focal point or a distraction

[Jo.T]

Hi all
I found this old electrical pole a while back. Had it marked for a sunrise shoot but took time today to see if would work and now im not so sure. I was lucky to get and interesting sky and now i think it is just a distraction. What do you think?
i have a few more shots that i will try and get on fliker and add the link if i can work it out.
Any feed back not just on composition is as always greatly appreciated.
Cheers Jo

Nikon D40X
Lens: 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 20mm
Exposure Mode: Shutter Priority
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/1600 sec - F/5
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 100
White Balance: Direct sunlight

[Slyanius]

The sky looks very interesting, and the pole is definitely in the way of me enjoying it, so I'll vote for distraction.

[junglebear]

That's a really cool sky, I think if you moved the pole to the left so it didn't occupy the center of the image it would work better. The sky is a bit overexposed too, maybe expose for the sky rather than the pole.

[Michael_2010]

Yeah, that was an interesting idea in the field, but it doesn't quiet work in the capture.

[ellie mac]

I think the top of the pole there could be made into a really interesting detail shot, however as part of a landscape with that sky it's really not working too well.

[Jo.T]

Thanks for the feed back
i have added some other photos to my flickr page, some of them are better than this one ... i think. let me know
Cheers Jo

Flickr: Jo.T2010's Photostream

[KevinCollins]

After looking at the flikr images, I tend to agree that shifting the pole to the side is the better approach. In my opinion, the pic named "212" is the best of the ones with the pole in it.

The idea of making the light on the top of the pole the focal point with the sky or mountains blurred by Depth of Field would probably make a better pic of just the pole.

Take my comments with a grain of salt though - I'm by no means an expert.

[ellie mac]

I had a look at the ones on flickr too. I like the 204 edit - gives the pole a bit more context & frames the hill beyond - could do with a tiny bit more space above the top of the pole & something to bring out the sky a bit more though.

I do really like that you've taken something quite ordinary & played around with different ways to give it a new perspective.

[Aleix]

Regarding composition, the position of the pole turns it more into a distracting element than into something which adds interest. As they said, recomposing the picture and displacing it to the left, or perhaps even better having taken the picture from a different point of view might have turned it into a powerful diagonal line which would not only direct the attention of the viewer to a desired point but also could have added interest to the image.

Btw, nice sky though!

[navcom]

As a general rule, anything prominent in the center of the image by default becomes the subject and draws most of the attention to the detriment of everything else. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage. An example of an advantage would be a centered horizon with a mountain on top an it's symmetrical reflection in a pond below it.

But it also acts like a bulls-eye where the viewer looks at the center of the image, determines what it is, and then leaves....thus the result can be boring or uninteresting. This is the case most of the time. It is why the rule of thirds is hit so hard on this forum. Subjects offset from the center of the image force the viewer to "look around" and become involved in the image, not just look and leave. It also leaves room for other elements in the image to support the subject and point the viewer towards it.

Hope that helps!