Iron sculture

[Antonio Correia]

Iron sculpture in Setúbal, Portugal.
A too empty roundabout, I think but I like this work

[Shadowman]

Nicely composed.

[DanK]

Antonio,

It's a very interesting sculpture, but I'm afraid that for me, the background is far too distracting to make this a good image.

I do have one idea about how to photograph this that would take care of the background, but it isn't the sort of photograph you do. that is, photograph it in the dead of night, so few lights would be on in the building. You could clone them out. Use a long exposure. Center the sculpture in front of the road. If people are driving by, fine--the long exposure will create white and red circles, which could be part of the composition. Use a bright flashlight to light-paint the sculpture while the shutter is open.

Dan

[Wavelength]

I feel vertical frame would do more justice? of course in such images background can be always problematic..

[Manfred M]

Just adding my comments to what both Dan and Nandakumar have already suggested:

The setting is too busy and the buildings, especially on the left hand side don't contribute anything to the image. The lighting is harsh too.

I tend to agree with Dan, there is potential to the shot, but a better time of day and even light painting would give you a more interesting image.

[Tronhard]

Obviously I don't know the constraints of the environment where you took the shot, but if it was possible to swing about 45degrees to the right so that the base of the statue aligned with the road (and blocked it) the curve would follow up and over the landscape currently directly behind it. The mass of light standards may actually work as a counter point to the installation, or you could use a larger aperture to reduce the DoF.

[Antonio Correia]

Dan, I do appreciate your comments very much. Thank you !
You are suggesting a nice work, indeed. This time - I always have excuses for bad or mediocre photographs - I was trying to illustrate a round-about existing in town. It is very busy and I had to cross carefully thought the road itself to take the shot.
It was posted in Face of photos from Setúbal.
In my mind I had only the idea of the round-about and the sculpture... and I shouldn't indeed. The sculpture should have been highlighted as Manfred has done bellow.
I have others of the same area but also lacking interest. I have to be careful on posting here as the critiques are severe and honest (I do like them !!!! go on please) but quite often they are fair.
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Thank you Nandakumar for your comment. You are right. Manfred suggests that option
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Manfred... light painting ! Yes, of course. That is an excellent idea.
The area is not very good for such a work...
I do like your crop, a clever one. The light is harsh, yes it is. A later hour in the day - or earlier hour would have been better.
Thank you Manfred for your constructive comments. As always BTW !
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Nice ideas from the antipodes from Trev !
But as explained above, I was thinking about the sculpture itself but the round-about.
Here they replace the traffic light for round-abouts because they are not so expensive to maintain. Silly option. The traffic light are far more secure for cars and pedestrians.
Thank you Trev for commenting !
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SIDE NOTE
I do not know if it happens to some of you, but here the quality of the shots people do is very poor. Shots are posted in Facebook and the sunsets are a constant as well as skies with clouds. This kind of "thing".
Lacking quality, not only in terms of the photograph themselves but also in composition and other aspects.
My wife and I, we would like to have - we don't - around us challenging people, innovative, creative so we can evolve... People don't like to be criticised and that is very bad.
People has the mania that post processing is bad. Horrible, horrible...

[pschlute]

Interesting subject but like the other comments I an not connecting to the image.

I would have been inclined to lay down underneath it a shoot upwards with just the sculpture and sky in the shot.

[Antonio Correia]

Huuuummm that is a great idea Peter !!!

Thank you ! I hope to be able to do that soon !

Great idea !

[pschlute]

Thank you ! I hope to be able to do that soon !

Don't wear your best clothes

[Antonio Correia]

Don't wear your best clothes

Oh no ! I will take some old jeans and sweater.
The morning is a bit cloudy today. I'll have to wait for a better moment !
I don't want cloud to distract and perhaps in the morning would be the best time because of the incidence of the light.
Nice week end !

[Tronhard]

But as explained above, I was thinking about the sculpture itself but the round-about.
Here they replace the traffic light for round-abouts because they are not so expensive to maintain. Silly option. The traffic light are far more secure for cars and pedestrians.

