B&W in Port Jefferson

[JFeinbergPhotography]

Boardwalk Blues by J.Feinberg Photography, on Flickr

Camera: Fujifilm HS10
ISO: 100
Shutter Speed: 1/950
Aperture: f/6.4
5.6mm
Shot in color, converted to red filter b&w.

EDIT: I was doing some macro on the beach below. For this shot, I took of my lens hood to go 24mm. After viewing in my camera, I hated the shot, but I have developed a tendency to not delete pictures unless they are out of focus. Kept it, edited in Lightroom. Burned the sky a little as it was way too bright.

[xxrayna]

I like the sky and the black and white overall but the composition of this photo seems off to me.

It's too centered for my taste. I would try cropping this photo so that the end of the pier is placed using the rule of thirds.

[JFeinbergPhotography]

Yeah, I tried that. I can show you what I mean. When I tried setting it up for thirds, there were annoying little kids in the shot.

[EOBeav]

It's too bad you didn't have some big puffy clouds to fill up that sky. As it is, you have a lot of empty space up there.

[EOBeav]

Another idea: Shoot lower (get down on your belly), and center the pier a little more. I think the wide angle approach is cool, but you can use it to your advantage a little more.

[JFeinbergPhotography]

Yeah, I wish there were more clouds out as well.

[kstiltne]

the biggest issue for me is that it looks like you were caught between trying to make it symmetrical and asymmetrical. You either needed to decide that you were going to run the pier straight up the middle of the photo and make sure that it was even on both sides...or really put it at an angle. This composition just seems indecisive. And of course the uneven horizon doesn't help. I like the B&W conversion, you have a nice mix of tones and the exposure and focus look good. Technically, it's a good photo, but artistically it needs a little tweaking.

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by kstiltne

the biggest issue for me is that it looks like you were caught between trying to make it symmetrical and asymmetrical. You either needed to decide that you were going to run the pier straight up the middle of the photo and make sure that it was even on both sides...or really put it at an angle. This composition just seems indecisive.

This..

I wonder what this pier would have looked like if you moved the camera to the right, just outside the pier as a tool to lead the eye into the photo.

I'm afraid having the horizon at the mid point doesn't help a lot either, and as Rick said, there's a lot of empty space up there, and it would have been good to lower your camera angle..

Shame there wasn't a seagull flying past to provide some interest in the sky.

[JFeinbergPhotography]

As for the rule of thirds, is this any better? I get tired of shooting in thirds, everyone else does and the pictures seem the same.


zx1 by J.Feinberg Photography, on Flickr

[SwissJon]

It's a little better.. I know what you mean about the "Same" ness, but cutting a picture in half and having nothing in the top half and lots in the bottom half just makes the picture look very unbalanced, and that makes the picture difficult to appreciate. If you want to cut your photo in half, you have to make a very deliberate effort to balance the top and bottom.. They don't have to reflect each other (Although that works) But you do need to make sure the balance feels right.. Busy bottom half balanced with a busy top half, tranquil bottom half balanced with a tranquil top half. That kind of thing.

Have a look here for some ideas.

10 Top Photography Composition Rules

Composition Rules

Using the Golden Ratio in Photography