Should I take the stairs of the SLIDE?

[mwatson]

Maybe I am impatient but I am getting views in another forum but no critiques.
This could be cityscape... right?


Camera Pentax K10D
Exposure 15
Aperture f/22.0
Focal Length 10 mm
ISO Speed 400

I have been playing around with low angles lately and I thought this might make a cool photo. I wanted as much detail as possible so I went for a really tight aperture and played around with different exposures. This is what I settled on.

My subject was the escalator and I wanted to make it into an illusion that it was a slide, hence the title.
Questions…

I am not sure about the composition. I played with it and settled on this one. Is there another way I could have set it up?

I wanted to make sure the escalator was the focus that’s why I put the handrail so close. Is it a distraction?

I feel it takes a minute to figure out what is going on here. It may be because of the composition. Does anyone else feel the same way?

[IABoomer]

I think you accomplished the goal of turning an escalator into a slide. I kind of like the starburst look to the lights as a result of the small aperture.

If there's one thing that bothers me in this image, it's the moire pattern in the flooring at the base of the escalator. Even when I'm not trying to look at it, I see it in my peripheral vision and the throbbing/waving effect makes me feel a bit dizzy and distracted. Unfortunately, I couldn't begin to tell you what might have caused that or how to correct for it.

I wonder if shooting more straight-on using the railing as a divider would give the image kind of an asymmetric abstract quality between the smooth escalator and the course steps.

[Corey Thompson]

I wouldn't consider this a cityscape. A cityscape as I see it is typically a shot of a city as a whole or some sort of shot related to the city being the main emphasis in the photo. I would personally would consider this more of an urban shot, of related to something you'd find in a city but not of an actual city.

I'd have to agree about the pattern being distracting. I think if you were to find an escalator in some sort of circular enclosure and you shot at either base of the escalator, that would make for a more interesting shot and would feel more like a slide, as if you're sliding through a tunnel.

[Prue]

Wow it really does look like a slide. The handrail and the flooring do catch my eye the most. Love the concept.

[bekhiann]

that's crazy awesome. yes maybe a little less handrail and floor, but otherwise very unique shot.