Historic Ellicott City

FreakTimmah · Jun 26, 2011

I took these with my Olympus OM2, I got it a little over a month ago and I've been working on making dynamic compositions. These are a few shots I took the other day and I was hoping to get some feedback. These were taking in Elliott City MD (near Baltimore).

1

0018149-R1-027-12 copy by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

2

0018149-R1-047-22 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

3

0018149-R1-041-19 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

4

0018149-R1-023-10 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

The_Traveler · Jun 26, 2011

I think I understand what you are trying to get at but, imo, this shots lack enough context to have any drama.

FreakTimmah · Jun 27, 2011

Could you elaborate a little? I'm not sure I entirely understand what you mean. Are the shots to zoomed in and you don't know what you are looking at, or is there no clear focal point? I appreciate the feedback I just want to make sure I understand what you are saying.

I went back and did a few crops and I'm also including two other photos. My goal is to understand what I'm doing wrong so I'll know what to look out for with the next roll. Do any of these work better? or are these photos just not salvageable?

0175741-R1-046-21A copy by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

edit2 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

edit1 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

0018149-R1-021-9 copy by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

The_Traveler · Jun 27, 2011

I'm not certain I can be more clear, the idea is nebulous in my mind.

More typically these 'kinds' of pictures are of subjects with the swoop and drama built in and the photographer is just picking it out of the context to point it out. - like long high-tension lines or cables on a bridge. Those things are dramatic if we actually look at it and the photog is only highlighting them by his capture. He may use the compressive effect of long focal length or other strange points of view to reval this drama that we don't generally notice or even create drama by a unique viewpoint. In this case, you aren't showing too much that is unique and there doesn't seem to be much drama in it.

Here are two taken in EC where I try to capture inherent 'swoop' or drama. Not great but perhaps they explain what I mean.

behanana · Jun 27, 2011

I think you would have had a better shot with the train track had you pulled back a little to get the curve into the shot and more dof, the power lines are just power lines, nothing really special about them.

Traveler, I like the first example you put up illustrating what you are trying to point out.

FreakTimmah · Jun 27, 2011

ah ok I see what you're saying, yeah that makes sense. I think I've been trying too hard to create compositions based on shapes but I'm not choosing subjects that are really all that interesting to begin with. I have a few other ones that are a lot less contrived than this recent batch. So am I just making this more complicated than It needs to be? Like I need to frame the photo to highlight the existing visual interest instead of trying to create it when it isn't really there. right? thank you both for the feedback, it's really hard to get honest feedback on the internet, most of the time it's just people pretending to like your work so you'll give them compliments on theirs. I really appricate it, thanks again

1704310-R1-021-9 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

0018149-R1-015-6 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr 
I know this one is too out of focus, it probably needs more depth of feild

4059363-R1-029-13 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

4059363-R1-009-3 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr

0018149-R1-015-6 by FreakTimmah1984, on Flickr<br

behanana · Jun 27, 2011

"Like I need to frame the photo to highlight the existing visual interest instead of trying to create it when it isn't really there. right?"

I would say yes, infact I like this simple statement enough I'm going to keep it in mind when I'm shooting.

JBArts · Jun 29, 2011

Very well captured! The third and the forth set is more pretty than the first and the second one set. Well done shots! I can see the progress and I'm totally amazed.