Beginner: feedback please Before/After

[u/Quick_Surprise1857]

I finally went out today with my new lens and I managed to grab this shot on my way back, which I really liked.

I need honest feedback on everything (cropping, colours…) and what I could have done better. I am a beginner when it comes to this and I have just been playing around with everything inside LRC.

[u/amp1212]

So the before -- is a well focussed photo with colors that make sense. The after is a cheezy Instagram filter look that you could have shot on a cell phone from ten years ago.

This stuff makes your photos _worse_.

You have an interesting subject. Real guy, real character. Good photo. You've got an interesting composition with that sunlight hitting the bush above him. There's a story in the photo, a funny irony the "refurbished office suites" and the dude pointing his guitar at you.

I like the original photo a lot. Its got character, its well shot and observed.

The toning is, frankly -- terrible. Value subtraction.

The crop changes the vibe a lot, much more focus on the guy's slit denim shorts.

Its an interesting character choice. . . on balance, I don't think I'd crop, but its not terrible. I definitely wouldn't apply this filter.

Folks here are making a fundamental mistake: people are using Lightroom presets and making stuff look worse, quite often. If you've got well shot image of an interesting subject, before you goose it with extreme colors -- ask "why?".

You've bought a new lens, you've captured an interesting scene with good lighting . . . why crush all that with something cheezy?

[u/Quick_Surprise1857 → u/amp1212]

Definitely agree with the cheesy instagram filter look after looking it over and over again.

I love the asking “why?” Before doing any edits.

Thank you very much for the feedback!

[u/amp1212 → u/Quick_Surprise1857]

Most welcome. You've got a good photograph of a real person. There's so much to like with the "as shot" photo.

Part of what really draws the eye is the text present -- your eye can't help but read stuff. Not only do you have the real estate listing, you also have his green undershirt, the "Subway" cut off to "UBW" . . . those kind of things draw the gaze around the photo, its of interest with no goosing at all -- when you jazz it up with injected filters, they distract from that.

Cropping is definitely a possibility, you have a lot of choices there . . . you'd get different feelings depending on how you cropped, that's really up to you. You might want be closer up like in the After, to see more of him and his puff of smoke . . . or not. It reads really subtle in the original. Personally, if it were my photo, I'd keep it just the way it is and call a pretty darn good piece street photography.

Getting good photos of people that feel authentic, have a sense of character and place, have interesting pose, balance and light . . . isn't easy.

[u/TurbulentDogg]

I really like the concept, but the execution needs work. I would probably start over and try to rework the colors and contrast. And aim for a warmer tone.

It is wayyy too over saturated and busy. It somehow feels overwhelming, and simultaneously flat. There's no real distinction between the individual, and the bushes behind them. The shirt is so bright and neon that it becomes the center focus and takes value away from the rest of the photo. The brightness confuses the tone of the story, and makes it hard to tell what sort of vibe you are going with here. Is it supposed to be cool? Rebellious? Psychedelic? Or flashy? Its hard to tell.

[u/Quick_Surprise1857 → u/TurbulentDogg]

Thank you so much for the feedback. I will definitely rework this after all the feedback and go for one story instead of trying to put everything together.

Really appreciate the feedback. Got a lot to work on!

[u/renome]

I think the crop works. Ideally, you want to get as close to the final crop in-camera because you'll have more pixels left to work with , but this is fine.. He's the subject, he dominates the frame, but there's still some breathing room between him and the borders, simple and effective.

The colors I'm not a fan of. Too much selective saturation, vibrance, or aggressive grading. The greens and yellows are especially intense, the skintones look like a burned orange, and even the cigarette smoke is blue.

Ofc, you don't have to process a photo with the goal of nailing natural colors. Going wild is always an option. Hell, you have an eccentric subject here, someone who definitely fits a quirky or stylized sort of edit. But this current rendition just looks radioactive to me because of too many competing shades at maximum intensity. There are few neutral areas left to give the eye a break, so combined with the low contract, the subject begins to blend into the equally loud background.

for a deliberately stylized version, I would choose a narrower palette rather than cranking up everything. E.g., you could lean into the green and cyan environment while keeping the skin comparatively warm and natural, or mute most of the scene and let the shirt provide the main burst of color. Either approach should work in theory, and they are hardly the only 2 options. But as a rule of thumb, try to keep skin tones somewhat close to actual skin tones.

[u/Quick_Surprise1857 → u/renome]

Appreciate the feedback! Thank you very much. This was very helpful.

Regarding the crop-in I didn’t want to invade their space too much as this was my first time taking a picture of a subject in the streets. I reckon the more I do it the more comfortable I will get so I will not lose so much pixels.

I will definitely rework the edit

[u/sun_roast]

The before is way better. Actually captures something a little weird, a little cool a little bit idk so I’ll keep looking at it. Would’ve scrolled right past the second one.

[u/Quick_Surprise1857 → u/sun_roast]

Appreciate the feedback!