Brand New - Critique Composition - Delta Sky Lounge

[JasonInBuffalo]

Hello,

I am a complete newb to this forum and while I have always been passionate about viewing photography I have never really dove head first into it as a hobby. I love order and linearity in the world around me and that is what I enjoy to photograph. I know I have a lot to learn in all aspects, but first I want to work on my composition. Just curious if anyone has any feedback regarding that as well as anything else. Brand new D5100. Took this shot from the Delta Sky Lounge in detroit. Took about 40 photos, this is the only one that comes close to what I was trying to capture.

D5100
f/5.6
Exp. 1/2000
ISO 360
FL 200mm

[JFSanders]

Hey Jason, welcome to DPS.

What is Composition? The order or arrangement of elements within the scene or frame. Why does that matter? Because we need to convey a message to the viewer. If we don't care to convey a message then photographs of dirt will have as much impact as a photograph of a sky lounge. See? In order to convey that message we have to make decisions and discriminate against those elements that don't help to convey the message, right? So, when we look at a scene through the viewfinder what we see is an approximation of what the camera will record. Being that the viewfinder is small in a dslr we have to remember to compensate during the composition phase so that our primary message isn't lost in the background or clutter.

Now what was it you were trying to convey with this photograph? Looking at the record of the scene and going back in your memory is there a better composition that would bring that message to the fore?

Reason that I ask and say these things is because if you hadn't told us that it was a sky lounge in Detroit we would not have been able to deduce that from the photograph unless we were familiar with the sky lounge.

I will leave it at that for now. If you have questions about exposure or WB or DOF ask and post the photograph that you want to talk about.

Jim

[IABoomer]

Composition-wise, I'd like to see this shot a slight bit wider so the C7 sign on the right and the antennae (?) on the left aren't cropped out of the frame. I kind of get the idea of repeating elements fading into the background. I don't know that's it's overly compelling, but I understand the appeal.

As far as processing goes (assuming this is pretty much straight out of camera [SOOC for future use]), I think there's room to push the exposure/contrast up to give this some real punch. Not sure what you have for editing software, but the colors are kind of flat and bland to me.

It's sharp, it looks to be level (verticals are vertical) so you've managed to do well composing and shooting to avoid blur and get a sharp image. Play with it from there.