on Primrose Hill

This is one of a few I took a few weeks ago on Primrose Hill in north London (there are some iconic photos from that location by David Bailey if I recall correctly).

This was one fo the first I fired off as I saw the strong backlight and just wanted to capture the scene. Helmut Newton once said that in any set it was frequently his first shot which he chose before he thought about it or staged a model because that contained the most 'truth' of the scene. Often the more you work with a set up the more truth you lose. I suspect he had a point.

And here's another

These were also taken that same afternoon.

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These are absolutely brilliant, Nigel. The last one I like the best. Nice one.

Paul Abbott said:

These are absolutely brilliant, Nigel. The last one I like the best. Nice one.

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I agree the last one pleases me the most as they stand, but I think the first and second show the most potential, but need more space or sky to improve their balance. Having said that I accept that you might just get a burnt white space, so maybe wouldn't work

Mike

Paul Abbott said:

These are absolutely brilliant, Nigel. The last one I like the best. Nice one.

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Paul, that's the best compliment I have ever received for any of my photos. Thank you. I appreciate it

Mike Shimwell said:

I agree the last one pleases me the most as they stand, but I think the first and second show the most potential, but need more space or sky to improve their balance. Having said that I accept that you might just get a burnt white space, so maybe wouldn't work

Mike

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Mike, thank you also. The reason there is not more sky is that the pictures are cropped from the bottom. There was more dark area than sky and I felt the dark was unnecessary and actually by cropping it out I actually preferred the wider and narrower format for this type of picture

These are really cool Nigel. I really like the 'panoramic' one's. I'm always on the lookout for a good silhouette, and you've nailed some here. Good job.

Nigel Allan said:

Mike, thank you also. The reason there is not more sky is that the pictures are cropped from the bottom. There was more dark area than sky and I felt the dark was unnecessary and actually by cropping it out I actually preferred the wider and narrower format for this type of picture

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Hi Nigel,

A couple of additions - I like the fact that the people are not silhouetted in the first couple of pictures (not a negative about your later silhouettes) and agree that you don't need any more dark space in the foreground, although the shadows are an inherent and important element of the composition, so I your cropping to them seem to me to be apprpriate.

The sky is obviously much harder here and may just blow, but my comment was based purely on a sense that the figures were a little cramped above their heads, which is a personal thing of course.

Mike

I have originally replied to this thread and it had gotten moved around and disappeared from this thread. Here was my reply. Not that it did matter a lot, but as a matter of principle it should have stayed where it has been posted at.

Cem_Usakligil said:

I have originally replied to this thread and it had gotten moved around and disappeared from this thread. Here was my reply. Not that it did matter a lot, but as a matter of principle it should have stayed where it has been posted at.

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Cem, I posted some silhouettes to the RISKIT! section because I didn't know where they should go.
Asher moved them to the SILHOUETTE thread along with your comment.

I subsequently added these last 3 to that moved thread since they were actually taken at the same time as the others on Primrose Hll and if not part of a set as such I felt they showed the natural transition from the first two pictures in this thread. Sorry for any confusion, but these last three are new ones I hadn't posted previously so your kind comments were actually related to different (but similar) shots

Here was the original one you commented on (for the sake of keeping them all together in the same thread) as I read a comment by one person that the Silhouette thread was an old one and some people might not be checking it out, which is a shame since there some lovely shots there by other members.

Last three are my favorites in this fine series