Pole distraction cc

[JohnC]

I'm not sure whether to clone out or tone down the brightness of the sunlit pole in the foreground - it seems a real distraction to me especially against the black sky but it's part of the scene. I'm not sure how to isolate it and tone it down if that would the best way. I have LR3 and CS2 available.Thanks. It doesn't look too bad at this size but full screen in LR it does

[FrankMi]

Hi John, to me the pole forms a starting point for viewing the image and an anchorpoint for my eye to return to. When I block out the pole, the sky and road fight for dominance. I am more comfortable with it there to complete the road into town and my mind's eye places another just out of sight to the left. This image reminds me of a Norman Rockwell print. Nice panoramic cropping!

[JohnC]

Thanks,Frank Good point. I can't remember where it was taken, might have been Nebraska-that State has some undulating landscape, I really liked it.

[Donald]

John

At the end of the day, it's going to come down to your preference. I think the argument can be made for and against. I undersatnd what Frank says. At the same time we can suggest that a lot more attention could be paid to that magnificent sky is that pole was not there to distract us.

[JohnC]

Thanks Donald. I'm leaning towards cloning it out for that reason. I'll make a copy and take it out and see what it looks like. I've got all these photos and no website so this photo was the one I wanted to display as a header photo.The white cloud btw. is inflow into the storm-it's being sucked in by the low pressure.

[MiniChris]

Oddly enough, I didn't have so much a problem with the telephone pole as I did with the tower to its immediate left...it just nagged at me.....So, I took it out....and, I did a very low value dark gradient fill on the bottom half of the image to help push the eye down the roadway, cloned out a few distracting foreground rock outcroppings, added just a touch of definition to the log outreaching cloud, and tossed in a little bit of shadow in the dips in the road to heighten the undulations of the countryside...other than that, I promise, I did not touch it...

[Harpo]

John, Im with Donald on this one... I've rode through the midwest prairies on my motorcycle and have seen magnificent clouds like this without poles in view... I think pulling out the chainsaw would be a good idea. The little tower that Chris mentioned too... topple it! It really puts the focus on the cloud formation. There are plenty of areas in the plains where phone lines are not visible on the road, so by taking it off, you are not necessarily making it less realistic.

[Dave Humphries]

I like MiniChris's version and I am happy with the poles

... at least until someone posts a version without and I change my mind

[Colin Southern]

Personally, I'd lose the pole.

[speedneeder]

Personally, I'd lose the pole.

I agree, that is the first and last thing I look at. They sky is awesome in this shot and I like everything else about this photo.

[MiniChris]

Oddly enough, I didn't have so much a problem with the telephone pole as I did with the tower to its immediate left...it just nagged at me.....So, I took it out....and, I did a very low value dark gradient fill on the bottom half of the image to help push the eye down the roadway, cloned out a few distracting foreground rock outcroppings, added just a touch of definition to the log outreaching cloud, and tossed in a little bit of shadow in the dips in the road to heighten the undulations of the countryside...other than that, I promise, I did not touch it...

Well, Let's also look at it without the poles...either or, I think it works...though to be fair, the poles do add a furthering sense of remoteness and ruralness to the scene.

[Colin Southern]

Perhaps we need to add a pole to the thread, and not the image

[speedneeder]

Chris, it's just that pole in front that draws too much attention, the rest are good and add the photo IMO.

[MiniChris]

To further beat this poor old horse...I think it could go in any direction, poled or poleless...my only concern without one or more of the poles is that it seems to leave this large expanse of nothingness that really doesn't do much to draw in the eye...

[FrankMi]

Perhaps what it needs is an old automobile heading to town just about where the pole was..... something.....