Difficult composition -- airplanes

[mikeWest]

So I got this picture and I can't tell if it's a good composition or a bad one. Which probably implies the latter. I like the juxtaposition of the big plane under construction as the backdrop to a little Cessna. I like the Boeing insignia in places, and I like that there is some "mess" around the big airplane (underscores the construction aspect of things). I also like the horizontal stripes that the runways and grass create but I don't like how cluttered all these elements make the image look. Is it just me or is this a bad picture?

 

[rlemert]

The following are very noobie comments, so please have a big block of salt available. With that, here are my (random) thoughts.

- I find the picture a little too "geometric" for my tastes. Everything is square and perpendicular to everything else, and while that works in other contexts I'm not "digging" it here.

- The runway and grass strip provide too much separation, making it seem like you really have two separate pictures here. They aren't tieing the two planes together.

- Is that a fox in the grass? He's competing with the planes as the subject of this. I'd clone him out of this picture, but I'd also make another copy where I'd crop to keep the upper left quadrant - i.e. keep him, the big plane, and the people under the plane's right wing.

- I'd personally try to get lower so the two planes are closer together, and I'd try to get both from more of a quartering angle - say maybe one o'clock to the Boeing and ten o'clock to the Cessna. (I realize, though, that you may not have the required access.)

- I don't think it's a bad picture. I'm just not feeling any greatness from it.

 

[D-B-J]

When I think of a plane, I think of something massive/awe inspiring, and the fact that this is taken from an above angle negates both of those. I'd much rather see these from a lower angle, especially the rear plane, where you can see just how huge it is.

But... maybe that's just me.

 

[KmH]

Or is it a coyote in the grass strip between the planes?

The time of day the shot was taken doesn't help. The sun was directly overhead making for uninteresting shadows.

You should be somewhere inside sipping a nice cold beverage that time of day.

I did a bit of editing -

 

[MK3Brent]

Is that a coyote in the grass strip between the planes?

To scare away the birds.

 

[KmH]

At a second look it looks like just a yellow dog and to big to be either a fox or a coyote.

 

[Skyclad]

Maybe make 2 pictures out of one?

 

[mikeWest]

Thanks for the replies guys. This confirms my initial feeling that if you think it's bad, it's probably bad.

Splitting it into two images is a good idea except they both end up being very low res and I could just go and get individual shots of the planes (the green one is still there ).

KMH your edit is awesome but you just created something that never was which is crazy

 

[rlemert]

KMH your edit is awesome but you just created something that never was which is crazy

Depends on what your objective is.

If you were doing a documentary or photo-essay on the airport, then the edit would be bad news.

If, on the other hand, you were e.g. contrasting commercial flight with general aviation, the altered picture might be more effective at getting your point across.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

KMH your edit is awesome but you just created something that never was which is crazy

Depends on what your objective is.

If you were doing a documentary or photo-essay on the airport, then the edit would be bad news.

If, on the other hand, you were e.g. contrasting commercial flight with general aviation, the altered picture might be more effective at getting your point across.

Meh... Not really, the proportions are still way off with the edit.


OP:

I see what you were trying to do, but the angle you were shooting from and the time of day (lighting) are what make the photo not interesting. Also, there is no clear subject. It kind of looks like you went to photograph the Cessna and the 737 just happened to be in the background...

Airplanes belong in the air. That makes them really difficult to photograph well on the ground. You have to get close and low with some good lighting to work with.