2015 Project 52: 1st Quarter by Shane (ShaneS)

[ShaneS]

Izzie, Mark and Frank...so the pole? To lose it or not??? While I agree that from a purely aesthetic point of view the pole should go I'm not sure I agree from a documentary perspective. From my vantage point it was impossible to eliminate poles from the foreground and I opted to leave it in. If I were to include a shot like this in an essay I would likely research a vantage point where the poles were less prominent or had better placement within the frame. As shot and presented it was meant to be a sketch of the concept but I do appreciate the input as it will help me keep my eyes open to these things when I am out and about with the camera.

Mark, yes, this will be quite an undertaking! The essay I linked to took two or three years to complete and included 163 images

[wilgk]

To clone the pole or not to clone the , that is the question!
Personally in some strange way I find it balances the prominent shrub at the front of the scene on the left & in tandem they draw the eye toward the main event of all the houses on the hillside.

[FrankMi]

If the purpose of the shot is for documentary purposes then either keep the pole or reshoot from a different vantage point.

If the purpose is to make the best of THIS image then learning how to clone out the pole and wires is worthwhile. The wires that matter are actually much easier than the pole to clone out.

[ShaneS]

Kay stated my thoughts on the pole/composition pretty well:

Personally in some strange way I find it balances the prominent shrub at the front of the scene on the left & in tandem they draw the eye toward the main event of all the houses on the hillside.

It may not work for everyone though and I can respect that...

Frank, I try to avoid cloning significant things out of images in general and as I said the image posted was a sketch of a concept. So, there will be no pole removal from this image. I do however appreciate your perspective and know how you would love a technical challenge like this

[FrankMi]

Frank, I try to avoid cloning significant things out of images in general and as I said the image posted was a sketch of a concept. So, there will be no pole removal from this image. I do however appreciate your perspective and know how you would love a technical challenge like this

I appreciate your viewpoint Shane. Sometimes I do things like cloning just to learn the techniques.

[ShaneS]

This shot takes us back to an attempt at a more artistic image...I think that is is still pretty documentary in nature but hope that the framing takes it to a new, more artistic, level.

This structure is an architectural feature at the entrance of a high end condominium in one of the tonier parts of town.



As an aside I think that I will be posting shots during the week following capture because I'm pretty slow in the processing department So this is another shot from last weekend.

I will start another thread to further explore the photo essay so as to keep this thread focused on the other goals of my project 52.

As always, your impressions and C&C are welcome and appreciated!

[purplehaze]

I'm feeling myself wanting more room at the top, and less on the right hand side... but I like the simplicity and the strength of the lines.

[ShaneS]

Janis, I lost a bit at the top when I straightened the image. Here is an unedited vertical crop of the same image without the straightening. Do you like this composition better?

[flashback]

Hi Shane, I keep meaning to jump in here. On the hillside/house shot, I actually like the telephone pole in the image. In a sea of horizontal houses creeping up a hillside, the prominent vertical pole just seems to work out really well.
As for your most recent shot(s) of this very interesting structure, for starters I think it works really well (better, IMHO) in B&W. As for cropping, I would crop a little bit off the bottom of both shots. Did I mention B&W really works here?

[ShaneS]

Thanks Jack! I was just telling a friend about this site and explaining its virtues when I opened this thread to show her the constructive discussions that go on around here and lo and behold your comment about the crop on the shot of the beams came up. A perfect example of the small things that make you go "hmmmm, why didn't I think of that?" when you read them.

First let me say that I agree that B&W is the way to go with this shot and I think that your crop suggestion on the first composition might be just the ticket to address Janis's comment as well so I am about to go try just that. I will post it in a bit...

[ShaneS]

Here is the crop suggested by Jack...

[ShaneS]

Week 3 and another attempt at seeing things differently. What originally caught my eye in this scene was the shadows under the old windows and instead of capturing a close-up of the windows as I am apt to do I tried to capture the wider view. This shot may or may not end up in my photo essay on place but is indicative of the older architecture in the area that by bylaw is very difficult to update or change.

I like the minimalist composition but wonder if you folks think it works? How could it be improved?

[IzzieK]

I have to have extra think tank when I first saw this shot...I am not criticizing -- just observing what really caught your attention...ahhh the transparent shadows of windows.

Thinking Out Louder Now: I came back and look at this shot again because I did not really "see" (?) the view you said first time you saw? A window, yes, that window! OKeedokee...

You see, my eyes keep going to that corrugated steel up top. That shouts out more than the windows or the reflections of the windows. Looking at the overall shot, I would have said remove that white thingie at the top trying to catch attention from the whole overview of the photograph or the two paint buckets at the right hand side at the top...naahhhh...leave it...or there will be nothing to critique about.

Now allow me to go back to the two windows...ummm...OK.

Solution: I do not have any. I am sorry. I will not be able to offer any suggestion as to how to make this shot cry out for more attention. Please do not get angry at me for saying what I had said here. I was just thinking out loud...

[Geoff F]

I think, Shane, I would crop a little from the bottom. But the problem is that means going to a different size ratio or losing a balancing amount from the sides which takes the windows rather close to the edges.

[ShaneS]

Thanks for taking the time to comment Izzie and Jeff. For fun I have tried a composition with much more sky (thank you content aware fill ) and converted the image to black & white.

Maybe I am beating a dead horse and might just need to chalk this one up to another learning experience...

[IzzieK]

I love this last edit. The sky is not so prominent as the coloured ones and the windows are more noticeable from the first look alone. I need not repeat the process, only once for confirmation to see if I am getting it...I particularly like the first window and even the two white containers at the RHS is OK despite the more white-ish colour -- it not shouting for the "Look-at-me!" attention. Great job you did here.

[mknittle]

The B&W works better for me.

[AndrewMcD]

Unfortunately in this one I find the transformer on the pole a complete distraction. In your previous image with the controversial pole I sided with those that thought it lent an interesting balance to the image. The crop is a distinct improvement as the oil stained parking area was making me hot and uncomfortable. The crop and the B&W conversion bring my eyes to the windows where previously I was missing the interesting shadows.

[Shadowman]

The B & W entire structure looks good, I think the color version requires severe crop; one window only. Nice eye.

[Mike Buckley]

Though I don't appreciate the style of the last two photos, the composition of the color photo makes much more sense to me because of the lines in the parking lot that act so well as leading lines.