Which picture to you like better?
 

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
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...3/DSC_0177.jpg

PICTURE B
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...3/DSC_0176.jpg

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.

B
in A the trash cans are the center of attention

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

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

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.

What red said.

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?

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

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 :D I could have taken one from the front but the dude in the car was looking at me like WTF?! as he went by.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...3/DSC_0180.jpg

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.....

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...

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

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)

Bush hates surveyors.

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

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.

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.

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

Thanks again. I am trashing these 2.

Surveyor Images
That should give you some ideas.

Is anyone building a mall or such nearby where you could get access to do a shoot? Some earthmovers in the out of focus background would add some interest. Shooting from over the other guy's shoulder sounds like the plan; better to see the guy "working" the transit than the guy just holding the stick. Do your trucks have signs or lettering on them? I'd think caputuring one of them close to the working man would be good too.

I took this one too and like it a lot. I looked at the link 87coupe and a lot of those pics look like an office guy posing for a picture.

The pics I attached were not posing. I told them to ignore me and I would be running around snaping pics. I will do that again.

I did snap this one and was happy with it.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...3/DSC_0184.jpg

Since you're asking....I think that's better than the others.

Get rid of the tree, close the truck, make sure your sign shows fully, the guys don't look that busy. Maybe if the transit guy was turned 30-45 degrees to his left and busy with the transit, and the stick-guy(?) was at the far left?

Maybe I am too picky about having staged pictures.

This is a perfect example:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/Jims5543/dude.jpg

This guy has his hand on a knob that would not be touched unless he was looking through the eye piece. Once I saw this I looked at the guy, hmmm, designer t-shirt, pretty hair, yeah he is a desk jockey put next to this brand new shiney level to pose for a picture. He probably does not know how to use it.

I do want the general public to look at the picture and be impressed but, I also want my competitors to look at my site and not laugh at our posing pictures.

My crews have a reputation around town as being the most efficient and hard working crews around. We get compliments for our clean cut appearance and how tidy our trucks are and how neatly dressed our drews are. This is what I am trying to show but not say in so many words on my website.

I understand. I don't like them too staged either, but staged accurately with your guys but in a similar kind of attractive place with no trash cans would be good.

+1

and have him tuck in his shirt!!!

Jim, that guy looks TOO staged; looks like he's thinking about what to do after work!

I'm think "staged" as in moving the guys around the location for the best photo shoot but have them do "actual" work; even if an imaginary job. Maybe a guy with his eye to the transit and a common hand-signal?

It's Surveyorman!
Sent from planet Surveyatron to save the earth from uneven surfaces.

Yeah we talked about it and are going to do a shoot next week.

We do not do hand signals anymore. Since the invention of 2 way radios they are not used anymore. Look in the insrument guys right hand.


Nostatic - Duly noted, although it will look unrealistic and posed. You are correct it will make a much neater appearance.

This is why I put this up here. Thanks for all the insight.

Is it too late to suggest girls in bikinis with hard hats?

They sold a lot of tools (Calenders) back in the 70's

Okay these are from the 50's but the ones we got in the 70's & 80's had photos of girls posing with the tools.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1148675094.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1148675113.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1148675132.jpg

Yep the guys have to go, I suggest a couple of tall tan blond girls in white string bikinis. Doh, Sold

I give the pipewrench a 10.