San Francisco Stockton b&w, composition critique request :)

[marion]

Hi, I'm afraid this is program mode of my Canon Eos 6D as I had to be very quick and really didn't have time to choose my settings. 100mm macro lens, Iso 200, f/8, 1/640, handheld (very quickly taken sadly).
I'd like to know what you think of the overall composition and black and white render (though I didn't work the raw file yet, I wanted to test DxO View Point and I gave it the jpg file -I'm surprised it doesn't accept raw format ?-, then applied quick b&w with DxO Optic Pro trial, and tweaked a little to make the render a little less contrasty than the automatic preset). I'll rework the picture starting with the raw file then converting it into tiff to give it to View Point I guess, to get more details in the lampadere but I wanted to know if you thought that the picture itself was worth the bothering .

Thanks a lot in advance,
kindest regards,
Marion

[Shadowman]

Very crisp conversion, nice image. I would have liked to see some pedestrians if it was possible to frame it all.

[marion]

Thanks a lot, I see it now, it's definitely lacking the road itself, I mistakenly composed with the top of the white building in the frame when I should have framed more down to the street ! A wider angle lens would have helped a lot in this case I guess (I had only my 100mm as I was supposed to take portraits but ended up with only architecture).

[Shadowman]

Thanks a lot, I see it now, it's definitely lacking the road itself, I mistakenly composed with the top of the white building in the frame when I should have framed more down to the street ! A wider angle lens would have helped a lot in this case I guess (I had only my 100mm as I was supposed to take portraits but ended up with only architecture).

Marion, its good shot and would definitely work as a compilation of images, some including people some just the architecture.

[bnnrcn]

Yes, I think you have found out what is wrong in the image on your own Marion. Top part of the image with wires is distracting and I have thought of a crop from the top but because the street is not in the image , a crop doesn't make sense. But if you crop the wires at the top and the conjunction of wires on the left hand side , you might as well get another composition emphasizing
the lamp post and the traffic lights

[Mark von Kanel]

Binnur is right about the lines but i cant agree with the crop, id clone them out in PP. otherwise there little wrong with it people or no people!

[marion]

Thanks so much for your advises ! It helps a lot .
I've been trying some different crops :

1. Binnur's crop ?
2/3 (I ended up with a pesky little black spot on the left corner downside, I don't know if I can do something about it)


2. 2/3 closer crop (maybe with the lamp post a little more to the right ?)


3. square tries (I love square format a lot but am not used to it enough yet I think), the flag and Bobba Fett looking white thing are distracting so I tried to get closer and closer but the conjunction of wires stays and is distracting too, so definitely no square, right ? (they would have to be reworked from the raw to get details in the lamp post of course)







4. 4/3


Thanks again to all .
I forgot : I don't know yet how to remove things like the wires in pp but will learn asap .
Thanks !

[bnnrcn]

I like #2 (2/3 closer crop) Marion. You can clone out the black spot in #1, it is easy If you can manage to clone the wires in the future, you can rework the image without cropping so much. I haven't tried cloning wires yet either and it seems to be a difficult job for me

[Shadowman]

I like 2, 3 (last one), and 4. Little bits in others were distracting (such as the flag and the electrical unit to the left of the sign).

[dje]

Marion for me the most appealing crop is the third image ( ie your second crop - which you've labeled 2/3 closer crop). It gives a good balance I think and emphasizes the lamp post and the SAKs sign.

Nice shot.

Dave

[pnodrog]

Unless you absolutely need to crop to a specific format forget it. Crop to what works for the image. Number 2 works best for me if you crop off the bottom just below the lowest light of the traffic lights. Do not compromise composition just to conform to a specific crop ratio. You can always add borders/mat etc to adjust to a specific format.

The second to last crop would look much simpler and bolder if you used a landscape crop removing the street sign and everything below it.

Simplify!

[ST1]

Marion I do like the images with the various crops which you have tried. Keep up the good work, images like this can be difficult to compose with all of the street furniture and overhead wires etc.

I have to disagree with pnodrog about removing the street sign. Well I would wouldn't I

Best Regards
Peter Stockton

[pnodrog]

Peter you are totally within your rights to be disagreeable ...

I think the main issue is that a photographer needs to isolate exactly what caught their attention and simplify the image enough to make that clear to people viewing the image. Photography is about communication - photographers need to solve the visual chaos. If the street sign is part of the "story" (I shudder at using that expression) then it should remain. If the street lamp and Saks sign are the elements that caught the photographers eye then as many other elements as possible should be discarded. Usually bold simple images work best and by simple I mean that although the main elements may be complexed the other elements should be toned down/minimised and not compete for our attention.

The crop is primarily dependant on the photographers intent.