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03/21/2005 05:50:43 AM · #1 |
Would appreciate any composition critiques for this image. Specifically, if you were to crop it further, how would you crop it? What do you think are its strengths and weaknesses, compositionally?
What i had in mind was basically a heavy massive blunt element (castle) contrasted with a frail clean light element (bench), and tried to illustrate this by balancing their visual weights in the horizontal while avoiding cliche rule-of-thirds business (although the golden ratio creeps in around the highest point of the castle in relation to the frame, and relation to the rest of the castle, and the bench related to its little open space). What i wasn't sure about at all was how to crop it vertically however to offset this. I tried taking out sky, which left the ground too heavy, and tried taking out ground, which left the image unbalanced, and tried square composition which just looked overcentralised... help?
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03/21/2005 06:03:42 AM · #2 |
| Did you try cropping both sky and ground? Maybe make it half as high as it is wide? I'm not sure if that's what you're after, though. |
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03/21/2005 06:11:11 AM · #3 |
There's way too much foreground here IMO, and the sky is falling off to the top also. You're taking us away from what we need to be focusing on. Here's one alternative take on it, including a gradient overlay to contain the sky:
Robt.
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03/21/2005 06:15:39 AM · #4 |
I would definitely crop some of the foreground, but not as much as Robt did. I'd also work on that sky a little in photoshop and see if you can't get a little more drama in there. Great shot, though. Well worth spending the time on.
John
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03/21/2005 06:55:28 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by floyd:
I would definitely crop some of the foreground, but not as much as Robt did. I'd also work on that sky a little in photoshop and see if you can't get a little more drama in there. Great shot, though. Well worth spending the time on.
John |
The foreground's the real question, for sure. How much to whack off? I tried several variations... My thinking on the foreground crop is that I want to see the gbench also "jutting" into the skyspace, just as the castle does. The more foregroudn there is, the less that seems to happen.
But for the sky, I'd be careful; to make the sky MORE dramatic is to have the sky compete witht he castle and the bench, which I think is a bad idea. Even in the original, the sky is, IMO, too light; it's pulling the eye away from where it ought to rest. If the sky were to be "heida'd" or "ansel'd", I think this would be a big mistake. The image exists very well on a more muted and contemplative level.
Robt.
Message edited by author 2005-03-21 06:56:56.
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03/21/2005 07:25:38 AM · #6 |
I think something like Robert's crop works pretty well - maybe slightly more foreground, other than that I think this can be left as is. I think there's enough to hold the viewer's interest without manufacturing a stormy sky.
Great shot. |
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03/21/2005 10:53:32 AM · #7 |
Thanks guys - especially Robt, it hadn't occurred to me to use a gradient to darken the sky actually... very good idea.
I used a red filter as it is, the original sky was much too light anyway but then i wasn't really going for an Ansel effect. But it suffers from not having enough drama in the sky to draw attention in itself while it isn't smooth enough to lead straight to the main subjects.
Think i'll go practice my cropping some more :)
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03/21/2005 11:42:06 AM · #8 |
| I must be in the minority. I like the photo just as it is. I think the foreground and the not quite featureless sky make a nice lead in to the sujects and give the photo an overall feeling somewhat of vastness. Just my .02 |
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03/21/2005 12:45:28 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by jpochard:
I must be in the minority. I like the photo just as it is. I think the foreground and the not quite featureless sky make a nice lead in to the sujects and give the photo an overall feeling somewhat of vastness. Just my .02 |
It's not that the original is "bad" per se, it's just that the photographer stated the follwing goal: "What i had in mind was basically a heavy massive blunt element (castle) contrasted with a frail clean light element (bench)."
Given that goal, the original crop works counter to his desires at least IMO.
Robt.
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