Do these work?

A friend and I took a ride......she spied the building (she is an artist....has a good eye). She thought I'd like to stop a take a few pics. So here they are. Please critique - any advice as to how to improve?

One & two are the same door
Three are windows on either side of the door - lots of reds

I did everything the same I always do.......???

Liz

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Originally Posted by Liz

A friend and I took a ride......she spied the building (she is an artist....has a good eye). She thought I'd like to stop a take a few pics. So here they are. Please critique - any advice as to how to improve?

One & two are the same door
Three are windows on either side of the door - lots of reds

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It's been said that REAL MEN have their monitor screen set to 1024x768. I don't know if that's true, but I do and at least it lets me see the entire shots you posted. :D

Liz, that third shot is real nice; a classic theme and composition. I probably could go into a lot of detail on why it's such a strong image, but I think the folks here are savvy enough to recognize how good it is without explanation...

The first two I'm not sure about. Yes, it's an interesting scene, with the reflection and all, and I can see how you guys were drawn to it from the street. It's just that the door itself is kind of plain, and the reflection of the scene in the bg is probably not as strong as it could be.

That is mostly due to the time of day that you shot it, and the corresponding light. A more dramatic light would have saturated the color of the sky and the bg building in the reflection. I also think this scene would look more interesting at dusk or even night.

Do you have any wider shots of building around the doors? I'm curious to know what it looks like...

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Originally Posted by Liz

A friend and I took a ride......she spied the building (she is an artist....has a good eye). She thought I'd like to stop a take a few pics. So here they are. Please critique - any advice as to how to improve?

One & two are the same door
Three are windows on either side of the door - lots of reds

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First two are hard on the eye, had to focus and try to ignore the bg.Then looked at bg and tried to ignore the door. Confusing? exactly.The third one i really like, the different shades of red and the strong windows..Glad your friend is an artist but remember we photographers see the world differently.
Bobby

I agree with Steve on these images. The third is by far the strongest of the three. Great tonal values and placement of elements within the frame. Very nice photo.

I agree with everyone else, and I love that last pic.

I appreciate all the input. I like the 3rd one too, and couldn't make up my mind about the 2nd one. First one, no, me either. However, I didn't realize how "glaring" these first two were until I saw them so big. Sorry about that.

Steve - I don't think I have any shots of the door/window together. It wasn't a beautiful building, and I wouldn't have even noticed it. We were driving past it, so my friend circled around so I could do some shooting. The door was in the middle of about 3 columns of these windows (about 5 windows each column) on each side. The bricks were different kinds of reds.....nice mixture.

Thanks again.

Liz

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Originally Posted by darkrainfall

I agree with everyone else, and I love that last pic.

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Hi Liz

I like the composition on the first image a lot. I agree that the timing of day would help add richness of color but conceptually the image works. You might even try to darken the image some and see if it helps. It would defiantly be worth trying early in the morning or late in the day. A weekend might be helpful to catch less traffic. One other thought, if you have a program like Photoshop I would remove the touch pad on the RHS. Thanks for posting.

Phil

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I will try to get back there - need to find out how to get there (when I don't drive, I don't pay much attention....heheh).

I agree, there are possibilities. I actually loved the door. These were cropped quite a bit to get just the frame and glass. Lighting and time of day - the key :cool:

I have PSElements 2...a pretty good program.

Stupid question.....RHS???...... :confused:

Thanks again.

Liz

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Originally Posted by pez31

Hi Liz

I like the composition on the first image a lot. I agree that the timing of day would help add richness of color but conceptually the image works. You might even try to darken the image some and see if it helps. It would defiantly be worth trying early in the morning or late in the day. A weekend might be helpful to catch less traffic. One other thought, if you have a program like Photoshop I would remove the touch pad on the RHS. Thanks for posting.

Phil

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Sorry Liz

I was just being lazy right hand side. Elements will serve you well in removing the touch pad.


Phil

Thanks a lot.

Liz

Yes third pic, really pleasing. Also think the uncropped version of the doors pic has lots of potential as another stated shooting that again at different time of day

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Liz

A friend and I took a ride......she spied the building (she is an artist....has a good eye). She thought I'd like to stop a take a few pics. So here they are. Please critique - any advice as to how to improve?

One & two are the same door
Three are windows on either side of the door - lots of reds

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Hi Liz

I see that you are making some photographs.
The weather is warming and activity is on the rise.
Lots of colour and potential here.
The door, I feel, provides a frame and divisions between the real subject matter here.
The subject matter is the distortion and colour in the reflection.
I've cropped to move the door down and to the left - that gets it off center and brings more attention to the photograph.
The colours have been saturated and sharpened.
This lends more tension to the photograph.
Balance is not necessarily attained by symmetry.
Symmetry often makes a photograph static, whereas the introduction of tension makes the photograph more dynamic.
Dynamics attract viewers.
Fitz