Waiting

'Absence and longing' - there's certainly a rather melancholy air to this image, with the empty benches and the raking sunlight. I find the cut-off board on the left is a bit of a distraction, and that led me to think about the overall composition, and the elements in here. Do all of them contribute to the feeling and atmosphere? Would removing some of them increase the feeling of absence and longing? While I'm typing, Moira has posted a mod, and her comment may be up by the time I hit 'Add Comment' - I wonder if she has the same idea? The mod certainly suggests so. I'll stop now, and play with the picture...

'Absence and longing' - there's certainly a rather melancholy air to this image, with the empty benches and the raking sunlight.

I find the cut-off board on the left is a bit of a distraction, and that led me to think about the overall composition, and the elements in here. Do all of them contribute to the feeling and atmosphere? Would removing some of them increase the feeling of absence and longing? While I'm typing, Moira has posted a mod, and her comment may be up by the time I hit 'Add Comment' - I wonder if she has the same idea? The mod certainly suggests so. I'll stop now, and play with the picture...

Welcome back again, to the site and the Critique Gallery, it's been a while! Thanks for explaining so clearly what you were aiming at here, the lockdown experience is miserable but it's a part of our lives, of our history and with luck it won't be repeated - it needs to be recorded. And that covers the emotional experience as much as the physical reality. Emptiness is actually quite difficult to convey when you want it, but empty seats tables are particularly eloquent and so is b&w. There were three strong elements combined here as I see it - the signs on the wall, so obviously aimed at customers; the empty bench; and the stark shadows. There are also a certain amount of unnecessary 'bits' - the strings of lights, the letters SE on the left. I've added a tight, taut square crop under modifications, it works better for me, see what you think. But it also occurs to me that moving round to the right a bit you might have got the a better relationship between signs and bench. It's worth exploring the idea further when you get a chance to go out (I see no reason for not carrying a camera when I exercise). Locally we are preparing a lockdown time capsule for eventual burial, to include photos like this as well as newspaper articles etc. One day we hope to look back on this as remote history. Moira EDIT: And yes, John, I was thinking along the same lines as you... ;)

Welcome back again, to the site and the Critique Gallery, it's been a while!

Thanks for explaining so clearly what you were aiming at here, the lockdown experience is miserable but it's a part of our lives, of our history and with luck it won't be repeated - it needs to be recorded. And that covers the emotional experience as much as the physical reality.

Emptiness is actually quite difficult to convey when you want it, but empty seats tables are particularly eloquent and so is b&w. There were three strong elements combined here as I see it - the signs on the wall, so obviously aimed at customers; the empty bench; and the stark shadows. There are also a certain amount of unnecessary 'bits' - the strings of lights, the letters SE on the left. I've added a tight, taut square crop under modifications, it works better for me, see what you think. But it also occurs to me that moving round to the right a bit you might have got the a better relationship between signs and bench.

It's worth exploring the idea further when you get a chance to go out (I see no reason for not carrying a camera when I exercise). Locally we are preparing a lockdown time capsule for eventual burial, to include photos like this as well as newspaper articles etc. One day we hope to look back on this as remote history.
Moira

EDIT: And yes, John, I was thinking along the same lines as you...

A very difficult emotion and feeling to convey, I think you are on the right kind of lines but not quite there. With all the bits and bobs in the frame, the draped lights, the A board etc, the sense of emptiness has not quite made it for me. I did a mod based on Moiras nice square crop but went a couple of stages further... Coned away what was left of the a board, then ramped up the contrast for a really stark feel. Nice attempt by you to capture an emotion.

A very difficult emotion and feeling to convey, I think you are on the right kind of lines but not quite there.
With all the bits and bobs in the frame, the draped lights, the A board etc, the sense of emptiness has not quite made it for me.
I did a mod based on Moiras nice square crop but went a couple of stages further...
Coned away what was left of the a board, then ramped up the contrast for a really stark feel.
Nice attempt by you to capture an emotion.

I have tried a modification that goes in the opposite direction, Peter. Instead of cropping, I have extended the canvas at the bottom and on the right, and have very roughly cloned in some detail. My aim is to give a wider view and extend the starkness of the scene. I also wanted to have space in the immediate foreground so that we feel we are standing back from the table. I left the lights in because they gave me the feeling of wanting celebrations and yet being denied them. Instead of brightening the scene, I felt like darkening it, but the mood I wanted seemed to be achieved better with a slight sepia tone. I cloned out the A-board. Pamela..

I have tried a modification that goes in the opposite direction, Peter.

Instead of cropping, I have extended the canvas at the bottom and on the right, and have very roughly cloned in some detail.

My aim is to give a wider view and extend the starkness of the scene. I also wanted to have space in the immediate foreground so that we feel we are standing back from the table.
I left the lights in because they gave me the feeling of wanting celebrations and yet being denied them.
Instead of brightening the scene, I felt like darkening it, but the mood I wanted seemed to be achieved better with a slight sepia tone.
I cloned out the A-board.

Pamela..

My eye kept wandering to the top lef where he large sign is, so I did a mod based on that, cropping the big sign out. I left the small one in as it's not so dominant and plays a supporting role. It's meant the edge of the table gets cropped too, but you could remdy that by moving to your left at the time of capture. Then the image becomes more about the triangles and shadows, bold graphic shapes. Certainly [i]absence [/i]of human presence. I think including the larger sign would work better in a wider view.

My eye kept wandering to the top lef where he large sign is, so I did a mod based on that, cropping the big sign out. I left the small one in as it's not so dominant and plays a supporting role. It's meant the edge of the table gets cropped too, but you could remdy that by moving to your left at the time of capture.
Then the image becomes more about the triangles and shadows, bold graphic shapes. Certainly absence of human presence.
I think including the larger sign would work better in a wider view.