Monkey bars - 2 angles - which one?

[JohnS.]

edit: If you want to edit my photos to give me an idea on how I should do it, feel free . I want to learn as much as possible from people that know more than I do. But like I said in post #3, I'm trying to keep the picture as original as possible, only adjusting levels such as contrast, brightness, etc. and cropping.

I did a little cropping from the original ones. There was a corner of a metal pole on the side in one, and I had too much trees on one side in another... Just touched them up. Cropped only, nothing else. I can't pick which one I like.

I know the tree is distracting in the first one. I'm not experienced in PS enough to get rid of it. Also, I'm trying not to alter the photos beyond cropping and brightness/contrast/etc.

Thoughts / opinions / C&C?

 

[leftypony]

I like the angle of the first one better, however the focus looks like it's on the second ring. Maybe a larger DOF would help? The image also looks a little dull and dark to me.

 

[JohnS.]

I actually wanted a "smaller" DOF. I didn't want all or most of the rings to be in focus. Perhaps I could've picked the first ring to focus on if I wanted that... Oh well. I could always go back. I just wanted general opinions.

I used photoshop to adjust the brightness and contrast of the first one. Is this better? I think I put a touch too much contrast. I kind of like it though. I spent a good 10-15 minutes increasing and decreasing both levels by a few increments.

And how do you adjust sharpness? It's probably the way I took the picture, but I'd like to sharpen it up a bit.

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

I kind of like that the first ring is not in focus. It draws my eye to the second one (and beyond). I like the overlapping effect in the second pic but I dont think the crop does it justice. Neat subject for messing with dof.

 

[JohnS.]

Yeah, it was hard to choose which ring to focus on since that's what I wanted. I really should have taken more but I just sat there clicking away, focusing on different rings and doing different angles. I might go back tomorrow and take some more. But for now, I am pretty content with those pictures.

 

[harrywatson66]

ts very strange. I found it unusual. This photography is good and very keenly done. I like. Also the it could be a very attractive background.

 

[DragonHeart]

I like #1 the best.

 

[STARSITY GRAPHICS]

I personally like the first one.

 

[muskokagirl]

I like the second one better, but maybe crop a bit more of it

 

[I'm Mike]

i like #2 better

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

I like the first shot best I think. I agree with liking the focus on the second ring as well... pretty creative. ^_^