Help me choose 12 photos

[bakubo]

I would appreciate help in choosing the best 12 of the 18 photos here:

http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff17 ... o/Help_Me/

I started off with many, many more photos from this trekking trip to Irian Jaya (West Papua, New Guinea), but after narrowing them down to 18 photos I got stuck. I am thinking about submitting 12 of these to try to get them published. I don't know if they are good enough, but it doesn't hurt to try, I guess. I had considered some of my many other photos (on my website), but finally decided these from Irian Jaya might be a bit more unusual and therefore, I hope, get a bit more attention.

If you have any comments about cropping, contrast, etc. then that would be welcome too. I have only prepared these photos in a rather straightforward way. Suggestions for post-processing these black & white photos would be appreciated too. Feel free to post your post-processing work on any of these photos.

Thank you!

[Javelin]

thats really hard.. it must be even harder for you but I can't pick 6 from that group to eliminate

[jbtaylor]

With all due respect, I tend to make choices about images immediately. Therefore, I would drop 7, 13, and 15. This is no more than a yes or no look at what I think are fantastic and meaningful images. I cannot provide more specific feedback as you have shown a real understanding of what needs to be done.

[KevinBarrett]

I hate to review your pictures this way, but when you're keeping 12 of 18, its just easier to strike six. They are amazing, and I hope I can take some pictures as impactful as these one day.

15 has some of the more interesting subject matter, but it is so busy and none of the shapes are easily seen. It is meaningless as a thumbnail, and only a little better blown up.

17 is a good sharp exposure but there's something about its contrast that gives the impression of an overworked photo. I'm not sure what processing you did to it, but it just doesn't have the same raw punch as the others.

Either 9 or 18 has to go. They are both great, but one of them is redundant and I can't decide which I love more. Considered seperately, neither would be on this strike list.

8 is framed rather oddly and crops the gentlemen's legs at an uncomfortable level.

3 could also have been framed a little better in my opinion. I usually keep heads and faces high in the frame and let a person's full posture tell about them as well. This one would have been much better in a vertical format to accomodate the difference in heights.

11 isn't growing on me. The childrens' hands are too interesting not to have included more of thier arms.

Definitely keep 1, 4, 6, 10, 13, 14 and 16

P.S. I feel like the auto-reviewer who has to rank five luxury cars that he could never afford.

[aster]

Hi Bakubo,

For what it is worth, I had a different approach of viewing your photos. I like the photos where the natives are dressed solely and entirely in their native understanding, meaning that there are some natives who are wearing modern shorts/boxers and t-shirts in some of the group photos of the native men-one situated back in the distance close to the woods and an other within a group shot. I think that this contradicts with everything that surrounds them which are more in the primitive understanding which look more genuine. Those would be 8 and 14. 14 is very nice though with the bow and all the smiling faces, if the man in the shorts can be cloned out of the image.

I like the portraits of the women and the two girls (11), the native man an the woman with child (13) and the similar ones.

Being only 12, I assumed these are being selected for a calender or similar use, therefore I would go for the ones which filled the frames with more nativity and genuine smiles.

Good luck,
Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

I think you should aim not to the best accomplished photos (which all are in fact), but those which reflect their way of living, the entourage and so on.
So definitely would toss those which show nothing of West Papua (you wouldn't certainly need a western Papua guy wearing Nike). And those are (IMHO, and do excuse me): # 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12.
I repeat, all shots are great, but just rejecting those that do not reflect their habitat, lifestyle or whatever. Sorry.

[bakubo]

Henry, something you may want to consider...the tree(s) *may* be a bit distracting to some on #6.

I debated doing a tighter crop, but I couldn't find one I liked better. I have cropped out the tree in this first one and then the original. What do you think?

My favorites are numbers 1.4.5.6.9.14.17....I like 6 a lot but it looks sorta *staged*...still a really cool shot though.

Definitely not staged. As I was walking past this little village on the trail there was a big commotion from all the children and a bunch of them gathered up on the wall to get a look at me. These moments and most of the moments in the other photos are fleeting and you just have to react. Even many of the photos where people are just standing there was often only seconds to get a shot. Sometimes it was because the people would move away, sometimes it was because other people would be moving in between, etc. Also, I never had the luxury of choosing backgrounds or settings. It wasn't like I could take hours at a place, direct them, tell them what to do, move them to other locations, choose who to put together, etc. I photographed what I could get and what I could see. Trying to to get a shot when facial expressions are good, composition, lighting, background, etc. was good was near impossible. Speaking of facial expressions, some of them were quite interesting!

Number 7 I like but the crop/compose seems a bit funky.

In this photo it was raining and the children were all huddled under a piece of a tarpaulin and I was kneeling down in front of them -- getting wet. My recollection is that it has very little cropping.

Number 11 and another show great smiles but they don't seem quite -for lack of a better term- *gritty* enough to fit perfectly but otherwise they are very nice photos.

Hmm, I'm not sure I know what you mean here.

Don, thank you very much for your fantastic comments. This is the sort of stuff I was looking for. I don't mind the constructive criticism since that was what I was hoping to get.

[bakubo]

15 has some of the more interesting subject matter, but it is so busy and none of the shapes are easily seen. It is meaningless as a thumbnail, and only a little better blown up.

Yes, I thought the same thing. Actually, they are butchering a pig that they just killed. It is sort of hard to see what is happening though. Probably with some skillful dodging and burning it could be made much better. The woman in photo #16 is holding the pig's entrails.

