Bridge into Darknessby
nemesise1977Comment by strangeghost: Greetings from the Critique Club
by strangeghost
COMPOSITION
This is certainly a unique perspective. Even after examining it for a full minute, I'm still not entirely sure what I'm looking at. Your photographer's note helps, but I can't tell from what perspective you've shot this bridge. The tree at the top suggests either a 90 or 180 degree rotation, but I'll be darned if I can tell. Enough already! What of the composition? Well, I like the perspective created by the very large elements at the bottom (trusses?) that recede into the distance. The large pipe at right, ditto. There's also a nice contrast throughout the photo that enhances the feel, as you said, of depth. I'm just not sure of your choice of subject. Being unrecognizable is not bad if there's a ton of naked visual appeal, and this photo doesn't hit me that way right out of the gate.
TECHNIQUE
Great sharpness, depth of field and exposure. For the length of your exposure, the light that people commented on is not all that blown, and actually adds a nice bit of interest. Given that the pipe at right is a bit dirty, I wonder what boosting the highlights would have done? Possibly made the lights intolerably blown, so you probably made the right decision.
OVERALL IMPACT
I wonder if others, like me, were confused by the image and then didn't spend enough time really looking at it? Your final score of 5.1 suggests a lot of kneejerk "5 and move on" votes, which is unfortunate. Your image doesn't have that major initial WOW factor, but is a very technically adequate photo.
Photographer found comment helpful.