Inclimate Weather

[i speak in math]

I am thinking of showing some of my work at a local gallery or asking around at some local restaurants to feature my work on their walls. I just took this shot the other day in Chicago and for some reason, I can't stop staring at it. I am thinking this will be one of the shots I will show as an example of my work (one of many). But before I get it printed off, I was hoping to get some feed back on it.

What kind of emotions does this image bring out in you?
Does this image put you into any sort of mood?
What, if anything, would you change in the shot and why?
Any general comments pertaining to the image are welcome but constructive feed back is appreciated more so.

Picasa Web Albums - enoeske - Pentax K20D

Feb 21, 2010
Model: PENTAX K20D
ISO: 800
Exposure: 1/40 sec
Aperture: n/a <-- I believe it was f/8
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash Used: No

[hifigraz]

I would try, but maybe you did already, to linearize the contrast to get brighter whites and darker blacks. I'm not sure, whether this looks better or not, indeed it is a very beautiful pic already. I like this "depressive" kind of fog pictures.

And then I would try to get rid of the vignetting, especially on top I think it's kind of disturbing. The Picture get's brighter in the top, and then this darc vignette around it ....

But that are only my 5 cents, it's a nice shot already.

[offwhitedog]

Totally agree about the vignetting at the top - kills the image IMHO.

I like the composition and nice straight verticals. Also like the slightly low contrast foggy mood actually.

Overall, nice shot!

[navcom]

Chalk up another tally to get rid of the vignetting. It destroys the linearity of the image. I also agree the contrast needs to be more defined. Try increasing your black point a bit and see what happens.

[i speak in math]

thanks for the critiques. I wasn't to sure about the vignette myself. One the one hand, I liked the unevenness of it; sort of a throw back to lomo/cheap film cameras with their random light leaks and such. On the other hand, I though it might be a bit too much at the top.

In terms of contrast, if I raised it, I start to make the building much too clear, destroying the fact that they are partially obscured by fog. They need this low contrast.

[Doctor Atomo]

I think the viginetting helps frame the shot, but is a little too strong. What I worry about is blowing this up large with the ISO of 800, will it get grainy and noisy?

[Dodgeinart]

Kinda like the entire mood of the photo and the vignetting. Perhaps try more contrast on the buildings but avoiding the foggy and the vignetted areas. Make it so the contrast is more pronounced at the bottom, gradient tool?
IMO without color the noise may not be bad, and some cameras handle 800 very well, it also may enhance the mood of this type of photo if it is there.
Not sure about the mood, but at first seeing it I thought of 9-11. The flare around the skyscrapers with the twisted scraps at the bottom. But I really like the image, very powerful.