Milwaukee Art Museum C & C

[hower610]

Just as the title says. Please give me your thoughts on this photo.

 

[Tulsa]

The composition is bad, if you would have shot straight on or further to the side, it would have been better, the angle is off. I also feel there is not enough of the building in the shot. more sky than anything.

 

[hower610]

Thanks. That is the most recognized part of the museum. The handrail right in the middle is actually a bridge about 2 -3 stories above a busy road.

 

[Tulsa]

try thinking out of the box, get an angle from below, if possible to get that feature. While its a cool feature, no offense but the shot is boring. Try something different, thats the best way to learn new things.

 

[hower610]

Sounds good, thanks. Composition is my biggest hurdle.

 

[matfoster]

the architecture is amazing. enjoy the asymmetry and the supposed 'flaws'. it's different from the usual dogmas about composition.

 

[hower610]

Aside from the building in the lower right corner, is this picture better?

 

[Pugs]

Seth,

This is the most recognizable feature of the art museum, and for that reason, pretty much everyone has stood in that same spot and taken that same photograph.

In terms of how well executed your iteration of it was, it would have been nice if you'd moved a half-step to your right to perfectly center yourself on it. Also, your image suffers from two things that plague most of the shots of the Milwaukee Art Museum that I've seen: time of day is causing the mast cast to a shadow on the wings, and that damned black handrail that borders the park that you were shooting from. I hate that handrail pathologically... LOL!

My final nit-pick is the sky. I find these shots of the museum to be MOST interesting with some sort of dramatic sky behind it so that often means earlier in the morning. Second best, in my opinion, is that perfect clear blue sky with a gentle gradient moving from light to dark. The background in this pic is a little distracting in that it has those low-lying clouds coming out of the building that aren't all that dramatic interrupting the blue sky.

I'd love to see a re-shoot at a different time of day.

The second pic is better (except for Discovery World there in the lower right as you mention). The angles are more dramatic and interesting. The first one is about symmetry, so you should work to NAIL perfect symmetry. This second one is about angles and shapes. I like it. I wish you'd captured the mast all the down to its base and maybe gotten rid of some of the negative space along the left side of the frame.

 

[hower610]

These were late afternoon. I am still in experimental mode. I went to a seminar last weekend at Art's cameras plus and plan on going to another one in March. I am a little rusty with the SLR (point and shoot ruined me).

 

[Pugs]

Yeah, I could tell that they were late afternoon by the shadow because I have shots with the same shadow.

It's great that you're experimenting and getting to learn the SLR again! If you ever want to go out taking pics some time, let me know and we can have a go at it. It's cheaper than the other kind of shooting...

Also, if you're interested, this summer I'll be teaching four little two-day classes at Alverno College covering:

- Intro to composition
- Intro to landscapes
- Intro to portraits
- Intro to manual settings

The dates and fees aren't set yet, but I can let you know when they are if you're interested.

 

[hower610]

Yeah, I could tell that they were late afternoon by the shadow because I have shots with the same shadow.

It's great that you're experimenting and getting to learn the SLR again! If you ever want to go out taking pics some time, let me know and we can have a go at it. It's cheaper than the other kind of shooting...

Also, if you're interested, this summer I'll be teaching four little two-day classes at Alverno College covering:

- Intro to composition
- Intro to landscapes
- Intro to portraits
- Intro to manual settings

The dates and fees aren't set yet, but I can let you know when they are if you're interested.

Just like the other shooting, gear is expensive, but after that, just gas money and just as addicting. Keep me informed on your upcoming classes and I will have to see how they work with my schedule. The class I am taking in March is a Canon specific class on exposure and such.

 

[Pugs]

Hm... Canon specific? Exposure is exposure...For a good intro, have your read through Dominantly's post on the exposure triangle?

If not, it's a good primer.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...9084-exposure-your-photographic-triangle.html

 

[hower610]

Hm... Canon specific? Exposure is exposure...For a good intro, have your read through Dominantly's post on the exposure triangle?

If not, it's a good primer.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...9084-exposure-your-photographic-triangle.html

I have read that, actually all of the tutorials he did. I even have them saved as a PDF for reference.

I should have phrased it a little different...

Moving beyond the basics, this course is for digital SLR owners looking to fully understand and appreciate their camera. Topics include: getting the most out of the camera's metering and exposure functions, understanding histograms and custom white balance, proper lens choice, maximizing quality with RAW files, converting RAW files in the computer.

 

[Tulsa]

I am not wild about the second one either, probably there is too much going on, and I don't like the rooftop view. not sure if I have any other suggestions other than my previous ones, there has to be some other angles to try at different parts of the building.

 

[hower610]

I am not wild about the second one either, probably there is too much going on, and I don't like the rooftop view. not sure if I have any other suggestions other than my previous ones, there has to be some other angles to try at different parts of the building.

Thanks again for your opinion.