Urban Decay

[KarlG]

Hi everyone,

This is a shot taken on my trip to an abandoned tram & bus depot on the weekend.

The place was a photographer's dream - lots of interesting textures & graffiti and the potential to get a really broad range of shots out of the environment.

In this shot, I wanted to capture the spray can in the foreground and have the graffitied bus oof in the background, but I'm not sure I like the resulting image...

I'd love some critique on the composition of the shot and the processing - would it have been better if the spray can was brighter, so as to draw more focus to it, is there anything else you could suggest (a wider dof maybe) to give the shot more impact?



EXIF:
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/1.4
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Please view the large version on my Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/disinte...53790/sizes/l/

[andrewlo13]

Hey Karl, nice image! I like the bokeh and the bus a whole lot! I think the shallow DOF works fine and your composition is great. Maybe you should have turned the spray can around so we see the front label (which I'm assuming is a more interesting and vibrant color than the white back label)? The only reason I didn't focus on the spray can immediately was that it sort of blends in with your foreground here. Love that nifty fifty work!

(I tried clicking your Flickr link but it says it's a private page and I can't see the larger pic)

[windrider86]

Love the whole concept of the image. Nice job
The spray cans postion could be better if placed so it would appear to be closer to the rear end of the bus. Just too much empty space in between them.
And yes, it does need to be brighter and as suggested turned around. Having the little button thing on top may help as well.
If you are any good at cloning, i would get rid of the pole that runs right in the middle of the bus. Its quite distracting

[dcclark]

I highly recommend dodging (lightening) the can a bit to bring it out. You might also apply a light (VERY light) vignette around the rest of the image, to focus the eye towards the can.

I looooove photos in abandoned places, and it looks like you hit the jackpot here! If you get a chance, head back and play around some more. Looks like tons of fun.