Plymouth Big Wheel 'Plymouth Eye' - Please Critique

[swiftmed]

Hey Guys,

Not been very active on here recently, but I took the opportunity tonight to head up to our waterfront where they have errected a large 'Big Wheel', known as the Plymouth Eye.

Just wondering whether you could give me some critique on the image please? In particular, does the sign at the bottom right hand side detract from the image? I did walk around and try and find a better composition, but this was the only location where I felt I could get the wheel on the angle I wanted, and also include the statue in the photo.



ISO: 100
Focal: 44mm
Aperture: f/5.0
Speed: 1/60

Many thanks.

[benchdog]

Hi swiftmed

I do find the sign a bit distracting. You might want to try and clone it out and see how that works.

Nice work

[kaintheo]

Hi,

I agree, the sign distracts a tiny bit yes.

Have you done any editing to it? The forground is a bit under exposed so you could try to to adjust the shadows/highlights or exposure and fill light if you shot in RAW.

Another way to help balance exposures of shots like this is to use a ND grad filter.

Hope this helps.

Kain

[swiftmed]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give the clone tool a try - never used it before but Im all up for learning!

Regards to post processing, I did apply an affect called 'Toy Camera' which is in Aperture which made it a bit more dramatic looking. The original looked a bit grey and grubby. See below:


Personally I prefer the more dramatic looking version, but Im no expert. What do you think?

P.S. Other than the sign, is there anything else I could have improved?

[kaintheo]

I see what you mean, I actually prefer the second image (the unedited) from an exposure point of view.

Maybe you could have a look at converting to black and white and then having a play with the contrast and levels.

[benchdog]

I also like the 2nd image better. I like the composition. I think if you play with some levels and maybe add an overlay you could improve some.

[swiftmed]

Thanks folks. I will have a play around with the image and post it back here later.

[SwissJon]

Hi Andrew,

You're definitely getting better at this.

I like the composition you have there, and like everyone else, I find the sign a bit distracting. If you'd stepped to the left a couple of paces, the sign would not be intersecting the base of the column, and you could crop the picture.

Personally I like the first picture, I find it more artistic even though it's a bit dark, and while the second picture is a more accurate rendition of the subject, I find it a little dry.

Have a look at this recent thread for an idea of how you might go about making this a little more interesting. You'll need a tripod.

Easter fun fair

[swiftmed]

Thanks Jon.

I also found the original to be a bit dull, or dry in your words. I liked the image, just wanted to make it look a bit more artistic, hence the filter/effect I applied in Aperture.

I had a look at that post the day it was published, and went out and bought a tripod the very same day to do exactly what that post was talking about. Im hoping to head up to the fair this week when the weather is a little better - don't want to get my gear wet.

Only thing that might be a pain is the fair currently closes at 9pm, and it doesn't get dark until around 9.30pm ish at this time of year here, so I might run into over exposure, I don't know. Im still very new to manual mode, so might have to just sit and play with the settings for an hour to get the images I want.

Any advice regarding it still being light while trying to get these fair ground pictures? Thanks as ever for the feedback Jon. It's very much appreciated.

[SwissJon]

The only solution to getting long exposures during daylight is to use a ND filter. They aren't cheap. I have a B&W nd6 which has no colour cast, but you can get ND 10's from Lee which are supposed to be superb. By all accounts the vatiable ND filters from Singh-Ray and Lightcraft Workshops are ok. The only drawback with them is that they use polorisers to get the changing value so you're limited to the ND range you can use, they don't work so well on wide angle lenses.

Once you've decided on the filter, the only way to learn is by doing what you suggested and spending a couple of hours playing with settings and seeing what you can come up with.