St Pauls / Lighting / Composition

[nirajalok]

Hi,
I wanted to capture the cathedral in its majestic glory, and also wanted to get a good composition by having the statue pointed towards the subject.
Exif data are:
camera: nikon d80
lens: kit (18-55mm)
focal length: 18 mm
aperture: 3.5
exposure: 1/1250
ISO: 400

I also did some post processing in elements to get more highlights in the sky, and dodging the statues to bring it out of the shadows. I am still not very happy with this and dont know what is wrong with it. Its either the composition, and/or the over-exposed part of the sky. Should I have removed the tree on the left from the frame? What could I have done to improve the picture at capture, and also post-processing?

Thanks,
Niraj

[BigFuzzy]

Hi and welcom Nirajalok!

I have a couple of comments that may help the next time faced with this sort of image.

I would definitely tried to compose the trees out of the image. Not only do I feel they're dead space, but had you not mentioned the statue, I may not have seen it as it's completely lost in the trees.

I think the big bright spot is very distracting. The eye is normally drawn to the brightest part of an image, so the sky, in my opinion, draws away from your subject.

You mention trying to show it in all its majestic glory. I think that could have been better done at a different time of the day when you had nicer light. As it stands, since you shot it in the middle of teh day, it's pretty flat. I'd like to see it with the nice soft morning/sunset light on it.

As for post processing, this is an ideal situation for HDR (as long as you don't over do it). Getting bracketed shots would have allowed you to have a more balanced sky without the major highlight.

I hope my perspective helps?

Al

[nirajalok]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Hi and welcom Nirajalok!

I have a couple of comments that may help the next time faced with this sort of image.

...
I hope my perspective helps?

Al

Thanks for your comments Al - they definitely helped. I should definitely have taken bracketed shots - this is something I am going to do now on for any shot with a bright sky.
I agree the statue isnt clear initially, probably its too low in the frame, and maybe I should have put it on the rule of thirds..But including it would have included the trees, so some shots without them should be worth a try.

Thanks again,
Niraj

[ajm057]

Hi Nirajalok

Faced with the a similar shot I got a little better result by getting low down and closer to the statue (and shooting HDR - although I may have over done this a little)