Hagia Sofia - Comp and Exposure?

[Chip]

Took this while on a family vacation, so I can't (unfortunately) re-take.

This was taken from a roof-top balcony. I couldn't get the tripod high enough to remove the fence/wall - which are on the adjacent property - out of the frame.

My 2 main questions are:

1) Is that fence/wall a distraction or a negative, or does it give some foreground interest and depth? and

2) Are the minarets on the left and right side too over exposed?

I'd appreciate any other thoughts and comments you might have. No need to be gentle.



Exposure 5
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 24 mm
Focal Length 24.5 mm
ISO Speed 200

Thanks for looking.

[philip_b]

1) I don't think the fence railing in the foreground lends much to the photo... perhaps because it is leading away from the subject and out of the frame. I would probably crop it out. A closer crop might get you more detail out of the building too.

2) A bit over exposed, but I don't think its distracting. I do however find the rope going to the one on the right distracting.

[Krusty79]

I agree with Phillip that the railing in the foreground is not really helping because it does not lead my eye into the shot. Too bad you weren't able to get your tripod higher. I don't know if I would crop out the railing because you are going to lose so much foreground. The minarets do seem a bit overexposed - you might be able to fix that with the dodge/burn tool. The other thing I noticed is that although the minaret on the left looks straight, the ones on the right side seem to be tilting to the left a little. I didn't expect that on a shot taken at 24mm, so I'm not sure why.

[Chip]

Thanks very much for your comments. I'll file this one away as a "nice memory."

Originally Posted by philip_b

1) I don't think the fence railing in the foreground lends much to the photo... perhaps because it is leading away from the subject and out of the frame. I would probably crop it out. A closer crop might get you more detail out of the building too.

2) A bit over exposed, but I don't think its distracting. I do however find the rope going to the one on the right distracting.

I agree that the rope is distracting, but some reason I feel the need to be a purist on this and not clone/edit it out.

Originally Posted by Krusty79

I agree with Phillip that the railing in the foreground is not really helping because it does not lead my eye into the shot. Too bad you weren't able to get your tripod higher. I don't know if I would crop out the railing because you are going to lose so much foreground. The minarets do seem a bit overexposed - you might be able to fix that with the dodge/burn tool. The other thing I noticed is that although the minaret on the left looks straight, the ones on the right side seem to be tilting to the left a little. I didn't expect that on a shot taken at 24mm, so I'm not sure why.

This lens is good for many things, but architecture isn't one of them. I don't recall if I had the lens tilted a bit, if the leaning minaret was caused by just the lens, or both. But, it's been fixed.

Thanks again.