Holding it Down

[Juga]

Hello all. Please provide feedback at will!

1. Canon T4i w/ EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, ISO 100, f/11, 1/25
2. Canon T4i w/ EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, ISO 100, f/8, 1/60

 

[KenC]

The second is kind of busy and the area of interest is only the center, which I assume is where the first came from. I like the composition, texture and color in the first, except for the link being cut off along the lower edge. It would have been better to re-frame lower and remove some of that knob in the top center as well. I'd also darken anything that is not the main subject, as you see it - not so much that it starts to look fake, but just enough to direct attention to the brighter areas. For me the subject seems to be the links or parts of links closest to the camera.

 

[pgriz]

Agree with Ken. The second is a Big Pile. Big Piles of anything are usually less interesting unless they relate to WHY they are there. The first one is more interesting as it shows a simpler image but the rusty details are more visible along with the curves, shadows, etc.

 

[Juga]

Agree with Ken. The second is a Big Pile. Big Piles of anything are usually less interesting unless they relate to WHY they are there. The first one is more interesting as it shows a simpler image but the rusty details are more visible along with the curves, shadows, etc.

View attachment 39079
The reason! It is buoy chain.

 

[Rick58]

Throw me in here to.

#1 :thumbup:, except for the cropped link. Second? Not so much

 

[Juga]

I am just not getting this whole compositional thing. Technically I think I am getting much better but I am still finding a hard time with the artistic side of photography. Regardless thank you all for feedback.

 

[pgriz]

I am just not getting this whole compositional thing. Technically I think I am getting much better but I am still finding a hard time with the artistic side of photography. Regardless thank you all for feedback.

Here's an idea: don't think of the scene as three-dimensional, but as a flat 2D surface (which it will become as a print), and look at the elements as lines (diagonal, horizontal, vertical), triangles, rectangles, curves, perspective, texture contrast, colour contrast. Decide which set of attributes are most important (say, converging lines) and find a vantage point that emphasizes that basic element. Or if it's texture, look for texture contrast that really lets us feel the texture. Look for shadows creating their own elemental shapes. Look for where lines and curves meet. That'll get you started.

Edit: My wife teaches drawing to people who claim they could never draw. She gets them to draw by making them forget what is there (the "knowing" it's a cup with a handle), and then putting on paper only what they actually SEE. The book "Drawing on the right side of the brain" by Betty Edwards, is a well-documented method of using this approach to unleash the inner artist. The problem is, we normally want to draw what we "know" is there, and that gets in the way of "seeing" what is there. Same method applies to photography.

 

[Juga]

I am just not getting this whole compositional thing. Technically I think I am getting much better but I am still finding a hard time with the artistic side of photography. Regardless thank you all for feedback.

Here's an idea: don't think of the scene as three-dimensional, but as a flat 2D surface (which it will become as a print), and look at the elements as lines (diagonal, horizontal, vertical), triangles, rectangles, curves, perspective, texture contrast, colour contrast. Decide which set of attributes are most important (say, converging lines) and find a vantage point that emphasizes that basic element. Or if it's texture, look for texture contrast that really lets us feel the texture. Look for shadows creating their own elemental shapes. Look for where lines and curves meet. That'll get you started.

Edit: My wife teaches drawing to people who claim they could never draw. She gets them to draw by making them forget what is there (the "knowing" it's a cup with a handle), and then putting on paper only what they actually SEE. The book "Drawing on the right side of the brain" by Betty Edwards, is a well-documented method of using this approach to unleash the inner artist. The problem is, we normally want to draw what we "know" is there, and that gets in the way of "seeing" what is there. Same method applies to photography.

This is great advice and pretty much echoes what I read in Bryan Peterson's Understanding Composition. Maybe I am biased, haha, but I honestly believe I am capturing that when I take the pictures. I really like converging lines which you may have seen with my pier shots but it has been difficult capturing for others. I am not saying I am giving up but a bit frustrated. I do feel my upgrade on camera has allowed me to do more on the technical side and have done so successfully but I will keep trying.