Hey gang--first post here, but I've been lurking and getting the feel of this place for a month or so :) Anyways, shot this church in Charleston this past weekend and really like the b&w tones but can't decide if I like the composition or not. I could not get back far enough to get the whole church in, so I'm wondering if this still works. Anyways, critiques/suggestions welcome.

http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL527/2406456/11586475/168081137.jpg

Hi Jen, and welcome to PR!

Well, the first thing I'll say is that I like the photo. It has a good subject matter and the b/w tones are great. But for me the composition could use a little work. I think perhaps you might have wanted to include the stairs because they would have led the eye naturally up to the door, which is the center of interest. This would crop the top but not to where it cuts into the dome.

If you get another chance at shooting this church, give this suggestion a try and I am willing to bet you'll like the photo a bit more.

Youve found a great subject! I would suggest tightening the crop there focusing a little more on the door maybe, or on one specific feature. I also think that a darker, more defined (perhaps cloudy?) sky would add emotion and depth to the composition. Try reshooting at a time of day when there are more shadows and the sky is darker.

I like ray's suggestion...this would take care of the branches coming in from the top. They don't seem to frame the subject as well as the foliage on the sides...so could be deleted. By adding more of the stairs you would take care of this. The door caught my attention and could be more of a center piece if framed as suggested.

Good tones on this subject...I think you did well on this photo but a reshoot could yield a better shot.

Yeah If you are able to get back far enough to include the steps that could add a lot to the photo. Considering it was difficult for you to get the framing you wanted, I think you did a good job.

I think you got some good contrast. The sky is obviously bulletproof, but you've got some foilage hanging over to disguise it and I think it works. The area in the lower righthand coner could use a little dodging.

If you want to go shoot the church again, try to include an object that that lets the viewer know that what he/she is looking at is definatly a church.

Jen - Welcome. I think the shot works in both lightinig and composition. The subject is nice and it has a very solid feel to it. It might also be a good subject for a color shot. If the trees and bushes are very green, especially.

Shots like this really put composition and lens quality to the test. There is a slight bit of potential lens distortion here (looks like barrel distortion) which is evident on the left side, as you can see the wall curve in and then back out again, but it takes a nit-picker like me to worry about it :) The right side dome area seems to be tilting a little to the left also, but I am not sure whether that is caused by the angle you shot it at, or the low-to-high angle of the camera to the building (the right-side tree makes it hard to tell). Where's one of those tilting film plane cameras when you need them eh?

Regarding the sky: It somehow seems out of place/too bright in comparison to the rest. It is therefore probably the weak link in the shot. Not sure what you could have did about it however... it is only in the corner so it would have been hard to deal with even if you used a graduated Neutal Density (ND) filter.

Nice find here. I would shoot it a few more times with different skies and see what you get. Hope to see more of you shots,
GB

Thank you so much for your kind words and great suggestions! The door is actually a beautiful dark red, so a color one prob. would look pretty neat--I just tried the b/w one first. Anyways, if we get down there again, hopefully I can try a reshoot and see what happens. Thanks again!

Jenni