Water Tower

[caleb]

This was shot at ~6AM over the summer while visiting some family in the midwest. I was originally shooting for a raw image with train/tracks/old trainhouse when I saw these birds flying across the sky. Sadly I had a slower shutter speed than if I was ready but in any case I was glad to have caught this moment.

C&C as well as which you prefer is appreciated. Unfortunately the sky is kind of boring but hopefully the image doesn't need a sky.

[poker]

I really like how the birds were captured. I just think you need a level and/or contrast adjustment.

[gahspidy]

I like the birds fluttering about the tower giving it scale. I think a boost in levels/exposure as suggested would improve.

[caleb]

Adjusted levels, added minor vignetting, removed some desaturation...

[MichaelD]

Adjusted levels, added minor vignetting, removed some desaturation...

It's still to dark. Saturation shouldn't be lowered, it's exactly the rust that gives this image character, that B&W version is just a conformation of this. I would certainly add some sharpening and inject a tiny bit of blue in the background. In this example I have done all that, including a crop at top and bottom and a correction to get more details in the shadows.

[jetrim]

I like the moodiness of Caleb's vignetted sky, but Michael has really done the water tower justice with his adjustments.