Advice requested

[Shanghai Steve]

Hello all
I have been a hobbyist for around 5 years and in that time >90% of my shots have been Street, using either a 50mm or 75mm equiv. prime lens. I have learned much but feel it is time to increase my repertoire. In short, I would like to get better at more static photography using wider lenses. I have to admit that I am prejudiced against lenses wider than 35mm. I hate distortion and find a huge proportion of shots taken with wide lenses exhibit unsatisfactory perspective distortion although I suspect this is due to improper technique. It will take me time to learn the necessary skills and I do have to buy a wider-than-normal lens, although it is possible to photograph architecture and landscapes with longer focal lengths.
I would appreciate any advice the membership might give me. I realise the somewhat ironic nature of this post having just given advice on this very topic in the general photography thread, but giving that advice got me thinking. I include some of the very few shots I have taken to give a baseline to the membership.



I realise this needs some straightening.







A very large object taken with a 75mm lens....froma very long way away!

[Shanghai Steve]

Right, these images have been "pinched" into a vertical distortion, at least on my screen. If this is the case for any viewer, please advise.

[IzzieK]

The last two are very beautiful and in my eyes, perfectly straight. I like the layers of the second from the last, too. #2 need a little bit of rotation clockwise. Just my opinion. My widest lens is a 12-24mm zoom and I got into trouble with Dave about my images needing straightening too...a few members showed me how to maximize my efforts in using a UWA and I am still trying so ignore my assessment as I am still a learner too.

[bnnrcn]

As Isabel already mentioned #2 needs some rotation. If you had centered the end of the tunnel it could have made a different but again nice composition as the scene suits the symmetry. Same for #1, the building might look nice if centered in the frame.The last image is really nice. The foggy scene is nice too but I don't like the cropped buildings very much.

[Shadowman]

You might want to start with a tripod if you want to get beyond static/static imagery, a major part of landscape photography is utilization of light/time of day. Any lens will do just be aware of the effects of the different focal lengths. Recently discussing the use of telephoto lenses with another member.

2016 Project 52, 3rd Quarter by Janis

[Shanghai Steve]

Tripod, yep, that's a must. And No.2 does need a bit of straightening (sigh). As to cropping the buildings in No.3 (this was taken from my bedroom window), in a city as crowded as Shanghai, you have to be very lucky indeed to get a cityscape without that.
But I am happy that there is nothing catastrophic about my technique or composition.
However, I will have to change my 'hunting' technique: urban China is very good for SP and not bad for Architecture, but I have to say that mountains and clean skies are in very short supply.
I have a lot to think about.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this thread.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Steve,

I'd suggest you need to think about what you want the images to convey to the viewer.

Just taking these as a series of images of your country of residence, my thoughts on them are;

#1 - I like the angle (straight down the middle is so clichéd), the only thing I'd change is perhaps the positioning of the human elements. I find the umbrellas and light angle hitting them distract - wait, or do they compliment; 'resonating' with the roof of the main subject, I can't decide.

#2 - You already said this needs levelling, but beyond that, it feels a bit too deserted, lacking in something definite to focus attention on; be that a distant car/van/truck or person/cyclist, etc.

#3 - Feels compositionally a bit cramped when viewed (small) in thread, but is better/ok when viewed larger in LyteBox. I think I'd try a tad more contrast overall, but appreciate this is one image that may look awful if the black and white points are set 'correctly'.

#4 - I think this would benefit from alternate positioning of subject in relation to background buildings and/or edge of frame, the tower is just a bit too central for me at the moment.


However, these are just my personal opinions and without knowing what you're trying to convey, either by narrative, title or simply because I/we don't know your 'style' yet, I appreciate you may not agree with all/some/any of what I've said and that's fine.

Hope those ramblings are useful, Dave

[george013]

I was wondering what is so strange on the first photo. It looks like the path is going downwards to the stairs. I can't believe that's the way it is. Unless you say so.

George

[Shanghai Steve]

I was wondering what is so strange on the first photo. It looks like the path is going downwards to the stairs. I can't believe that's the way it is. Unless you say so.

George

Good eyes George!

