Jan Handman
October 2025 - Taking a Break
Original
About the Image(s)
This photo was taken in Italy several years ago. The musicians were playing their accordions very charmingly, so I of course took some shots of them and put some coins in their collection box. When we happened back by the same spot awhile later, they had taken a break and left their instruments sitting alone, and I thought this scene was even more charming and emotive.
The background was pretty busy and the accordions were too far apart, so I selected the left one and did a copy/paste to put it in front of the blue stool. Then I was able
to crop out part of the background and simplify it by using the clone tool. Next, I added a shadow under the moved accordion and applied an Old Photo filter in Nik Color Efex. That filter turned it into a straight black/white photo, but I kind of liked a slight bit of color brought back, so I reduced it to 73%. Lastly I added a slight vignette.
4 comments posted
Nicely done! Posted: 10/12/2025 17:48:40
I don't know why, but the old adage of using an odd number of primary objects in a photo, still triggers something in me. With two objects in parallel, I feel uncomfortable as they are both straight up and down. To add a bit of excitement to this image, I would turn the right accordion so that it tilts toward the center a bit more.Perhaps it would also help to remove the white covered stool.
I wanted to try out these changes, but for some reason, PS is no longer working on my computer. I'm not sure what is going on, as my Photographer's PS package has been fully paid for this month. Adobe is not a very user friendly app! Posted: 10/13/2025 12:44:12