White Picket Fence

[FootLoose]

There is a road between the building mural and the church, but I chose a point of view that made the figure comment on the church with its security measures - locked doors, barred windows, and white picket fence. OF all the shots I took this day, I chose this one because the man with his blue shirt and odd stance (having just skipped onto the kerb) adds some tension to the image. Your thoughts will be appreciated.

White Picket Fence_84A1582 copy by Foot Loose2012, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Donald]

Greg

What so good is that you show that you thought about this. The photo looks like this for a purpose, not just because you liked the scene and fired off a shot.

I wonder, however, if there is too much in the frame - Plaque announcing it's a church; doorway in shadow; window of the church, white picket fence, man stepping onto the kerb; mural; building on the right hand side. I think it's maybe trying to carry too many messages. Is about the figure in the mural looking at the church or is it about the man hopping onto the kerb and the white picket fence

If we wanted to say that it a church, what do we need to have to announce it's a church? Does the window alone do that?

If it was cropped just to the right of the vertical shadow of the architectural pillar feature, would the focus be better put on to the mural, white picket fence and the man stepping onto the kerb.

Something to think about.

[Manfred M]

+1 to Donald's comments. The big black hole of the entrance to the church is a significant distraction and the window by itself tells us that we are looking at a church. The painting on the wall is what the viewer's eyes need to focus on.

The man walking adds little to the shot; he is a very small element and is more of a distraction. Had he been looking at the painting, to help direct the viewer's eyes towards it, then that would have worked.

[Geoff F]

My first thoughts were the same as Donald and Manfred.

Lose a bit from the left side to reduce that large blank dark area in the bottom left corner. I suppose that means cropping to just remove the church lettering. If necessary, to fit into a standard size, you could take a bit from the top as well.

Then, I suspect, that man will become more integrated into the scene.

There is certainly a good interesting image here.

[FootLoose]

Donald, Manfred and Geoff,
thank you for your thoughts on this. I can see now that I was trying to do too much with the original version. New v. Old architecture as well as changed cultural attitudes etc. Donald your process of isolating the elements that are needed to communicate my observation to the reader is enlightening.

The shadow over the door is always a problem due to the awning above it. I have shot this scene a couple times before and found the shadow from the building on the right impacting on the mural. I think I will make another effort which will probably have to be around midday to minimise the shadows.

This version is cropped as per the suggestions here, but it is a frame a second or two later when the man has exited the scene.


White Picket Fence Crop_84A1585 copy 2 by Foot Loose2012, on Flickr

[Donald]

Oh yes. That is so much better. The face in the mural staring at what is obviously a church, is so obvious. That is the subject.

[Manfred M]

+1 To Donald's comments again. He nicely sums up my thoughts as well.

I wonder if this might not be a scene worth revisiting during golden hour when the shadows are softer or on an overcast day? The lighting is quite hard and the triangle of shadow from the overhang plays a significant role in this shot, whereas something softer would likely work better.

[FootLoose]

+1 To Donald's comments again. He nicely sums up my thoughts as well.

I wonder if this might not be a scene worth revisiting during golden hour when the shadows are softer or on an overcast day? The lighting is quite hard and the triangle of shadow from the overhang plays a significant role in this shot, whereas something softer would likely work better.

Here's a location shot, Manfred. (No processing, just converted to jpg.) The church and other buildings face due North. From about midday on the mural is shaded by the building in front of it and there are other tall buildings to the west of that one, too, so I suspect it is probably shaded in the late afternoon as well.

I think there is another building behind the church which might cast a shadow from the east on the mural in the golden hour, so an overcast day is possibly the best option to avoid the shadow. But I will definitely check it out. A lower angle of light might bring other opportunities, too.

_84A1549 by Foot Loose2012, on Flickr

[Manfred M]

Here's a location shot, Manfred. (No processing, just converted to jpg.) The church and other buildings face due North. From about midday on the mural is shaded by the building in front of it and there are other tall buildings to the west of that one, too, so I suspect it is probably shaded in the late afternoon as well.

I think there is another building behind the church which might cast a shadow from the east on the mural in the golden hour, so an overcast day is possibly the best option to avoid the shadow. But I will definitely check it out. A lower angle of light might bring other opportunities, too.

_84A1549 by Foot Loose2012, on Flickr

This posting is quite interesting and shows the street in a completely different perspective. It shows how you used a long focal length to create "compression" to provide a completely different look than what we see in this latest image.

[FootLoose]

Yes. I was walking uphill (from camera left) and thinking about the church locked up, bars on windows etc. Long gone are the days when you could wander into a church anytime and sit down to have quiet chat with god. Then I saw the mural. I thought the expression on the subject is "open" in the sense that it can be read in different ways - perhaps questioning, perhaps contemptuous or disrespectful. So I thought I could make it speak my thoughts by pulling it forward and juxtaposing it to the church. Luckily blue and pink are some kind of complementary colours so the blue man stands out.