Which picture to you like better?

[Jims5543]

Picture A or B?

In picture A the background is in focus and you can see where the instrument man is looking.

In Picture B the foreground is in focus and you see the intrument man clear.

This is for my company website and I am not sure which one would appeal more to the average consumer. I though I would ask the Pelican braintrust.

PICTURE A


PICTURE B

[red-beard]

You need a telephoto lens and be much farther back, so they are closer together. Or use a smaller shutter apature and different speed film, or longer exposure.

Everything is a compromise.

[rick-l]

B
in A the trash cans are the center of attention

[bigchillcar]

what's the nature/business of the website? is it about the kind of work that this individual is performing? if so, i'd focus in on him, not what he's seeing. picture 'b' in that case..
ryan

[slodave]

Picture A seems to show two guys surveying. Picture B doesn't really make sense. With the fuzzy background, the guy in the orange vest is not clearly visible.

Dave

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by red-beard
You need a telephoto lens and be much farther back, so they are closer together. Or use a smaller shutter apature and different speed film, or longer exposure.

Everything is a compromise.

Actually I wanted this afftect. I wanted one then the other to be in focus.

I was using a 70-300mm zoom and was about 125 feet behind the the guy with his back to me.

[Hugh R]

What red said.

[nostatic]

neither. composition is not good. For one thing, the tree is coming out of his head.

What is the layout like on the website? Does a vertical shot work? What is the point of the photo? What are you trying to say?

[scottmandue]

Have to agree with nostatic... tree coming out of head and garbage can(s) are too distracting.

[Jims5543]

I never saw the tree until you pointed it out. Your right. Its for my land surveying website. It was going to be one of a series of pictures of my crews at work.

When I took the picture I was more concerned with seeing some of the surveying instrument, the guy operating it, and the guy he was shooting to.

I might take a new batch where I can move around more freely without getting hit by a car.

This came by while I was there I could have taken one from the front but the dude in the car was looking at me like WTF?! as he went by.

[gaijindabe]

I like the guy in the background in the first one. I would bring him closer. That is a good look. Teamwork and all that.. I would set up on a nicer street with no garbage can...

For the second photo - I would get the focus on man and machine (more of a side profile - not blocking what he is working with) and have the green trees in the background less sharp...

But that is both A & B.....

[red-beard]

Originally posted by nostatic
neither. composition is not good. For one thing, the tree is coming out of his head.

What is the layout like on the website? Does a vertical shot work? What is the point of the photo? What are you trying to say?

My wife sent me a photo when we were dating. It was her "sexy" photo, of he in a Bikini, in Cancun. A fountain was right behind her and it looked like water was squirting out the top of her head.

She became very mad when I asked how how mad she had to be to get the water to come out of her head...

[masraum]

Yep, I'd set up someplace with no trash cans just to fake a picture, but if I had to pick one of the two then I'd take B

[artplumber]

Nostatic +1.

How about something from over the shoulder of the guy taking the angles, aimed at the "device". And definitely no trash cans. Or something from across the street (so you and the 2 guys make an obtuse triangle)

[Moses]

Originally posted by nostatic
What are you trying to say?

Bush hates surveyors.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by Moses
Bush hates surveyors.

3 of the 4 presidents on Mt. Rushmore were surveyors.

[djmcmath]

It might make more sense to shoot the guy from in front of him. That way you can see that he has surveying gear, you get the face (implying a personal service, human touch, etc.), and a shot where the subject fills the frame.

Yes, "faking it" is legal -- you don't have to actually set up on a roadside somewhere to get this one. In fact, you'd be much better off picking someplace for the lighting than for the realism. I wouldn't plan on including enough background in the shot to show that it isn't real anyways, and most people could tell if it was in a "fake" location.

[K.B.]

Now that you have 2 to look at you can correctly "stage" the photo you really want. Plan it out before the actual event. Remember most magazine "cover photos" come from selecting one from a hundred or more. Then comes photoshop.

Get rid of all the distractions - trash cans, telephone pole, traffic. Find a nice location with some amount of lanscape, but not too cluttered, the brick walk is classy.

Bring the guy far away a lot closer, in an uncluttered spot to make him stand out. Make it look as though you are looking over the shoulder of the near person - get the equipment to show a little more as well, have your model lean over a bit, maybe fake a hand signal

You can always rent a 300 or 400mm telephoto to get the focus effect you want, (could be fun to try one out anyway). Try manual focus if necessary.

[Jims5543]

Thanks for all the pointers guys. Looks like a staged Photo shoot next week.

Thanks again. I am trashing these 2.

[87coupe]

Surveyor Images
That should give you some ideas.