Autumn Evening Park Visit

[grantjames]

Any comments and criticism on the following image would be greatly appreciated!


Bench by grantjames, on Flickr

My own comments/feelings:

• I exposed for the subject and consequently the sky was over exposed. I adjusted this as much as I could in photoshop but I'd like to have had a graduated ND filter so I could have had it correctly exposed too.
• I added a vignette simply because I liked how it looked and I felt that the darkening of the edges took the focus off the sky being a little lifeless.
• My main goal here was to work on my composition.I was taking into account the rule of thirds, but still feel the image isn't quite as good as I'd like it to be - perhaps from the background being too busy?

Thanks in advance!

 

[patrickdio]

Nice find and capture! I think the composition could be better, i.e. less foreground and/or less sky. Also try not to put lines or horizons through a persons head. I think if you had a higher vantage point then the shot would look better. Nice find though! Keep shooting.

Something I'd do is maybe pass by that bench when the sun is setting and see if you can find a person or couple sitting down to watch the sunset and take a photo of that. Dramatic sky, lighting, and person subject should make for a great photo.

 

[patrickdio]

And yeah I think a ND grad would be much better than the post-vignette.
Just another tip: its easier to correct something underexposed rather than overexposed so if you don't yet have an ND grad then maybe expose for the sky and leave the foreground darker then add some fill light in post-processing.

 

[grantjames]

Sorry to bump this topic up but if anyone else has any feedback I'd appreciate it!

Please be brutally honest! I know the picture is far from perfect.

Thanks!

 

[MissCream]

Quick tip, if you post the BBcode of the picture directly on your thread then you will get more views, a lot of members do not like to click on links! (Even if it is just Flikr...)

 

[Ballistics]

I think this picture is very nice. Although, if I were to change something, it would be the amount of foreground. Do you mind if I show you what I mean with your picture?

 

[D-B-J]

I like the idea, but the horizon is slightly tilted, and as you said, the sky is slightly blown. I also would maybe try a slightly higher viewpoint, so you can see more of the houses that are hidden behind the hill.

 

[Ballistics]

I like the idea, but the horizon is slightly tilted, and as you said, the sky is slightly blown. I also would maybe try a slightly higher viewpoint, so you can see more of the houses that are hidden behind the hill.

I'm showing the bench pretty even on my screen. I don't know if the horizon can be helped. As for the higher viewpoint suggestion... I think that sounds like it would make for an awesome shot.

 

[grantjames]

I think this picture is very nice. Although, if I were to change something, it would be the amount of foreground. Do you mind if I show you what I mean with your picture?

Please do! Any editing of my pictures is fine

Thanks for all the feedback!

I will try it again with a higher viewpoint! I'm not paying enough attention to my backgrounds at the moment!

I made the top of the bench horizontal, so the horizon could well be slightly tilted. Is it best to have the horizon flat, or your subject?

 

[Ballistics]

How do you feel about this?

 

[grantjames]

Nice! I like it a lot. I think I originally put the bench where it was because I was thinking about the rule of thirds too much. But with the crop, it still lies along the intersection between 2 thirds lines so it's nice!

Thanks again.