Rising stonework

[knightrider]

Took this whilst in Yorkshire over the new year. This is my first post in the critique forum, so please, pile it on

Camera: Canon EOS 1000D w/ Canon 18-55mm kit lens
1/13sec, f/22, ISO 100, @51mm. Shot with tripod.

[Dylan8i]

id like to see a wider dof (larger f number) and the dark side of the wall a bit lighter ( can be done with post processing).

other than those id try tweaking the angles that the stone parts enter the frame, to add alittle more interest to the photo.

[knightrider]

I actually took quite a few of this angle, to get the look I wanted. I prefer the shallow DOF to the deep DOF (I took some of both), but I'll take a look again, as well as playing with the shadows.

What do you mean by tweaking the angles? I straightened the main vertice to be vertical, are you proposing I crop it differently?

Thanks for the feedback.

[Dylan8i]

its just kinda to symertical right now, but not competely so it looks goofy to me.

[jkriminger]

what is your focal point? what are you trying to emphasize? your DOF pulls me to the 5-6 th block up the wall. And I don't think that is enough of a subject. If you catch a bird or butterfly hanging out there then the DOF works and pulls it out front and center. Make sense?

[knightrider]

I need to work on my composition, I know, I just kinda like how the spire rises out of focus in this one. If I may post another one I shot, it's alot more like what you're suggesting.

1/15s, f/22, ISO100

[Didache]

I think the other posters are right - this really needs to be in focus throughout. There is nothing for the eye to go to except up and out of the top of the frame. The overall impression is therefore that it is out of focus - simple as that.

I can see what you were trying to do, and it might help if you had given us some context - is it a castle? A church? Just a wall?

In the end, what were you trying to convey?

I know this might sound somewhat negative - but they don't all work and even the best photographers throw more away than they keep!

Cheers
Mike

[knightrider]

Quite the opposite, all this criticism is great - I'm just starting out and need all the help I can get

For a bit of context, this is the spire of a monument called Stoodley Pike in Yorkshire, built on top of a ridge overlooking Todmorden. So I guess what I was trying to convey was the height and scale of this monument. It's 121 feet high. Also I was mimicking a photo on the Daily Image photoblog, here.