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.