Leading Lines: C&C

[WhiskeyTango]

I shot this specifically for the lines. My "desired" focal point is the reflection of the light in the glass panel.

Overall, I like the image, but I have no misconceptions: It's not great. Please, give me some C&C to improve this.

 

[ph0enix]

The problem is that the viewer's eye is usually drawn to the brightest part of an image, in this case the light in the foreground. Your subject is underexposed and quite frankly I can't tell what I'm looking at.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

The problem is that the viewer's eye is usually drawn to the brightest part of an image, in this case the light in the foreground. Your subject is underexposed and quite frankly I can't tell what I'm looking at.

I need to keep in mind that the "viewer" doesn't have the advantage of having seen the whole scene... You're absolutely right.

Here's the widest shot I have of the chandelier as well as a shot of the chandelier itself for reference.


Wide Shot (relatively)


Chandelier

 

[Infinite_Day]

I think for such an abstract image you need to adjust your DOF to have as much in focus as you can. The fact that the chandelier in the foreground is out of focus really throws the image off and, as Phoenix said, your exposure is off. I like the concept, however.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

I think for such an abstract image you need to adjust your DOF to have as much in focus as you can. The fact that the chandelier in the foreground is out of focus really throws the image off and, as Phoenix said, your exposure is off. I like the concept, however.

I can see exactly what you're saying. I was trying to maximize the impact of the reflection, but there's just no way to shoot it without either a) so little chandelier that you can't tell what you're looking at, or b) so much chandelier it draws attention away from the reflections.

I think I'd like to reshoot this with a wider angle, tripod mounted, and with the chandelier as my desired main subject. I'll just try to position the reflection to provide some balance/interest.

I'll have to play with the exposure too. I was spot metering on the reflection and shooting in manual. Not sure why its off...

I won't get a chance until next week, but this one's tickling my fancy so I think it deserves another attempt.

 

[The_Traveler]

There are a bunch of questions that come up in my mind when I look at this.

It seems like this is meant to be a shot of something real -as opposed to a graphic thing that I look at for appreciation of the design. So what's up? what's down? Where am I?

Even if I follow your directions and realize what you want me to look at, why is that interesting at all? It just seems like a jumble of lines and colors.

Your mind's eye is straining out all the stuff that you don't want to see but when I or any viewer looks at it, we see only what is there.
Don't worry about exposure and crap like that now. No one designed this situation so the reflection would be lit perfectly, so realize that you must first find the interesting image, then find a vantage point to collect that interesting image.