Castle in the air.. Does it work?

[SwissJon]

I've broken a lot of photography rules with this picture. The horizon is half way up the photo, there's nothing leading to the subject so it looks like it's floating in mid air. I deliberately chopped out the shoreline with a square crop because I wanted to achieve this. So I'm really wondering if the composition works. I'm aware that the spot lights are a bit blown out, but that can't be helped, I might try this again with HDR if this doesn't work, but at 30" a shot, HDR might leave me there all evening

As always, other comments most welcomed.


11th February 2011 by SwissJon, on Flickr

Exif:
Camera: SLT-A55V
Lens: Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA
Dimension: 4928 x 3280*px*(16.2 MP, 3:2)
Focal length: 22*mm*(equiv. 33*mm)
Aperture: F8
Exposure time: 30"
ISO speed rating: 100/21°
Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Image Stabilizer: Off
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Location: N46.412926, E6.928952

[Trankonia]

Nice shot Jon. I like the composition and the mood. The castle seems slightly over-exposed with a couple areas blown out (as you mentioned.) Otherwise, it is very nice. I believe the placement in the frame is fine. If you cropped the top, the stars would be lost and the bottom would loose the nice , complete, reflection.

[NgaiHill]

Very nice shot John, I like the mood you've created with the lighting & the BW. I don't think having the horizon in the middle is a problem here as you would lose something if you tried to shift it up or down. I often find that with reflection shots - I think that is one of those times that the rule is supposed to be broken

[EOBeav]

Just an idea, Jon: If you don't have anything in the foreground, how about going the other direction and showing some more of the sky? That way, you break some of the blatant symmetry (not that that's a bad thing) and you have a chance of giving the scene some perspective.

This is a great scene and one well worth returning to.

[ChristinaW]

You know, Jon, sometimes rules are simply made to be broken I really like the shot, love the composition. Agreed there are areas that are over exposed but I don't think it's to the point of ruining the shot. I will have to admit though that I'm curios about what the HDR would look like So, if you're feeling rather ambitious and have some spare time.... (I know, spare time? What's that? We're photographers! There is no such thing! LOL) But seriously, I really enjoyed it!

[SwissJon]

Hmm.. I really like the reflection, but if I put the camera in portrait, I should be able to get more of the night sky in. Hadn't really thought of that, I'll give it a try on a clear night.

HDR.. Well, if this is the median, 1 stop under is 15 seconds, and 2 stops under is 7 seconds.. But going the other way, 1 stop over is 1 min and 2 stops over is 2 mins. I wonder..

Can you do HDR by changing the F-Stop? I mean, could I go 7 sec 100 ISO, 15 Secs 100ISO, 30 Secs 100 ISO, 30 secs 200 ISO, 30 Secs 400 ISO?

[IABoomer]

I wouldn't suggest doing HDR by changing aperture. That will affect the depth of field, which will alter the clarity of some details. I suppose you could try ISO bracketing, although higher ISO levels will introduce more noise which might need processed out before you attempt to merge the images.

[Krusty79]

Is it possible to reshoot this when the water is glassy? Someone on another thread made the comment that reflection shots are more effective when the water is glassy and the reflections are the smoothest (clearest). That would help justify placing the horizon in the center of the shot.

[LeeR]

Rules can and should be broken when it makes sense. Blatantly breaking rules just for the sake of breaking them will get you nowhere, but that is not the case here. What you have is a near-to-far composition. Removing the castle and the shoreline would provide an angled line across the image from right to left. However, this line is made more interesting by breaking it with the castle, which naturally brings greater attention to it. This is breaking the rules in a very good way and I say the composition here is excellent. Would I like to see a slightly shorter exposure? Absolutely. You may find you get a better image one or two stops down, but the composition is fine the way it is.

[S_Sanyal]

I think the composition is great, especially because you emphasise symmetry here. Moreover, the stars and trees form nice points of interest for me to linger on.

I would second the suggestions on shorter exposure to avoid blow out like on the turret in camera right. Otherwise its perfect!
Cheers.