Pieces of the Greenhouse

PixelRabbit · Apr 23, 2012

Today was super windy and cold so I decided to spend some time in the greenhouse. We don't have anything growing in there yet so I looked for colour and shapes in the parts of the greenhouse itself.
This is what I found.
C&C always welcome and appreciated.

jfrabat · Apr 23, 2012

I like the colors of #2: very intriguing...

PixelRabbit · Apr 24, 2012

Thanks Jfrabat

I love the colours of annealed metal.

KenC · Apr 24, 2012

You have some interesting stuff out there. Here's my two cents on the images. #1 is kind of a bulls-eye shot which also suffers from the wheel being out of focus. #2 has some good elements but lacks focus. There are probably several good images in there if you get closer. #3 would work for me if you cropped a lot on the left and just a bit on the right and ended up with something close to a square composition.

PixelRabbit · Apr 24, 2012

KenC said:
You have some interesting stuff out there. Here's my two cents on the images. #1 is kind of a bulls-eye shot which also suffers from the wheel being out of focus. #2 has some good elements but lacks focus. There are probably several good images in there if you get closer. #3 would work for me if you cropped a lot on the left and just a bit on the right and ended up with something close to a square composition.

Thank you Ken!
You Sir have found my current nemesis, tackling composition of man made objects.
We have two greenhouses here, one skinned and one not. They sit there and taunt me. I know there are so many amazing shots in them but try as I might, I haven't quite figured it out... yet... but I will.

The biggest issue I have is everything is so busy, there always seems to be something in the way. I would love to get a straight on shot of the fan but there is always a crossbar going through it.
Hmmm. While I was typing that I had a thought, I have tried shooting from ground level perhaps it is time to get a different perspective? As much as I despise heights I'm going to take the ladder out and see what I see

that will get me straight on with the fan. (duh moment lol)

So #1, is a bullseye shot a bad thing? I like the concept (might be the old dart player in me lol). It is a shot of another fan blade, the rusty part is the top of the 2ish foot shaft. I like the contrast of the rust against the pastels of the annealing, it almost has a 3d feel to it for me but perhaps a revisit is in order to really accentuate it.

#2, ok, may I ask what crops you see? I've tried cropping it, I've tried shooting it tighter and I just can't seem to find the right balance in it's parts. I think a big part of it may very well be the angle it is shot at, not much runs straight so when I crop parts it looks (to me) to have a weird perspective that ruins it. I think this fan has potential as an HDR so I really want to get it right.

#3 I tried your crop, I ended up having to lighten it up a bit because the dark was too dark with this crop, I like both of them.

Sent from my iPod

Frequency · Apr 24, 2012

I like the colors of the first image.... however this brings sore to eye because major are in the image is OOF....

Having said that, i appreciate your developing a new style...please carry on

lauraxlovegood · Apr 24, 2012

I like the images. I think they're pretty neat

KenC · Apr 24, 2012

PixelRabbit said:
KenC said:

You have some interesting stuff out there. Here's my two cents on the images. #1 is kind of a bulls-eye shot which also suffers from the wheel being out of focus. #2 has some good elements but lacks focus. There are probably several good images in there if you get closer. #3 would work for me if you cropped a lot on the left and just a bit on the right and ended up with something close to a square composition.

Click to expand...

Thank you Ken!
You Sir have found my current nemesis, tackling composition of man made objects.
We have two greenhouses here, one skinned and one not. They sit there and taunt me. I know there are so many amazing shots in them but try as I might, I haven't quite figured it out... yet... but I will.

The biggest issue I have is everything is so busy, there always seems to be something in the way. I would love to get a straight on shot of the fan but there is always a crossbar going through it.
Hmmm. While I was typing that I had a thought, I have tried shooting from ground level perhaps it is time to get a different perspective? As much as I despise heights I'm going to take the ladder out and see what I see that will get me straight on with the fan. (duh moment lol)

So #1, is a bullseye shot a bad thing? I like the concept (might be the old dart player in me lol). It is a shot of another fan blade, the rusty part is the top of the 2ish foot shaft. I like the contrast of the rust against the pastels of the annealing, it almost has a 3d feel to it for me but perhaps a revisit is in order to really accentuate it.

#2, ok, may I ask what crops you see? I've tried cropping it, I've tried shooting it tighter and I just can't seem to find the right balance in it's parts. I think a big part of it may very well be the angle it is shot at, not much runs straight so when I crop parts it looks (to me) to have a weird perspective that ruins it. I think this fan has potential as an HDR so I really want to get it right.

#3 I tried your crop, I ended up having to lighten it up a bit because the dark was too dark with this crop, I like both of them.

The problem with a bulls-eye shot is that it is centered in both directions, usually not a very interesting composition (see Rule of Thirds, etc.). They sometimes work, e.g. if there are elements around the edges creating some asymmetry or uneven lighting. Re the second one, I'd go in close on the colorful areas and probably shoot them from an angle so they're not blocked as much by the bars. On the last one, that is better, at least IMO, but it's a little tilted, and it also appears more vertically centered - it looks like there is more space below the knob than in the first crop. I think it would be even better with some cropping at the bottom.

PixelRabbit · Apr 24, 2012

Thank you Laura and Frequency

Frequency, I felt like I was staying in my " comfort zone" with the wildlife and it was time to see what else I could play with!

KenC said:
The problem with a bulls-eye shot is that it is centered in both directions, usually not a very interesting composition (see Rule of Thirds, etc.). They sometimes work, e.g. if there are elements around the edges creating some asymmetry or uneven lighting. Re the second one, I'd go in close on the colorful areas and probably shoot them from an angle so they're not blocked as much by the bars. On the last one, that is better, at least IMO, but it's a little tilted, and it also appears more vertically centered - it looks like there is more space below the knob than in the first crop. I think it would be even better with some cropping at the bottom.

Thank you Ken, some great food for thought! I'm really looking forward to shooting in there again

Oops on the edit, I shall give it another go.

brianroe · Apr 24, 2012

I like them all. The first is a little bulls-eye, but I think it pulls it off. Number 2 is the best one. I think I would have cropped the 3rd one like this,
YMMV

PixelRabbit · Apr 25, 2012

Thank you Brian. I like your crop. I suppose the lesson here is sometimes there is more than one way to skin a cat

Joel_W · Apr 25, 2012

Judi, you're sure braver then I. You continuously venture out into different directions, while I tend to stay within my comfort zones.

Picture 1 sure grabbed by eye, but I felt it fell a little short with the wheel being out of focus. As others have alluded to, it would be that much stronger with it in focus. I really like the fact that you decided not to use the rule of 1/3, as the composition is so strong this way.

Picture 2 is interesting, as your composition forced me to look directly at the fan and it's mounting plate, which is the most interesting part of the picture. At 1st I thought that a crop would help, but now I think I like it the way you saw it, and photographed it. I would consider Lightening up the very top of the photo as it seems just a tad to dark.

I'm up in the air about picture 3. Just can't get comfortable with it.

That must be some size greenhouse you have. All I've ever had when I was into gardening was the window sills in our Florida room.

PixelRabbit · Apr 25, 2012

Hey Joel

thank you! Great feedback, I will take it with me when I shoot again, I have some ideas and am really looking forward revisiting these.
My Hubby leaves to go out west for work tomorrow night for a month so I will have lots of time on my hands and will need to keep busy lol
The greenhouses are very large, I will be planting in there soon and your passion for flowers is rubbing off on me a bit, I'm planning on putting some pretty bits in with the vegetables. Heck the thing is a huge light box I'd be silly not to!