Request Critique

[lightdrunk]

[Geoff F]

A rusty muck spreader might have limited interest a lot of people. But there are those of us here who always like to see old machinery.

Good depth of focus and sharp foreground. Focusing too far back on a scene like this spoils many a shot.

Did you manage any other angles?

The only element I would change is near the top and left of centre. There is what looks like a small horse or large dog standing near the rubbish tip. I would clone it out as it seems out of place in this scene.

[tbob]

Doug: I agree with Geoff about the subject, can never get enough old farm equipment and abandoned buildings. Who wouldn't prefer a rusty manure spreader over a rose, a sunset or a mountain?

Ditto the large mammal. I looked at the angle of view; I think you are sort of stuck here with the stuff in the background no matter how you try to frame the spreader by changing the viewpoint and depth of field. Too bad.

[Lon Howard]

I actually like looking for images like this. I especially like the foliage growing inside the 'muckraker.' I thought I would try changing a couple things, just to take a look ... not totally sure how well they work, though. I agreed that the four-legged friend in the background was a distraction, as well as the diagonal piece of farm equipment in the upper right; so I tried blurring the background in varying stages. It seemed that I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of yellow in general so I thought I would try to de-emphasize that and enhance the detail in the main subject and the greenery immediately surrounding it.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Doug,

I think Lon's blurring of the background helps - and suggests that at 24mm, even on a FF body, f/8 gave too deep a DoF for the subject. The dog needs to be cloned out though, still too obvious what it is.

My initial thought was the yellow was ok as you posted, but flicking back and forth in Lytebox, I do prefer the more punchy image with Lon's treatment.

Good 'spot' and composition though.

[lightdrunk]

Thanks, Folks, for the good comments.