a question of scale?

[wendellt]

i was clearign out my hard disk, found this image i took in paris last year
i obviously missed it when i was editing my set because i view thumbnails and edit from there

so i was under the impression that a strong photograph is one that can scale so the subject is pretty obvious even when the photo is seen small. I have always tried to take a photo with this in mind



in this case this image is quite abstract it has a lot of subtle detail and obscured by high contrast, when viewed small looks like nothing really

I printed this thing out and the overall look was like 10 times better than the one on screen. I don't normally print things out

so does scale affect the perception of an image?

of course this large example doesn't translate as well when compared to a printed version but it gives you an idea

http://www.zeduce.org/images/paris2005/parisScale2.jpg
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[Justin]

Scale affects perception absolutely - my images all look FANTASTIC in the viewfinder, and when at 65% on my monitor they are soon headed to the trash.

Small is good to hide a bit of blur or out of focus

Very good exposure BTW - the reflection of the street is right on the cusp of blowing out, and great of clarity almost to furthest part of the shot

[macka]

I think you've proved your own theory wrong here, Wendell. When I vote on DP Challenges I see lots of images that don't look that interesting as thumbnails, but are really quie impressive when you take the time to view the larger size. Just about anything with fine detail, for example.

I really like this shot, it shows what those narrow little French streets are really like. It's nice the way your eyes are led down the street to the figure crossing the road, and it kind of makes you wonder what's around the corner.

[big pix]

the image here is just fantastic, reminds me of work from the 40s and 50s and very early Paris pixs....... I agree with you that it would look better much larger, hence big viewing monitors do help a lot.......

[moggy]

Nice shot Wendell, I have the same problem with thumbnails not looking the goods untill I enlarge them. I really like the detail in this shot.

Bob.

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[ozimax]

I like this shot, I really enjoy city street scapes of all sorts, especially in BW.

[admajic]

Wendell. I like the enlarged ver too makes a big diff. Only thing is, it seems the higlights on the street are blown or close to it and give me a distraction, like glare. Hope this helps. As you can tell all great images lead the eye of the viewer on a journey through your pic. So naturally my eye should start at the bottom of the street and wander up it to the small ppl at the end. The buildings in this image give help that journey too. Thats what I see anyway. Bah! Sorry for rambelling

[kamran]

Nice shot. Were you using a CPL filter? I'm sure it would have helped in keeping that bright glare on the street in control.