How can I improve this.

[Chimpancheesze]

I took this picture in Charleston, SC. I really like the picture but I'd like some advice on how I can improve it. I'd like to apply the advice to future photos. (Also, I'm not getting how to put the image inline to show the large photo).

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Randy,

I think the first question to ask is what do you like about it?
Then, what spoils that?

So, wht could/should you have done at the taking stage to improve it?
What can you do in PP? (I see you have CS5 for a Mac)

If I maybe blunt, what is the subject?

Here are some crops;
#1


#2


#3


or #4


Not sure if that was what you were looking for; but it might stimulate some thought

[Peter Ryan]

Nice work Dave,

The first thing to do is ask yourself "What made me pick up the camera to take the shot" and then shoot that. Often we pick up the camera, look through the viewfinder and then try and get everything in. Less is more.

Here you have a bit of window at the top and a bit more on the left, all competing with your main window. If the main window is you point of interest (and there should only be one point of interest in an image) then you need to move it a little more into the frame and lose some of the empty space at the bottom. Having said that Dave has shown how this area could be a photo in its own right.

Food for thought. Please keep posting, it is the best way to learn.

[Chimpancheesze]

Dave and Peter. Thank you both for the advice. Dave, absolutely be blunt because that's why we're here. Everything (at least for me) is considered constructive criticism. Lots of questions to answer so I'll hit a few.

Peter: I was standing outside a shop waiting for my wife. While I was standing there, this is what I was looking at across the street. All of the textures intrigued me. The wall, the clean lines of the window and black shutters. The red in the bricks near the bottom of the wall and the foliage that seemed to creep into the picture.

At the time I wanted to capture that mix of textures. After looking at it for awhile (yesterday) I began to notice what the two of you have brought up.

Dave, the 1st crop is the one I'd take. How could I improve the shot at the taking stage? First off, if I concentrated on the window then I need to take the picture in a portrait position rather than a landscape. You've both pointed out things in the picture that really bug me now that i've never noticed before (ie: the stray window edges). I agree that less is more and I need to stop getting caught up in one object and trying to frame it with others. The valid point is, there is no subject here.

Thanks you again, guys. I have more to post and look forward to additional comments that I'll use right away.