This was taken some years ago in Yunnan Province and I can't remember whether the path dipped before the stairs. The temple seems straight to me and either explanation is possible, i.e. camera angled slightly forward or that the path actually dipped; every time I seem to frame more than one building or straighten a scene rich in archetectural elements in China, something is off-kilter!
No.1 shot was difficult as the sun was searingly hot and bright and to get the framing I wanted, I rested the camera on the path itself, so I had to use the LCD, shading it with my hands.

[Shanghai Steve]

Hi Steve,

I'd suggest you need to think about what you want the images to convey to the viewer.

Just taking these as a series of images of your country of residence, my thoughts on them are;

#1 - I like the angle (straight down the middle is so clichéd), the only thing I'd change is perhaps the positioning of the human elements. I find the umbrellas and light angle hitting them distract - wait, or do they compliment; 'resonating' with the roof of the main subject, I can't decide.

#2 - You already said this needs levelling, but beyond that, it feels a bit too deserted, lacking in something definite to focus attention on; be that a distant car/van/truck or person/cyclist, etc.

#3 - Feels compositionally a bit cramped when viewed (small) in thread, but is better/ok when viewed larger in LyteBox. I think I'd try a tad more contrast overall, but appreciate this is one image that may look awful if the black and white points are set 'correctly'.

#4 - I think this would benefit from alternate positioning of subject in relation to background buildings and/or edge of frame, the tower is just a bit too central for me at the moment.


However, these are just my personal opinions and without knowing what you're trying to convey, either by narrative, title or simply because I/we don't know your 'style' yet, I appreciate you may not agree with all/some/any of what I've said and that's fine.

Hope those ramblings are useful, Dave

Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to post. As to what I was trying to convey...

No.4 was an attempt to frame an iconic building slightly differently, using the leaves to convey differences in scale as a thematic counterpoint; "moon in a dewdrop" style. To push the metaphor, you could also see it as a comment on the futility of man's efforts, given the millions of years that trees have been around and the projected service-life of the building.

No.3 was meant to convey "Jesus! That's a whole lot of smog!"
There is also the obvious fact that the "brand" of Shanghai is shown in such an unglamorous way, highlighting the very real environmental destruction such growth has produced. In fact this silhouette (minus the smog) is the logo for a very popular brand of cigarettes.

The isolation of No.2 was the entire point of the shot and I processed it in a way I hoped has a Bauhaus aesthetic: both agressively minimalistic and almost Fascist in its strong lines, an obvious product of a structural engineer. All over China, oodles of cash has been spent on infrastructure projects which frankly make The West look very bad indeed: China's High Speed Rail Network is a genuinely wonderful piece of engineering; e.g. the ability of the government to transport so many tens of millions of people all over the country in relative comfort at low prices is one of the saving graces of the country and the speed at which these thousands of kilometres of track have been laid is astonishing if you look at the embarassing kerfuffle over "HS2" in Southern England, a so-called developed country spending 15 years building 100 miles of track which, by the time it is finished, will be significantly slower than the already-existing Chinese track which is 6,000 miles long! Travelling at Spring Festival is an astonishing experience, with nearly a billion journeys taken in a few weeks. Perhaps I should rename this shot as it is not a road or a major intersection.
No.2 is an underpass for bicycles , designed for Chinese commuters to circumvent a large highway. As such, it is astonishing in scale, even in China, but almost always deserted. This is a strong theme in Chinese, centrally-planned projects. Many of them lie fallow or deserted for a very long time. So when I took this shot, I was thinking "Bloody hell! A cyclepath from Blade Runner!"
I should give this a better title.
No.1 was a temple shot, pure and simple, but since I was in beautiful Yunnan, I thought it important to get the mountains in if possible.

Hope this helps.

[george013]

Good eyes George!

This was taken some years ago in Yunnan Province and I can't remember whether the path dipped before the stairs. The temple seems straight to me and either explanation is possible, i.e. camera angled slightly forward or that the path actually dipped; every time I seem to frame more than one building or straighten a scene rich in archetectural elements in China, something is off-kilter!
No.1 shot was difficult as the sun was searingly hot and bright and to get the framing I wanted, I rested the camera on the path itself, so I had to use the LCD, shading it with my hands.

It's the combination of a low level point of view and looking downwards on the platform between the two stairs.
Everything else seems to be perfect. Maybe to perfect

George