I recently shared one of my black and white images online. It's an image from an August 2009 workshop (day 1, day 2) that I took with Chris Honeysett in San Francisco. That workshop with Chris was my first photography workshop experience – and one which had a special impact on me. Especially, it taught me to slow down and see – in black and white. Chris is a master photographer and he sees the world slowly. He taught us to stop shooting and compose – a remarkable experience.
Like I usually do, I uploaded the image to Flickr (and to Google+) – partially to archive it and partially hoping for some critique. Almost immediately, I had that critique – from my online photographer friend Jill Clardy. She really liked the image – but suggested an additional crop to the top – removing the upper level. I liked her suggestion and, when I added that crop, I also added an additional crop on the left side of the image to remove some of the visual clutter there as well.
Below is the final result – a much better image that demonstrates the power of critique in action! This image has more drama, less clutter – the stairs pull you down into this version of the image.
Such a minor but critical change – with a big impact visually! Thanks Jill for sharing your eyes!
For more like this, take a look at this sequence of posts I did regarding different treatments of the Pierce Barn at Point Reyes in black and white – all based on critiques from good friends! Here's Take 1, Take 2 and Take 3!