City Shots...

[Lance Nelson]

So I've been on tour for the past week and wanted to share some of the photos I've been taking in different locations with some people. Check it out, lemme know what you think. I'm not so sure about these compositions...

Birmingham, AL


Chicago, IL

[jiminyClickit]

Lance Nelson,

The compositions are based on . . .what? As a helpful pair of eyes, I wonder if there wasn't some part of these cities that held interest for you, more than a dark street and wet back alley? I'm looking for a sense of thirds-placement or golden spiral, something, and am asking seriously, was there a plan behind the composition?

First one: power lines have to be really complex to carry the weight of a photo. Without them and the empty blue sky, this is an underexposed intersection.

Second one: reflections can double the effect of a subject that starts out good, or repeat a nondescript one. This color is good for the subject, and the lighting is well-controlled. More things are centered or placed near edges than are in the "places of interest" of other compositional templates. If you have time to look through some good tutorials, Composition would be a good one to spend time on. On DPS blog is also one on "Interestingness."

As you take a photo, remember your viewer is not going to know the surroundings, smells, sounds, or recent events leading up to your photo. You can compose a photo based on your interest in the scene, but if others are to be attracted to it, more attention must go into choice and framing. Hope the rest of your tour is terrific!

[Saralonde]

#1-What is the subject here? I'm not sure what you want to convey. It seems to lack a focus. Big dark empty foreground does not enhance this image. I wonder if you had been there a little earlier when the sun was a little higher how it might have changed the lighting.

#2-More potential in this one. The choice of sepia helps tone down the busy image. Every time I look at it, though, I find myself cropping off the top third so that the reflection becomes more of the subject.

You are in luck taking this tour and getting to take such a wide variety of pics. Take lots more!

[underexposed]

Originally Posted by Saralonde

#2-More potential in this one. The choice of sepia helps tone down the busy image. Every time I look at it, though, I find myself cropping off the top third so that the reflection becomes more of the subject.

I agree. Initially, the light didn't bother me much, but after reading your post and scrolling down the page to simulate a cropped photo, it looked so much better.

[Farkled]

Comments from a rank and uneducated amateur:

In # 1, the power lines do not make a pretty pattern, they are simply ugly.

In both shots, as others have commented, the message is missing. I think this is a case of (what I do too much of) the eye seeing something that the camera didn't capture. For me, participation in forums such as this, is the best way of accelerating improvement in the eye to capture coordination. Only when the eye and the camera do the same thing can you be said to be truly expressing yourself in images.

Since my current success rate is less than 1 good shot per 100 taken, I will have reached a milestone when get to be better than 1 per 100. I think expertise probably arrives when the ratio is better than 1 in 25.

[clockdoc]

In photo 1 you saw a potential shot, carefull evaluated the scene and just as the light turned green the guy behind you angrily blew his horn. In haste you grabbed this one shot but tried to remember the detail of the scene as you sped away. 8-) As others have said, only you know what was in your mind's eye when you snapped the photo. I suspect the eye captured more than the camera was able in the low light.
I like the second one very much. I wish you would have used the puddle a little more and explored what you could have captured in the water reflections. Nice choice of toning.