Chicago Cloud Gate

[nkflyers2005]

I've had my Canon Xsi for about a year now and been taking tons of pictures, but am posting my first critique here. I like the angle on this shot as I feel its different than most of the other Cloud Gate "Bean" shots, but after I got home and looked at it closer, I was wondering if I should have backed off slightly more so the tables up close weren't cut off. Does this detract from the image the way it is? Anything else you see to improve on? Thanks in advance!



Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure 20
Aperture f/9.0
Focal Length 10 mm
ISO Speed 100

[tokyotom]

I think it's a nice picture, but I hardly noticed the tables you were talking about. The first thing I noticed after the bean was how crooked the horizon is.

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi nkflyers2005,

This is a nice image. You're right it is a different perspective on a often photographed subject. Your timing was great; the lighting is wonderful. It's a very nice image. Well done.

I was wondering if I should have backed off slightly more so the tables up close weren't cut off.

The tables being cut off doesn't bother me. They aren't the focus of the image, so being cut off is no problem to me. However, in my mind, the subject of this image is the skyline and I am bothered by the buildings on the sides, specifically the one on the right, being cut off. I would like to see more of the buildings. I think that this would have been a great opportunity to try making a panoramic shot by stitching together multiple images.

The only other (very minor) thing I would say is that the tall building on the left is a little to close to the top of the frame for me. I would like to see a little more space there. It would be easy to add some sky there using Photoshop or when taking the image tilt the camera up a bit so that there was more sky and less concrete in the foreground.

This is a very good image. You did a great job. Well done.

KG

[Japaslavian]

I don't think you should have backed up to include more of the tables. The way you have it now, they really don't contribute anything to the image other than a distraction. If anything, I would have walked closer to get them out of the frame completely, or cropped them out after-the-fact.
I also agree that the tallest building should have a little breathing room from the top of the crop.
It's hard to see, but there's two people sitting down, which I think, had you chosen to focus on them, could have been an interesting shot as well, especially shooting this wide of an angle. Just an observation...

[Joyce Matthews]

Nice photo, but the buildings are tilted. I think straightening the buildings would improve the photo.