Plainville city limit

[Greg McCary]

What do you think? I wanted to shot this with a train going by but couldn't wait forever.

[poker]

I feel the picture too busy. There's a alot of texture here but they clash. Perhaps, shooting the sign in an extreme perspective to get more of one layer and less of another.

Like shooting at the sign upward and getting more sky in the back ground and a hint of the tree line.

I've also lear-ned here on PR about edge control. Well, I call it edge control. What's on the edges of your photo. You have part of a house and a tree (floatingin the air) on the left then some town building on the right. Should or shouldn't it be cropped out?

IMO of course.

[Greg McCary]

I did shot it a little more upwards do you like this one better?

[poker]

In my opinion, when shooting everyday objects, you can turn everyday things into something to take a second look at when you shoot it with an extreme perspective. Like using a wide angle lens to distort these rectangles into a more trapezoid appearance. Your second post is starting to distort the sign but not enough.

One example is Sebastians recent photo of a simple light post. The light post is coming in at an angle into the frame therefore turning an everyday thing into something creative.
Good night...

I have a very simple example, I shot a bottle of water but in a distorted fashion which caught some people's attention. No big deal but it was different.
Don't ask me why....

Another example of an everyday object turned appealing was Tuna's Motel sign:
Get A Room
There is no distorted perspective here but the sign is in absolute control of the shot due to the lighting and the subdued objects around the sign. It wasn't too busy.

[poker]

I did shot it a little more upwards do you like this one better?

To answer your question, I would have to say yes and no...therefore contradicting my own suggestion. I'm compelled to look at your work more and here is more of my humble opinion.

I say yes, since the second post has controlled the "busy" factor but I say "no" because I think the wording on the sign is what caught your attention so lets work with your inspiration. How can you make the background work with the words on the sign??

New suggestion... shoot the sign head on with the street crossing vertically through the frame and fading in to the background. hopefully there is something at the end of the street for the lines to lead to.

I'm very far from a good photog so this is just my humble opinion.

[Greg McCary]

Is this more distorted and simple.

[Sebastian]

Greg,

I like the subject, you found something that is a bit out of the ordinary. I think Manacsa has some good suggestions, but even with what was said this might just not be the time to get this shot well. I think the first thing that I would have tried is positioning the post across the frame diagonally. Right now the framing is too rigid due to its vertical orientation. As Manacsa said, I would also try to go in tight with a wide to distort and add more angles. Ultimately though, I think better light or some sort of other element would have helped the most. Not sure what that element would be, but I think waiting a bit longer to get some more sunset hues in the sky would have helped a little...

Manacsa,

I meant to comment on that bottle shot of yours, I really like the angle and selective focus. Experiments like that give you nuggets to work with in the future. I shoot stuff on my desk and around me all the time, I think it really familiarizes you with seeing through the lens.