The Archway and the Window

[ashish]

This was taken at the Bassein Fort in Vasai near Mumbai, India. It's an old Portuguese Fort and is protected by the Archaeological Survey Of India.

C&C welcome. Thanks.

[rpcrowe]

I like the different textures and different shapes...

[ashish]

I like the different textures and different shapes...

Thanks Richard... Yes. I guess in those days they cut stone manually.

[IzzieK]

Love the explosion of colours too Ashish...

[ashish]

Love the explosion of colours too Ashish...

Thanks Isabel!

[John 2]

The treatment suits this subject. Good impact.

[bnnrcn]

I agree with all above comments,very nice

[ashish]

The treatment suits this subject. Good impact.

Thank you John!

[ashish]

I agree with all above comments,very nice

Thanks Binnur!

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[Downrigger]

It is really quite beautiful. Wonderful light, color, tone, and texture.
It almost looks as though you added grain (?), and if so, I wonder if it really needed it.
On composition: the two openings balance each other so that it has a symmetry. This is nice, but also renders it static for me and my eye sort of ping pongs between the two openings. One could also see a strong, but less static image here in a composition that put one opening or the other in a more important position and showed only part of the other. I like the square opening best for the light inside it and the distance behind it so I wonder if this really great shot wouldn't work well, too if cropped to nearly square from the right to get only part of the archway opening and giving the square opening a more important position. If you do this, the square becomes the subject, complemented by an interesting part of the archway. The problem with this idea is one loses the nice diagonals the blockwork on the left provides.

[ashish]

Very nice.

Thanks John!

[ashish]

It is really quite beautiful. Wonderful light, color, tone, and texture.
It almost looks as though you added grain (?), and if so, I wonder if it really needed it.
On composition: the two openings balance each other so that it has a symmetry. This is nice, but also renders it static for me and my eye sort of ping pongs between the two openings. One could also see a strong, but less static image here in a composition that put one opening or the other in a more important position and showed only part of the other. I like the square opening best for the light inside it and the distance behind it so I wonder if this really great shot wouldn't work well, too if cropped to nearly square from the right to get only part of the archway opening and giving the square opening a more important position. If you do this, the square becomes the subject, complemented by an interesting part of the archway. The problem with this idea is one loses the nice diagonals the blockwork on the left provides.

Many thanks for your comments Mark.

The fort is adjacent to the sea and there is a fine grain of sand on the walls. Sharpening the image slightly accentuates the sand on the walls. I did try to crop the image as you suggested but i feel it looks incomplete (perhaps because i'm comparing it to the original image). That said, i did try another shot facing the arch with the window on one side but i felt that the composition looked more balanced at a diagonal with both the arch and the window in perspective. I agree with you that the eyes tend to go between the window and the arch. I have uploaded both the images below. Do let me know your thoughts. Cheers!

Cropped image:




Another shot:

[mstrozewski]

nice balance of tones and shapes. looks very rustic.

[ashish]

nice balance of tones and shapes. looks very rustic.

Thanks Mavourneen!

[Downrigger]

Well, Ashish, interesting about the sand - one almost expects to feel the grit if one runs one's finger across the computer screen - it's a vivid effect, and adds to the appeal.
On composition, I agree with you - your original is preferable, the one cropped as I imagined seems too tight, loses space somehow, so I stand with you on the original. Maybe the "back and forth" of the competing openings is a good thing, both are certainly engaging.
Congratulations on a very lovely image.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Ashish,the first one is nice as original, but I think your 'another shot' needs cropping from left and from top to get a tunnel effect,it is a nice photo with nice texture

[ashish]

Well, Ashish, interesting about the sand - one almost expects to feel the grit if one runs one's finger across the computer screen - it's a vivid effect, and adds to the appeal.
On composition, I agree with you - your original is preferable, the one cropped as I imagined seems too tight, loses space somehow, so I stand with you on the original. Maybe the "back and forth" of the competing openings is a good thing, both are certainly engaging.
Congratulations on a very lovely image.

Many thanks again Mark for your inputs. I truly appreciate your views. Cheers!

[ashish]

Hi Ashish,the first one is nice as original, but I think your 'another shot' needs cropping from left and from top to get a tunnel effect,it is a nice photo with nice texture

Many thanks for your inputs Binnur... I'll certainly try it out. Cheers!

[Wavelength]

they convey the feeling of the place; liked them; i think more angles of view are possible from there

Regards