Patience

by Jennifer Obyrne
(Brooklyn Park MN)

Irish step dancers were waiting for their turn to perform. I wanted to capture the patience they were showing as they waited.

It was originally in colour and changed to black and white.


Thanks for the submission Jennifer.

This is a wonderful photo that you did well to spot. Let's take a stroll (or maybe a step!) through this photo to see what makes it such a good shot.

First, there is the framing of the photograph. It would have been tempting to have taken photos of the dancers that included their faces (and I'm sure Jennifer has a few of those on her memory card too).

But part of the brilliance of this photo is that we can't see their faces. This means we look at the photo with more curiosity that we otherwise would have.

Then there is the decision to make this photo black and white. Not every photograph suits the black and white treatment, but this one does. Why? Because it has simplicity and blocks of colours.

To explain a little further – the dancers' socks – all white. Not patterned, just white. Their skirts – one colour, not stripy, just one colour. It also has good contrast – white socks, black shoes; good contrast. All this helps make a great black and white photograph.

Is there anything that I would recommend? To be honest, not very much, this is a really good photo! There's one small area that nags me a little – the closest dancer's right foot is just (only just!) cut off. If only we had a little space between that foot and the bottom of the photo.

My only other suggestion doesn't involve changes to this photo, but would be a different photo altogether – how about a close up of just one of the dancer's feet? It would again add an element of curiosity for the viewer.

I want to reiterate that this suggestion isn't made as a criticism, but as an alternative shot. To take my thinking one step further, Jennifer could take a few of these really closely cropped images (taking various parts of the dancers) and make a collage. There's a link to this idea at the bottom of my 'ramblings'!

Ed.

• what makes a good black and white picture
  
• a collage example