Downtown... CC

[NickV]

I went downtown today to try my hand at capturing lines and abstracting buildings. cc would be appreciated.

this one I wanted to capture the sky so the building is underexposed:

 

[NickV]

I fixed the third one a bit.

 

[rambler]

Well, you have captured lots of lines, but I am not certain about the "abstracting" part. Perhaps you have tried to put too much stuff in your photos.

Next, you have to consider what is interesting about the lines? Where do you want the lines to lead us? For example, in the last image, the lines lead us nicely down the street, but why? What is interesting there for us to see? The building with the guild around the windows might be of interest, but it is too far away to really be appreciated. Those posts on the left might be of interest, maybe a couple of steps to your right might have included more of them, making them your subject.

So, my advice would be to really concentrate more on the subject matter of your images. What exactly is it that you want to show us. Rather than us saying, "Well, I guess Nick wants us to look at the the line of windows on that wall and then maybe at the windows of the distant sky-scrapper, etc.." It is you that should be telling us exactly what to look at. Make it obvious and interesting. For example, in the first picture, the wall and bricks look interesting and are in nice contrast, so get us up closer for a good look. Maybe get in tight and look directly up at that angle of the corner. Why do we see the tops of the cars along the bottom? The skies are not that interesting, so why include them. Why have that washed out white?

Lines are important graphic elements, so keep working with them, but narrow down your subject matter, so that it is really obvious to the viewer. Remember the "abstract part" means that we do not even have to know or see the whole of buildings, or even as much as you have included. A small section of one wall, or one window, or a few neat bricks might be enough. try to see how each element you include relates to each other. Do not just include things in because they are there. Check the edges. Do not let unrelated objects creep in.

PS Unfortunately, I could be describing many of my own photos! Your third photo "fixed" is my favorite (crop the right edge a bit). Other than that it is not cluttered and has a nice contrast between the edges of the large building.

 

[JustinZ850]

I can't really comment on the lines, or building because I really don't have any experience with this type of stuff, but I think some good B&W conversions would make these much more interesting.