Two things, if I may:
I have looked carefully at your comments and found only a passing mention of the roundabout: "A too empty roundabout," in your first post and since the image was actually entitled Iron Sculpture it was not unreasonable to believe the sculpture was, in fact the subject rather than the roundabout. If the purpose was, in fact the roundabout, then it would have been better to call it as such and perhaps given us a full view of the thing.

Actually, I think the sculpture is an excellent subject but would maintain that putting the road directly behind it would have given it more separation.

As an ex-traffic engineer, roundabouts are effective in the flow of traffic where one has to cross one busy stream and merge into another. Obviously I don't know this particular installation but can say that roundabouts have a better safety record than multi- or 4-way stops seen in North America and also compared to traffic lights. This is because accidents usually occur at an oblique angle on a roundabout, whereas many accidents at other intersections occur as T-bone collisions that are more likely to result in serious or fatal injury. Studies comparing roundabouts to lights and compulsory stops indicated that they are 25% more efficient in moving traffic through, and 17% safer. Without doubt there comes a time when the traffic density increases to such a level that lights are required, then the fun really begins when lights are combined with roundabouts...

[Antonio Correia]

Just a few words before I have the opportunity to go to that roundabout and photograph again.

Trev, why do I dislike this traffic solution ?
Because people do not know how to drive through. Either they drive into the roundabout, by the right (we drive on the right side of the road as you know), or because it is a bad design.

Roundabouts are tiring when they are 500 meters away from another one. 500 meters ? No, look at this one: 120m meters away !!
Roundabouts are bad for pedestrians as drivers are distracted, watching the other cars running.
Roundabouts provoque traffic congestion when cars or buses on the way out stop because of pedestrians zebras crossings.
Roundabouts are less expensive than traffic lights as they have few maintenance if none.

Trev,
Here, roundabouts are a financial business for the town hall. For example: A big surface wants to build a large selling area. The town hall asks in return: works on the road, changing traffic lights by roundabouts, infrastructures constructions and so on. Business as usual.
I talk not as a designer or engineer which I have not been, but as a simple user of the city.

Look at the example bellow.
The red lines are ways to speed, mainly the one on the far right. I am sure that is not right ! Can't be !
I think that roundabouts should have a clear "trigonometric chord" insertion and not a tangencial one.

Later today I hope to go to the sculpture and take a few photographs.

[Antonio Correia]

Bellow the sculpture in the middle of the round about and some details.
The other day I went to this place but it was too late and the sun was too low. The buildings were casting some shadows on the roundabout and also on the sculpture.
Today, I had to go a nearby office and made my way to the sculpture, I walked to it's center and shot from the ground level. 24mm shots
Thank you Peter for the idea of shooting from a low vantage point ! It worked perfectly !

[pschlute]

Nice work Antonio

[Manfred M]

I like the last two images the best. I suspect a bit more dodging and burning on these two (on the structure of the sculpture) would improve the shots even more.

Shooting from below and from above gives the viewer a different point of view and often results in a stronger image than one taken at normal standing height.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Peter and Manfred.

You know, now I work with the compensation dial. Before I was using it but not so frequently as now. Doing better work I think.
I try - viewing the histogram on the EVF - to built it to the right, completing the hole range or gama, from 0 to 255 as you know better than I do.
This was the initial histogram

and this is the final one. All the adjustments were made in LR

It looks like certain areas are clipped on the blacks but I can't see which. Blacks or blues ? Looking at the histo looks like the blues... I may be wrong !

These histos belong to the last photograph.

[Manfred M]

The cyan coloured triangle at the top left corner of the histogram tells me that the clipping is in the red / cyan channel. As this is a very sunny day and the clipping indicator is on, but there is little showing on the very left hand side of the histogram, I think it is safe to assume that you have lost a tiny be of shadow detail.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Manfred.
I have dragged the histogram on the left side just a bit. The cyan became yellow and then it was gone.
The gain is so small at this scale that it can't be perceived.

[Wavelength]

Nice reinterpretations...