I was in San Francisco last September. I saw a little friendly scribble that I thought captured the contempt and ridicule that the locals must feel towards the tourists that come and photograph "the painted ladies"... one of SF's most recognized sights.

It reminded me in a strange way of why I like big cities so much... having spent almost all my life in cities of millions.

Now, the problem: I see that I only have one photograph of the object of interest. I am particularly interested in the writing and the cigarette stubs at the bottom.

I have two versions, the second is a cropped version of the first. Could you tell me which one, if any, works better? "Neither" is a totally acceptable answer... be brutal

Thanks for your time!
Nikhil

1.

2.

[Donald]

#1, but:

Crop out distracting sidewalk / stairs at top and crop left side leaving only the one bollard: focus attention on subject of your photo. And then probably try to lighten or emphasize the graffiti so it is as esily seen as #2. Also, this photo probably would be more dynamic if a person were sitting on the bollard, or is that San Fransisco cliche?

[Nixarma]

Hi Donald,

Thanks for the suggestions. Does this work better?



I wanted to leave a little of the lower bollard in to give a sense of environment.

I don't live in SF, so I can't go back immediately to re-shoot this. I doubt that it's still there but if so, I would love to do a better job of shooting it. Unfortunately, I have just one photograph to work with

[xfraser]

I can't see the pictures, just says Content Protected by Owner....

[Nixarma]

Oops, sorry! Should be working now

[foxglove]

I definitely prefer the second - simple composition, the writing jumps out, the butts add to the gritty feel. The railing tends to lead the eye away from the main point of interest in the other versions. It might work better with a slightly larger crop, the writing seems a little close to the top left corner. Nice b&w conversion!

Julie

[NaClH2O]

I like #1 but I think you should include the whole post w/o too much of the rest of the stairway. That way the stairway would be implied and the graffiti would stand out. A crop starting from the right side of the photo just above the top of the post, continuing across to a line extended up from the lower corner of the post and thence to the bottom edge of the photo, or as close to the butts as you want. It would give you a long thin photo which may work quite well. Also of course make sure the writing stands out, I can barely make it out on my crummy work monitor.

NaCl(nothing says you have to stay with 3X2 dimensions)H2O

[Nixarma]

Julie and Saltwater,

I agree with you about a closer crop working better. I included the start and end points of the stairway to show the writing as something one would see as they were leaving. However, I don't think it works very well esp. because the letters are quite obscured unless viewed at a fairly large size.

I think there's the potential for an interesting photograph there... but it's not in the one frame that I captured. Thanks for giving me your opinions!

Nikhil

PS: 3x2 wasn't working at all for this pic... that's why I tried two square crops and one 5x7

[Buddha Jones]

I like the stairs being there, it kinda eludes to the path to take to 'go the f*#k home", and the cigarettes, for me, give a face to the person who wrote the message. Not that smokers are angry people, but it makes it more personable.

[Nixarma]

Hi Buddha,

Precisely my thoughts as well. I do want to show the stairway and yet keep the writing prominent. I think my final version might be a slight variation of my third attempt. I am still undecided as to how much of the lower bollard to show, if at all.

The cigarettes were what really made me want to photograph this scene. I just wish I had done a better job

[Buddha Jones]

two words, dodge and burn...

[Nixarma]

But I did! It's most apparent in 2.

3 could use a little more perhaps...

[Sailor]

I much prefer (and really love) the second composition in your OP. It's genuinely funny. I love irony, a profane message telling visitors to leave embedded in a dismal, filthy (the butts) image that would induce one to depart without the written suggestion.

Jer