Curvy

[invisible]

I might reshoot this one when the light is not so harsh and the street is cleaner.

Thanks for looking.

 

[invisible]

OK, more than 60 views and no replies... What can I improve the next time I shoot it? (other than what I mentioned above) Or this one is uninteresting altogether?

I really look forward to receiving some C&C.

 

[mrb7]

I might reshoot this one when the light is not so harsh and the street is cleaner.

Thanks for looking.

OK, you asked for a comments in the next posting. The drain itself is just a drain, nothing more or less. The curve, which your title suggests was your focus, doesn't stand out against the drain. What you need is something that makes someone think about something. (OK, a roadway engineer might spend his time thinking about storm drains, but most of us don't.) Human interest is always good, so an identifiable item flowing down the storm drain in rain, or even a broken toy under the leaves. If you're willing to stag the picture rather than insisting on "found" pictures then you can just go buy a cheap doll at K-Mart, rip one of the arms off, and place it. Or a lost wallet.

But the trick to getting viewer reaction is to get viewer self identification. Either, "I remember something like this" or "Man they must like/hate that."

MB

 

[invisible]

OK, you asked for a comments in the next posting. The drain itself is just a drain, nothing more or less. The curve, which your title suggests was your focus, doesn't stand out against the drain. What you need is something that makes someone think about something. (OK, a roadway engineer might spend his time thinking about storm drains, but most of us don't.) Human interest is always good, so an identifiable item flowing down the storm drain in rain, or even a broken toy under the leaves. If you're willing to stag the picture rather than insisting on "found" pictures then you can just go buy a cheap doll at K-Mart, rip one of the arms off, and place it. Or a lost wallet.

But the trick to getting viewer reaction is to get viewer self identification. Either, "I remember something like this" or "Man they must like/hate that."

MB

First off, welcome to the forums, MB.

Thanks for your comment. As said above, I was hoping to be able to shoot a cleaner version of this scene, which is why I'd rather subtract clutter, not add props to it. The idea here was to trigger in the viewer the same reaction that I had when I saw this scene. The reaction was not to be produced by the asphalt, the drain and the curb, but by a curve, a circle, some texture and some colours.

Needless to say, if your mind only processed a drain and a curb, then I failed miserably.

Nothing wrong with staging photos, but it's simply not what floats my boat.

 

[mrb7]

First off, welcome to the forums, MB.

Thanks. Glad to be here.

Needless to say, if your mind only processed a drain and a curb, then I failed miserably.

Nothing wrong with staging photos, but it's simply not what floats my boat.

Well, I'd reframe it as a learning experience for subject prominence rather than cataloging it as a miserable failure.

There's nothing wrong with having to shoot the subject 30-40 times if you're looking for an explicit viewer response, although I think that's probably more than you really want on this particular picture. But there's a lot more to be learned from studying a dozen of your rejects than being starry eyed about one lucky capture.

Hint for new folks: If you're shooting digital, *DON'T DELETE THE BAD IMAGES* until you look at them and *SEE WHAT YOU DID WRONG* for the learning curve.

Speaking of curves, if the "curve" is the thing you want to focus on, try getting very, very low to the ground, maybe 6-10 inches, so that the massive yellow curb curves through the majority of the frame.

MB

 

[chris82]

Why dont you two just fight and get it over with.

 

[invisible]

Speaking of curves, if the "curve" is the thing you want to focus on, try getting very, very low to the ground, maybe 6-10 inches, so that the massive yellow curb curves through the majority of the frame.

Exactly the type of advice I was hoping to get. Thanks, I'll definitely try that.

 

[duncanp]

i think the light is great, its bringing out the detail well with good colours, i would suggest cleaning it up a bit, thats all