Regarding a picture I developed today:
Do the little legs on the right pull your eye away from the cherub on the left, or do you find that because of the rocks behind, that they blend in and aren’t a problem??
Lose the little legs…they distract…especially since you pointed them out…
Okay, so do you think they would’NT have distracted you if I hadn’t pointed them out?
I find the top of the head being cut off much more distracting the little guy in the background. I don’t find the legs distracting at all.
I don’t know anything about art, so, take that for what it’s worth or not worth.
Jim
I have to disagree with Aha – the legs don’t harm the composition to my eye. The “busyness” on the right side balances the subject on the left.
Ahh, pluto, that’s EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!
No distraction. The left is def the main focus and the background noise on the right balances it well without being prominent.
Now that I think about it…they probably wouldn’t have.
Sorry, I am anything if not wishy washy
The hard part of editing…you know the material well, and all that is there. The audeince doesn’t and is unlikely to pick up on any discernible object on the right side of the picture. It might have been less busy, but the amorphous nature of the clutter on the right prevents it from distracting from the obvious subject.
Actually, I think the mixed light and dark of the statue on the right adds more interest than if you had more sparkling water. It balances the mass better. Not as well as if you’d planned something there, but it serves a serendipitous purpose.
The more I look at it, the more I like it.
as an artist, i find the composition to be just fine, the legs do not distract, but the light on the arms belonging to the legs on the right do distract somewhat, i don’t feel it really balances because there isn’t a deep shadow on the left to catch the eye at the same time.
possible to burn it somewhat over there?
I just asked my SO (without her seeing the OP) “what do you think of this picture?”
Her immediate response was “I’d have moved the cherub further into the center of the picture.” But she didn’t feel that the legs were specifically a bad thing.
Myself, if I let my eyes just kind of focus on the picture, I end up focused on the shiny water. But then I am easily distracted. I have to force myself to look at the cherub’s face.
Also, I have no artistic inclination, so take this with a couple dozen pinches of salt.
::: shudder :::
What JimB said. If the entire background cherub were in the picture, I’d find it more whole (go figure :rolleyes: ) than it is with just his wee legs back there. My own personal preference would be to include the entire statue in the background, rather than cutting it out. I could be wrong, though; it’s happened before.
I wouldn’t even have noticed it if you hadn’t pointed it out.
It’s a great pic.
Ah… the second thing I noticed was the statue on the right pulling its legs up in a, not so much flailing but “do me” position… if you moved the pic 10 degrees to the left it would bee very dramatic… and not so disturbing… L
They distract, ditch the right third of the picture.
I think the composition is fine, the line of the legs point to the subject, but the light reflecting off them draws attention back to them, which is distracting. Is there any way to mute the brightness of the reflection, or as soulsling suggested, add a deep shadow on the left to balence out the brightness.
Neato shot, though.
I disagree with *soulsling. I don’t find the light on the arms distracting at all. I find my eyes being drawn to the cherub.
I don’t know about the cherub’s head. On the one hand I notice that it’s cut off, which draws my attention away from the picture as a whole. On the other hand I tried to visualize it with the head intact. That would cause you to lose some of the foreground, which may or may not improve the photo. Also, would the picture be more mundane if the head were not cropped? Maybe the aspect ratio could be changed, keeping the width but giving it more headroom? I don’t know. I’d have to see different versions. Also, it would be nice to know the context of the photo. In context, maybe the head should be cropped?
Mega, if I may say so, it is very very very cool! I’d buy it from ya.