[matthew]

I took this to an evaluation group last night, and the main comment was they wanted to see the image oriented the other way. My opinion tends to be against that of the group. I'd love to get a few more opinions. (Any other comments and critiques would also be most welcome.)


Right:





Left:

[shuttertalk]

If the only change between the two is reversal, then I would say it's a preference thing. I prefer the Right one, but that doesn't mean that it's right.

[matthew]

There's no difference between them except for the mirroring. Personal preference is what I'm looking for...

[Toad]

Right. I spoke about this briefly in another thread. English speakers scan from left to right. Others do not. I find my personal preferences of what is "correct" tends to follow that premise.

In actual fact, both work perfectly for the same reasons. My opinion is from the gut only.

[EnglishBob]

Right here too, and I find in my own images the ones I like best have the main focus to the bottom right.

[Irma]

To me the best would be the right one as well...

[Wedding Shooter]

Right

[smarti77]

I would not have thought there would be a general preference between two mirrored images, but I agree the image with the chair on the right seems more visually pleasing.
Food for thought...

[Schellamo]

It doesn't bother me either way, i do wish it was closer to the edge of the frame though.

[Peted]

Or make everyone happy?

[Keith Alan]

For my own photos, I seem to prefer the subject on the left side.
But for this, I agree with everyone that the 'right' version is better.

One thing I noticed was that the 'left' one doesn't look as straight to my eye.
It may have to do with the discoloration on the bottom of the wall, but why does it bother me only on the one version?

Maybe the whole question comes down to whether the viewer has more right-brain dominance versus left-brain dominance.
As a group of photographers we are supposed to be artistic and left-brained, correct?

Then there is eye-dominance.
Does anyone here look through a telescope/riflescope or their viewfinder with the left eye?
Just food for thought.

[matthew]

The suggestion that I got the other night was to change it from "left" to "right". "Left" is the original; it's how I saw the scene and I usually lack the imagination to re-see a photo.

I can't decide, now, which one I prefer. I'm biased toward the left, but understand why the right version is preferred. Most people here probably learned to read left-to-right, so it makes better visual sense that the chair is a stopping point after traveling through the photograph. This is an excellent, logical compositional guide, and one that should be respected. It's funny that there were two threads posted at the same time about this same question -- in alastair's thread "High and Dry" I prefer the image with the left-to-right flow.

All that considered, I'm going to say that I still prefer the left. The chair is out of place; there's nothing in the image to suggest that I should be there, no context or reason at all. There's no doorway to suggest that it's an employee break area, there's no particular accumulation of cigarette butts nearby. The chair belongs at a cheap banquet's table, or perhaps in an office meeting room, yet it's outside. I say the chair should disrupt the image, that its very presence breaks up the scene. I find it neither restful nor logical.

Schellamo, I think the original composition did have the chair over slightly, but for this one I wanted the geometry of a strict 'thirds' composition. The line in the wall needs to stay where it is, methinks, but the chair could move over to the 1/4 position and provide a better balance. I don't think there's any way to accomplish both with the frames that I have.

Incidentally, this image was shot in sun at iso3200. That's where the grain comes from.

[matthew]

For my own photos, I seem to prefer the subject on the left side.
But for this, I agree with everyone that the 'right' version is better.
...
Does anyone here look through a telescope/riflescope or their viewfinder with the left eye?

I just did a little test, and surprised myself. Of the images I've posted to my website this year, 14 have had the subjects on the left, 16 are on the right, and ten are indeterminate or centered. (Looking at vertical thirds only.)

I'm right-handed but left-eye dominant. I always have smudges on my LCD, and face the wrong way on a firing line.

[shuttertalk]

I find this topic really interesting - how people seem to have a tendancy towards a particular side. So potentially we could be throwing our audiences off...

I think this is a technique seldom used in photography, but perhaps it should be used more? For example, a crop that places the subject of the left may work better, so flip the image and it becomes more pleasing.


I know movie makers do it all the time - they reverse the images to promote continuity between cuts and scenes. Just go to moviemistakes.com and you'll see how many entries are about "blah blah has a gun in the right hand, then it switches to the left, and then back to the right again."

[wulinka]

There is something about most people being right handed that has to do with this I think.
don't most of you find it easier to skate, ice skate, or bike in a counter-clockwise circle than in a clockwise one?
and which side do you lean to if you want to nap in the train or the plane?

I know I like to get a seat on the right side of a plane, so I can lean to my right to sleep. And quite personally I think that is what's more comforting about the "right" (unoriginal) version for me: if I was sitting on the chair I could lean onto the line.

Now I didn't come up with all of this in my mind IN ORDER TO decide which one I like more. I intuitively liked the right version and am just looking for reasons why.....

Great shot by the way!!!

uli

[Keith Alan]

I just did a little test, and surprised myself. Of the images I've posted to my website this year, 14 have had the subjects on the left, 16 are on the right, and ten are indeterminate or centered. (Looking at vertical thirds only.)

I just did the same test, and surprised myself, too.
I always thought I preferred my subjects on the left, but at least in 2006 the results were close but clearly the right side won, with 25 right, 21 left, 10 centered and 4 indeterminate.

I'm right-handed but left-eye dominant. I always have smudges on my LCD, and face the wrong way on a firing line.

I only use the LCD so my smudges are fingerprints (and toe prints...don't ask).
You wouldn't like my M1 Carbine, Matthew. It ejects empties pretty close to my right ear, so you would see them bounce forcefully off your safety glasses.
Sometimes I get a hot one down my shirt.

[matthew]

I find this topic really interesting - how people seem to have a tendancy towards a particular side. So potentially we could be throwing our audiences off... For example, a crop that places the subject of the left may work better, so flip the image and it becomes more pleasing.

It does make a big difference, and the simpler the composition, the more it seems to matter. Photos with leading lines are especially subjective. (Try flipping a landscape: it can be shocking.) But, it also depends on the audience. Middle eastern languages often write from right-to-left, and many Asian languages are vertical. For people who grew up with Arabic or Hebrew, the effect will be the opposite from what I perceive. So much for photography being a universal language...

Uli, I agree with your ideas about a side preference and like your interpretation of the image. (And thanks. I've grown to like this one.)

Keith, I won't ask about the toe prints, but you know that'll come up again in the future. I've looked through some of my older photos, and while the tendency to frame to the right continues, the photos that I consider to be my five best (Wrath, Tension, Yellow House, Machine Age, Night Shift) -- are predominantly framed with the subject on the left. I'm considering going back and reversing them, but I doubt I could be an impartial judge.

Here's an image framed to the right, taken about 100 meters to the right of the first image. I'm not enthralled by it, but it looks like I'm on my way to a series: "The chairs of Trinity Square".

[wulinka]

I like that last one very much! honestly!