Windmills C&C Appreciated

[KHarmon]

Went out this evening to try and retake one of the pictures from last Sunday. Yet again, that picture didn't come out the way I wanted but I did manage to get some pictures of some windmills we have here on the South Plains.

I would like some comments and advice on the crop and editing of these. Number 2 is my favorite of the group.

1. Windmill Silohouette

windmill 3 by KHarmon1971, on Flickr
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 20 mm
ISO Speed 100

2. Windmill and the Storm

windmill 4 by KHarmon1971, on Flickr
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T3i
Exposure 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 85 mm
ISO Speed 100

3. Windmill and the Storm (different edit)

windmill 5 by KHarmon1971, on Flickr

4. Windmill and the Storm (different crop)

windmill 7 by KHarmon1971, on Flickr

[FootLoose]

I like the first one, Kris. That crop shows off the sky beautifully and the row of turbines gives the cloud formation a sense of scale and depth.

Of the next set of 3, I prefer the first. There are 3 bands of colour there, with the golden pink sandwiched between two blues. The transition from the light blue through white - pink - blue/grey suggest the chane that is coming, and the windmill (apparently stationary) suggests vulnerability. I think there is whole lot of drama happening in that first one that is not as evident in the next two. While they convey as sense of the size of the looming storm, the storm doesn't have the same degree of presence in those two.

[KHarmon]

Thank you for the comments. The first one I really liked as well and you picked my favorite of the ones with the approaching storm. At the time this was taken the storm was a 100 plus miles to the northeast. I would love to have got to this storm and tried to take lightning pictures. I could see the lightning popping after it got dark and it was intense! If I didn't have to work tomorrow I might have made the drive.

For those who do a lot of printing, if I were to do prints of the first two what size do you think I could reasonably go up to?

I like the first one, Kris. That crop shows off the sky beautifully and the row of turbines gives the cloud formation a sense of scale and depth.

Of the next set of 3, I prefer the first. There are 3 bands of colour there, with the golden pink sandwiched between two blues. The transition from the light blue through white - pink - blue/grey suggest the chane that is coming, and the windmill (apparently stationary) suggests vulnerability. I think there is whole lot of drama happening in that first one that is not as evident in the next two. While they convey as sense of the size of the looming storm, the storm doesn't have the same degree of presence in those two.

[Shadowman]

Out of all three, there is very little detail in the windmills, more in the clouds so I viewed the windmills more as a compositional element and that is what makes the first image more powerful, but more so because of the clouds.

Nice series.

[KHarmon]

Thank you Shadowman. I have an idea for these windmills. I just need the right thunderstorm coming from the right direction.

KHarmon

[Karm Redland]

Hi Kris. On pic 1 I would try getting rid of a lot of the area to the right of the windmill that is furthest to the right, I would get rid half of the black bottom of the shot, and I would get rid a lot of the sky above where the two dark clouds form a cross. I think you'll see that you'll end up with a more focused photograph.

karm

[KHarmon]

Thank you Karm. I will go to work on a new crop of that image tonight or tomorrow. We have some severe thunderstorms in the area tonight and I will be out chasing lightning so that will depend on how late I am getting back from taking lightning pics.

[KHarmon]

Here is a re-edit of the first picture.


windmill 3 edit by KHarmon1971, on Flickr

[teokf]

when I saw your first photo, I had the same thing in mind as your edited version which I like.

the 3 single turbine photos look static to me. For the second photo you could try a portrait crop. While the fourth photo you could try cropping off the left space and allow the turbine to stand on the thirds on the left.

If you have a tripod, shoot at a slower speed to get a slight blur of the movement of the turbine's blade to give a sense of movement which gives a sense what these turbines are.