Round Tower

[rmettier]

This is an unusual apartment block that I pass regularly on my way to work in the morning. It's unusual because it's cylindrical in shape, with staggered rectangular plates making up the facade. I recently took my camera along and tried capturing it. Unfortunately, I wasn't at all happy with the results. This image is the only one that turned out fairly well, but even this one doesn't really convince me, and I can't put my finger on what the problem is.



The sun was just rising to the right of the building (you can see the strongly lit plates on the top right edge), so I should have got a lot of texture etc.
I shot this fairly wide angle, hoping to capture the curved surface of the building, but it still looks rather flat.

Any hints or suggestions are welcome. I'll very probably pay another visit next week or so, so I'll have a go at implementing any ideas I get from you guys. I promise to post the results.

EXIF:
Camera Canon EOS 7D
Lens Model Sigma 17-70mm
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 17 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias -1/3 EV

Edit: After typing that up, and taking another look at the image, I can put my finger on at least one thing that's bugging me. This is taken shortly after sunrise, and the left and right edges are about 90° apart around the building. The top right is in direct sunlight while the left lower edge is in shadow. I was somehow hoping for a stronger contrast in brightness along that diagonal, but apart from the very top right, it's all fairly uniform grey. Maybe the surrounding buildings reflected too much light for there to be any true shadow.

[Krusty79]

I've read that a good B&W shot has some blacks, some whites and a variety of mid-tones. However, I don't see any whites in your image.

To show the circular shape of the building, you might try getting closer to it and taking a shot looking upwards. Hopefully, the sky will not be blown out.

[rmettier]

Thanks. I'll try that this week.

[RELum]

One other thing...

It is ever so slight, but you are a little bit tilted I think. If you follow the center from bottom up, the building is tilted a couple degrees to the left.

Russell

[rmettier]

Indeed you're right. I couldn't stand exactly where I wanted to face the building flat on, because some guy had parked his car in that exact spot

So I straightened it in post-processing and had to choose between getting the vertical lines vertical and the bottom panels horizontal.

[memooch]

The first thing that jumps at me is the moire patterns on the windows!!

[rmettier]

Originally Posted by memooch

The first thing that jumps at me is the moire patterns on the windows!!

As far as I can make out, that's just an artifact of the thumbnail image. If you click to see the actual picture, they're gone.

[rmettier]

Ok, as promised, I went back and tried again, this time attempting to keep your advice in mind. What do you think? An improvement? A hopeless case?

[kcoppock]

I really like those. Wish the blinds would have been closed on the first one, but there's not much you can do with that.

The second one is great. Maybe clone out the one crooked piece of the blinds in the largest window, and some of the scuffs and stains on the wall.

Pretty cool looking building, though. Nice shots.

[Krusty79]

I think the latest two are an improvement - they look more artistic than the original. Each one has a little distracting element. The blinds have been pointed out in the first one and I think the contrail in the sky is a little distracting in the 2nd one.

I think it would help if you said what you wanted to convey in the shot. Did you want to emphasize the circular shape? Or the patterns of the windows?