First photos posting: Carnival at sunset

zulu42 · Jul 18, 2015

Hello. Not sure, maybe should have posted in the beginner's section.

Was wandering at a local carnival and was blessed with a nice sunset to use as a backdrop.
I'm here for C+C, any is appreciated. Thanks!

1

2

dxqcanada · Jul 18, 2015

Hmm, sky is interesting contrast to the black foreground objects ... though I find the second one too cluttered

Derrel · Jul 18, 2015

Well, you are totally on the right track for sunsets: something INTERESTING as a foreground silhouette is a big,big,big help to elevate a sunset and give it some sense of place, of location; although the tree is not ugly or anything, it is a bit distracting, but the Ferris wheel is a great object for the foreground silhouette subject, and the "Magic" sign is good too...That Magic sign on the pagoda-like structure would have made a good foreground silhouette object. I give you props for putting something in front of the sky in both of these shots. A sunset of just clouds is pretty boring most of the time, especially to viewers who have no connection with the scene or the photo.

The floodlights are actually well-handled! Great exposure on them! That's actually an interesting man-made/natural juxtaposition!

zulu42 · Jul 18, 2015

Thanks very much for the comments.
Totally agree with both on the second photo. Should have stuck with one foreground object, the Magic sign would have been nice by itself

Thanks again

Designer · Jul 19, 2015

zulu42 said:
Hello. Not sure, maybe should have posted in the beginner's section.

Actually, no.

The beginner's forum is not intended for posting photographs for C&C.

The General Gallery is correct.

Oh, I may have missed welcoming you, so welcome!

#1 is an outstanding photograph.

#2 is good, but I think there may have been a better shot with that material.

JustJazzie · Jul 19, 2015

What a beautiful sunset, and a fun location to shoot. I like the concept of the second shot the best, but I agree that it's a bit cluttered. I think a simple crop can help a bit here. Since your photos say okay to edit, I went ahead and gave it a go.

On the top, I eliminated the car that was cut in half for a cleaner edge. On the bottom I got rid of the first row of lights so there is a nice solid black base for the Ferris wheel, but I left the row of lights that draws your attention to the "magic" sign. (I LOVE the magic sign by the way) And finally, I came in on the right to exclude the light pole and leave another cleaner edge so that we can focus on the subject. I might also consider burning, or desaturating the blue lights on the Ferris wheel, since the blue really draws too much attention.