Verticals, a photo from Jeollanamdo, South

Photographer's Note

I'm a sucker for colourful Asian vertical signs. Kwangju's downtown certainly isn't anything special by Korean standards, but on hot and crowded July evenings it's a fun place to people (and sign) watch.

I had a tripod with me, but it was too short, so I used my very patient wife's head instead.

Tech: Cropping, minor PS work to get rid of some noise in three signs, some sharpening on the white and black signs on the left... and cloned out an ugly power line.

joergen115, barkin, esme, dmitriy55, ngythanh, cantorboi, seb36, kyzer oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

Critiques | Translate

ninadev (5377) 2003-07-20 9:48

LOVE IT! To me it's perfect. The verticals, the colours (sky and all), the sharpness, the composition and the feeling of a hot evening on a very busy street. Congratulations to your wife for her patience and to you for that great shot.

Mike (693) 2003-07-20 9:54

What a striking picture this is, you saw the potential immediately of those vertical banners, and by golly do they work as a photograph! taken at just a perfect time too with the deep blue sky as a backdrop.

gringofil (0) 2003-07-20 9:58

Agree...very nicely done. The verticals, the people, the feeling generated by this shot is incredible. Well done!

htremblay (1666) 2003-07-20 10:02

This photo is very nicely done. All is perfect. Bravo

AdrianW (2274) 2003-07-20 10:04

Excellent shot! My only suggestion would be that you'd taken it with more of the people facing you. I think your choice of dusk is perfect though, the deep blue sky really makes the shot! Your Note made me chuckle too ;-D

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evilren (1395) 2003-07-20 10:19

very colourful picture.I agree with adrian's suggestions..beside that u manged to keep all the signs very sharp and clean.
and very well done for that!

Darren (6823) 2003-07-20 10:27

This is really good. The verticals all work well here, and I tihnk your angle allows us to see pretty much all we can from the signs. The people add a human, yet anonymous touch as well. Also, it seems as though you got the exposure right on. Your wife must be a saint.

It is interesting, you have caught all three "Bangs" here; norae bang, pc bang and video bang. I guess they are present on pretty much any korean strip like this, but seeing them, kinda ties things together for me. Nice work.

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Edwin (188) 2003-07-20 11:43

A very original way of capturing the repeating vertical signs in this chaos Dave. I also like the diagonal that seperates the signs from the people. Very well seen!

Abocc (3304) 2003-07-20 12:42

I can't add something to all the previous comments.
Congratulations !

Porteplume (4036) 2003-07-20 12:59

I've never seen something like that! Wonderful busy colourful scene and you made a great image of it Dave. But I must agree with Adrian about too little details on the shopping people. Not enough light?
And still... It's great!

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forlife (892) 2003-07-20 13:30

great shot very well done!

ornis (1271) 2003-07-20 17:37

Incredibly clear and sharp shot and stunning colors. Busy atmosphere is really there, and your shooting position was perfect to get all the right banners overlapping nicely. Congratulations, Dave (and Madam, of course).

keir (250) 2003-07-20 18:01

Nice crowded street shot. I've never been to Kwangju and it's interesting to see how identical this street looks to so many others in Korea. I like the vendor and (as Darren mentioned) the way you caught all three of the popular "bangs".

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Guzman (577) 2003-07-20 19:10

Glorious shot so busy for the eye , it's hard to settle on one spot, eventually your taken down the street and it looks like it goes on and on , only minus (AdrianW is correct) would be the back of the peoples heads thanks for sharing ,well done ( p.s your poor wife ! )

Skorj (581) 2003-07-21 9:15

This is good because of the colors and subject of course, but also because of your composition, and your selection of the time of day to shoot.

This is an important observation for us all - do it right in the camera in the first place, and there is no need for post-camera work.

This time of day is of course particularly effective for a number of situations - look at City of Light II...

lemon_logix (1054) 2003-07-28 2:10

Wow, very nice. Hmm. how's your wife! haha..

light (865) 2003-09-26 22:51

Excelent roit of colors, good perpective alog with the vertical flashlights.
Very atmospheric, good detail and contrast.
Really a superb shot!

marcind (222) 2003-10-16 12:05

this is a really good photo, well capture night life with these neons and many persons walking, i live in HK now i know to take this kind of photo is not so easy

benny (631) 2003-12-08 10:04

Trčs belle composition, j'aime beaucoup, bravo!

tuanjim (44) 2004-03-27 20:03

Fantastic! Love the colors and twilight feel to it.

Gbutler (772) 2004-04-11 22:10

Dave-your wife must REALLY love you to be your tripod ;o)

Awesome shot...lots going on and makes me long to travel! Fortuntately for me, my profession allows me to travel to Hong Kong/China at least once per year...can't wait to take some photos and post them :o)

Daco (113) 2004-06-06 20:30

Yes, very nice shot, bright colors, and blue sky, I love it.

fapmap (250) 2004-06-06 20:46 [Comment]

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nainconnu (351) 2004-06-13 21:15

Great sharpness! And the colors, WOW! The composition is just perfect in this case. Thanks for sharing with us!

eilaw (259) 2004-06-19 16:52

Really nice shot! The verticals really make this shot, and it's really sharp (your wife must've stood really still!)

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joergen115 (2246) 2004-06-20 5:39 [Comment]

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barkin (52) 2004-08-05 5:20

Perfect night shot. Wife's head worked well. :) Congs.

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markoci (3933) 2004-11-27 23:59

Great shot! Makes me want to grab my camera and head out to Myeong-dong tonight :) I can just never get this beautiful blue sky in my night shots. Was this taken before complete darkness in the sky?

esme (0) 2005-01-14 0:15

Such a good photo! Your sharpening did very well here! Well done!

gsgeorge (764) 2005-01-14 0:42

WOW... I've never seen anything like this. Talk about advertisements gone mad. Quite an impressive shot.

KevRyan (22956) 2005-02-14 11:27

Incredibly sharp, low light photo with good depth of field - your wife's head obviously worked well!

best wishes

Kev

Pattyjy (2180) 2005-02-14 11:30

Je trouve cette image tout simplement extraordinaire. La netteté, les couleurs, la composition... Génial. Bravo, Patty.

ngythanh (8458) 2005-02-14 11:43

This picture kept my mouth wide open.
Bravo for you, but the 2 smileys are credited to your human tripod!

Thanks for sharing.

teta5 (1203) 2005-03-09 3:31

hi:)
fantastic picture!
by the way - you wife must be really patient :) picture is really good.
regards!
aneta

cantorboi (409) 2006-04-10 21:48

Great shot! Your wife is not only patient--she has a lot of poise, as there is ZERO motion-blur in this photo. I like the composition and the exposure. Excellent work. Jim

jpwashere (148) 2006-04-13 6:26

you really captured the gwangju downtown with this photo. great composition and great colors. really wonderful shot. i can see the powerline that disappears into nowhere though... sometimes it's best to leave in the ugly cause it just seems awkward seeing the poweline on the white of the building and then gone once it reaches the sky. maybe i'm just seeing things. i'm sure if you didn't point out your modification on your note, i wouldn't have even noticed.

mphotographies (1976) 2006-07-25 22:24

Annyong Haseyo Dave!
Very resourceful using your wife's head there. You should always bring her with you in case...hehehe. Very colourful and vibrant street scene, great capture with the sky still has that early evening glow.
Haven't been to Kwangju but I've been to Myeongdong and it's amazing to take night photos there as well, the neon lights all lighted up along with alleys of korean & foreign brand shops, similar character :)
Regards,
JHCris

Eatlovepray (17) 2008-03-08 8:00 [Comment]

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