Heavily edited Taipei

[mikko]

Have not done cityscape photography. This was a test on a photo taken in Taipei some time ago. Fog + the quality of the old camera made the original quite unusable, but I edited the photo recently - creating a toned version and a b/w version.

The idea was to paint the mood I had there, not to document the view "as seen". Also, I wanted to get a vintage film feel over the digital original.

What do you think about the photo versions / composition and the edits? Feel free to edit and repost, if you have ideas about cropping or toning etc. I really would like some feedback as I am eager to learn more about creative photography.

Links below have the larger images at Flickr:

Version 1, toned:


Version 2, b/w:
Black and white version at Flickr


Fujifilm S5000
f/3.2
1/320 sec.
ISO200 (grain exaggerated on the edited photos for film feel)
Heavy editing afterwards

[FJT]

I'm no expert, so I'll just give you my opinion!!

I prefer the colour version of this photo, but I don't think the vignetting works.

I've just been playing with a piece of paper in front of the photo and I would suggest cropping the photo from the bottom - by taking out the bottom window on tower 36. This keeps the shapes of the towers and their numbers but gives you a little less brown in the foreground which I think might be more pleasing.

Hope this helps.

[Trader]

I also like the toned version and the vignetting does not really bother me. If anything I think it adds to the feel of a poluted city. I think the image works just the way it is.

[mikko]

Thanks for the feedback!

I prefer the toned version now, too. The fog Taipei had that day was blurring colors and desaturating everything. I've just boosted that effect further. The b/w is less interesting.
Most of the vignetting came actually from the poor quality camera I had at hand that day. With max zoom to minimize perspective, the lens really was vignetting a lot.

As suggested, I played with cropping the bottom part away. It does give a different view to the picture, I actually ended up saving both the cropped and the original in the Aperture library.