me that this had been a natural result of years of storage in a hat box made for other hats; regular humidity changes must have taken that 'stess' out of the brim. Anyone else encounter this?

 

[fatwoul]

'The Golden Mean' derives from the ratio between numbers in the Fibonacci number sequence, and as you climb higher in the numbers, it consistently settles in at 61.8%. Its square, 38%, and square root, 78%, are also useful.

The difference between this and thirds looks a little like this. Here's a golden section grid:

And here's a normal thirds grid:

Generally, because a subject is always greater than a single point, its safe to put things kinda half way between the two, so the grids we used to make at college looked more like this (anywhere the blue lines meet being "compositionally safe" for a subject, and anywhere on the blue lines for horizons or vertical lines):

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Nice photograph, WEEGEE. I prefer the big picture, gives a girl more to look at.

 

[Tomasso]

I prefer the big picture, gives a girl more to look at.

[bad]

 

[HamletJSD]

Sorry, guys - you got me started on my passion. lol

lol You sound like my uncle ... He teaches art at Syracuse and had us going for an hour about Golden Section last time I spent any time with him.
Lots of fun, though, it was as if I was in school again and I enjoyed it

BTW, you can notice wear I cropped Homer in my avatar lol ... he was centered (of course) but for a still frame I thought that arrangement was more dramatic

 

[fatwoul]

BTW, you can notice wear I cropped Homer in my avatar lol ... he was centered (of course) but for a still frame I thought that arrangement was more dramatic

Yes, real tension. He is looking away from us, already leaving us not knowing his expression, but you also placed him looking out of the frame rather than in, leaving the audience curious as to what he is looking at. lol

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I think cutting out the legs makes each of the sailors stances non distinctive. You can see each of them are leaning against the gate differently. Without their legs, you can't see that and they lose individual character.