Been sitting on this one a while

[gregj1763]

Hi all, Haven't posted for a while so thought I would put this image up for your C&C

This shot was taken a few week ago at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart, a pretty amazing place to visit if you get the chance. Here is a link. www.mona.net.au

Anyway I wanted to come away from the visit with an image that typified the museum in my eyes, something different from what I normally see and something different that I normally post on CiC.
I don't know if this is what you might call it but "abstract architecture"?
Black and white seemed like the best medium to portray the image. I have been taking note from my peers on CiC regarding their suggestions with B&W images and I'm not sure if I have fully got the idea yet but I hope the image possesses, (Line, Shape, Tone & Texture). Thanks Donald

Things I like about the image:
The soft grey of the walkway walls framed by strong black lines of the handrails.
The circular anti-slip tread and the welded manufacturing text.
I also liked the contrast between all the sharp angles of the structure and the weird table tennis table below-left, with the art work on the wall.

Things I don't like about the image:
I really struggle with composition and honestly I spent hours spinning this image around, cropping adjusting this n' that etc,etc,etc.
So what I finally came up with is what I thought looked right? to me.
Any thoughts on how to improve would be greatly appreciated.

My humble effort


Original


Cheers, Greg

[chauncey]

Our brain tries to sort things out, to make sense of what we see and it's very difficult with the first version.
The second one is somewhat better regarding that difficulty.
The conversion is quite well done and you've vastly improved exposure. Orientation and crop???

[arith]

I like the B+W because it is confusing at first.

[ShaneS]

Greg;

I have not been posting much work lately either and am beginning to really get the idea of sitting on some images for a while. I like the B&W treatment and PP that you have done on that version. The lighting looks great and the artwork really pops.

Since you mentioned struggling with the crop I though that I would throw in my two cents worth. If I take the original shot and slide the left part off the edge of the screen so that another triangle is formed by the cement on the left edge (eliminating the metal piping completely). This ends up in almost a square crop if my eyes don't deceive me. You could also loose a bit along the top.

I am torn about whether including the complete piece of the artwork or cropping it, as you have done, is most effective here. I can certainly see the challenge that you faced on the presentation of this image!

[gregj1763]

Thanks for your comments Chauncey and Steve.
Shane I tried a square crop as you suggested but took the left edge far enough to take out the concrete section alltogeher. While it added another angle to the image, I felt it looked a bit heavy and not really identifiable.
I cropped the artworks top corner so as to have all straight lines leading out of the image, if that makes sense?

[nsk64]

Thanks for your comments Chauncey and Steve.
Shane I tried a square crop as you suggested but took the left edge far enough to take out the concrete section alltogeher. While it added another angle to the image, I felt it looked a bit heavy and not really identifiable.
I cropped the artworks top corner so as to have all straight lines leading out of the image, if that makes sense?

I like it ! very Escher ish!

[gregj1763]

I like it ! very Escher ish!

Cheers Nick. Thanks for the thumbs up

[rawill]

I love the detail in the cropped version, and surprise for me, the B/W does it too.
Now that is the first time I have ever said that, I do not like B/W.

The first pic steps out at me, while the second (original) seems bland.

I will have to get back to doing some posting myself.

[gregj1763]

I love the detail in the cropped version, and surprise for me, the B/W does it too.
Now that is the first time I have ever said that, I do not like B/W.

The first pic steps out at me, while the second (original) seems bland.

I will have to get back to doing some posting myself.

Wow! Thats a pretty nice wrap to receive Robin.
I'm never too sure about how I go when I try something different so I guess if others like it I must be somewhere on the right track
Cheers, Greg