Sea Tower

[jetrim]

A remarkably well preserved throwback to the golden age of beachfront hotels. Most of these have been demolished or renovated to more current styles in this area.

[Don Schaeffer]

The title leads me to expect a lot. The photo is such a let-down.

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi J,
I like the interesting pattern formed by the shadow and the green thing. It is like a smiling snake.
yoyo

[Greg McCary]

Nice colors and composition, looks like Florida to me.

[Ron Kruger]

Good lighting. Time of day and weather are so important.

[Polishgonewild]

I like it but its too plain. maybe if it was a cloudy day

[Shebang]

Love the colors. The only thing that bothers me is it seems to lean some.

[jetrim]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This was definitely a minimalist shot - it was intended to be, and I understand not everyone is into that. What drew me to the subject was the starkly contrasting yet largely complimentary colors and the geometry.

Yoyo, I didn't make the smiling snake connection until you mentioned it, now it's hard to ignore.

[jetrim]

Love the colors. The only thing that bothers me is it seems to lean some.

There is a slight bit of perspective distortion I consciously didn't correct on the left side of the wall.

[LeeIs]

Very graphic shot. I wish the bottom left wasn't there or cropped out. Also same thing on the top right. it's too close to the edge. I like the attitude 'either in or out' and not hanging close to the edges too much. Good catch though.

[Shebang]

Jetrim, (or anyone)

Here's my "dumb" question: I presume when you took the shot, your goal is plumb for the left edge of the wall? And the perspective distortion comes from the lens? And the wide fisheye lens emphasize this distortion the most?

[A.M.D.A.]

I like it, jetrim.

As previously mentioned, the lighting is just great, placing emphasis on shadows and the (steps...?) texture.

The only thing which bothers me a bit is that the composition is sort of "pushed" up toward the right side, wish there was something to balance out on the left. Another piece of architecture, perhaps.

[jetrim]

I presume when you took the shot, your goal is plumb for the left edge of the wall?

Generally I shoot for a level horizon, if there is no horizon (as in this case) I try to split the difference. In this shot I split the difference between the left wall and a wall that is no longer included because it got cropped out (on the right)

And the perspective distortion comes from the lens?

Perspective distortion comes from pointing the lens either up or down instead of straight on. It is most evident in architectural photography, but fashion and glamour photographers often use it to their advantage to accentuate or draw attention away from features of the model their shooting and when done well, you don't see it as distortion.

And the wide fisheye lens emphasize this distortion the most?

A fisheye lens can show perspective distortion but it's most noted for another type - barrel distortion (sometimes called the pincushion effect) which is more circular than linear. Sometimes when trying to correct prespective distortion you inadvertently introduce barrel distortion which will make a long straight wall look bowed in the middle.

[jetrim]

Here's the original shot as taken from my truck window the other day, unprocessed except conversion from RAW and resized. If anyone wants to take a shot at a more effective crop, please feel free, I'd love to see what others can come up with.

[Shebang]

jetrim: Your explanations are very helpful. Thanks. Let me see if I am really getting it - the two walls appear closer together at the top because you are pointing your lens upward? And more parallel toward the bottom because your shot is more straight-on at that height? Is this comparable to the "vanishing point" in the art world?

Do you have Canon equipment?

Thanks again for the help.

[jetrim]

Paula, yes it is similar to the "vanishing point" in the art world though usually not so pronounced and this runs vertically (vanishing point usually refers to horizontal distortion if I recall correctly-but same principle). You should be able to see from the original shot I posted just above that the wall edges on the left and right both lean toward the center. Photoshop and PSP both offer perspective control adjustment tools to fix this if one were so inclined.

Only Canon equipment I own is a 3.1mp powershot 510 point & shoot. This, as with virtually all the shots I post here was shot with the Fuji S-2 pro.

Jim