17 is a good sharp exposure but there's something about its contrast that gives the impression of an overworked photo. I'm not sure what processing you did to it, but it just doesn't have the same raw punch as the others.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It was a very harsh, bright sunny day and the contrast is tough to handle well. I adjusted it slightly here. What do you think?

Either 9 or 18 has to go. They are both great, but one of them is redundant and I can't decide which I love more. Considered seperately, neither would be on this strike list.

Yes, I was planning to not use both. Do you have a preference?

8 is framed rather oddly and crops the gentlemen's legs at an uncomfortable level.

I agree. See my comments above to Don. Sometimes even when it appears like I could have easily composed differently (and sometimes I could have and wish I did) often things are not as they appear. This photo was made in the village where we stayed on Day 6 of the 2 week trek. It was the next morning and we were gathering our gear and backpacks together to set out. The whole village was out and milling about and looking at us. There were no toilets, of course, and not even a hole in the ground. You just wandered off away from the village to do your business. Also, no trees around there. I wondered off alone a couple of hundred meters from the village with a roll of toilet paper, squated down in the open (not even any bushes), and went to it. A couple of minutes later I looked up and there were several boys standing less than 10 meters away just watching me. I had my camera sitting on the ground next to me and I quickly raised it up and got this shot:

3 could also have been framed a little better in my opinion. I usually keep heads and faces high in the frame and let a person's full posture tell about them as well. This one would have been much better in a vertical format to accomodate the difference in heights.

Yes, this is cropped a bit and, if I recall correctly, the original has just a bit more of their legs -- not a lot though. I would have to go back to the original scan (made in 2000) to check, but I recall that there was something distracting in the bottom of the frame that I decided to crop out. The main thing I like about this photo is the position of their arms. In the mornings when they felt cold the Irian Jaya people would often hold their arms this way.

11 isn't growing on me. The childrens' hands are too interesting not to have included more of thier arms.

I think this one isn't cropped or if it is then very little so, unfortunately, I don't have more of their arms.

Thanks, Kevin, for your excellent feedback!

[bakubo]

For what it is worth, I had a different approach of viewing your photos. I like the photos where the natives are dressed solely and entirely in their native understanding, meaning that there are some natives who are wearing modern shorts/boxers and t-shirts in some of the group photos of the native men-one situated back in the distance close to the woods and an other within a group shot. I think that this contradicts with everything that surrounds them which are more in the primitive understanding which look more genuine. Those would be 8 and 14. 14 is very nice though with the bow and all the smiling faces, if the man in the shorts can be cloned out of the image.

I definitely understand what you are saying and, of course, it would be nice, for the photographs, if the people were wearing only their traditional dress (or lack of it), but the fact is that some of the people have been able to get ahold of old, torn, dirty western clothes (t-shirts, shorts, etc.) and they wear them. It is reality.

Thank you very much for your comments!

[Dr. Harout]

Am I the next to be lynched?

[bakubo]

So definitely would toss those which show nothing of West Papua (you wouldn't certainly need a western Papua guy wearing Nike).

Thanks, Doc, for your comments! Hmm, I understand your point of view and, of course, I share it, but what can you do? Primitive peoples sometimes refuse to remain primitive. It is a tough choice as to whether you present reality or try to only show an idealized view. I don't know what the correct answer is. By the way, in my Irian Jaya trip report I wrote this:

One morning, near the end of the trek, Garry and I were walking along the trail together when we noticed a Lani man approaching. Something about his penis gourd seemed unusual though. As he got closer we noticed that it was green! Then, as we passed each other on the trail we realized that his penis gourd was made from a 12 inch piece of green plastic pipe! After Garry and I had "Wa'ed" him and he had "Wa'ed" us and continued on his way I turned to Garry and told him that we had just seen an amazing sight. This was a true Lani Renaissance Man. He had seen the future and had seized it. He had boldly stepped into the 21st Century and was rapidly leaving his Lani brethren behind stuck in the dark past. He had made that rare mental leap and had seen the wonderful possibilities that modern civilization had to offer the Lani people.

Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of him with his green plastic penis gourd. It was not typical, but it was reality.

[Birma]

Very interesting series. Not wanting to be too controversial, but I'd like to put a vote in for the the Nike t-shirt picture. I think the contrast between one of the current mega brands, and the rest of the picture(s) is really interesting and starts a whole new narrative beyond how fascinating it is to see people living in such a different way.

[springm]

What I would dismiss (which means dismissing the ones that are only a tad less excellent then the others)

3 - similar pose as #2, and I do prefer the single portrait here
5 - the least excellent of the kids pics in comparison
7 - because 6 is stronger when cropped
9 - not happy with the pose, especially the elbows
15 - it for sure is interesting but depending on the print size maybe not enough structured
18 - the lady is included, albeit less prominent, in 13, and this tells me more about the family

Difficult to select from these as the overall level is so high.

Markus

[bakubo]

Am I the next to be lynched?

Lynched? I certainly hope you didn't think that. I was just responding honestly and, I think, didn't discourage criticism at all. To the contrary, I am inviting it. I hope others will respond. I really need to make a decision within the next 24 hours.

[Dr. Harout]

Am I the next to be lynched?

Lynched? I certainly hope you didn't think that. I was just responding honestly and, I think, didn't discourage criticism at all. To the contrary, I am inviting it. I hope others will respond. I really need to make a decision within the next 24 hours.

Henry, I was kidding.
Few are those who reply to posts individually, and that speaks of the person's aristocracy and politeness. So I was just waiting my turn... BTW, aristocracy in the positive sense.
Grand respect.