Piling it on C&C (Sarcasm okay)

[squirrels]

I took a typical through the pilings shot after sunset with a long exposure in Feb. I've been revisiting it (again and again), hoping to find a crop that captures what was interesting about it to me. Today I think I got one maybe. Do these work? Is there no way to save a sows ear short of giving it to the dog?

Crop 1


Whole Thing



One day, when I fly back to Florida for a reshoot I'll just try for up close on the barnacles reflection and shadow instead and see how that comes out.

What would you have done?

 

[theraven]

I like the first one, I think I would like to see the end of it though, the light at the end.

Also, I don't know why, but I don't think it benefits from colour. Have you tried B&W?

 

[sm4him]

I also like the first one more, but I think the bit of color is what really makes it work, for me. It'd be interesting to see a B&W, but I suspect I wouldn't like it as much.
If it were mine, I think I'd be inclined to crop it a little more, and completely crop out the first band of color on the right side, so that it starts with black. As it is now, my eye is drawn--and held--to that nearest "bright" spot. I think if that right edge were black, it would help lead my eye all the way back through the lines. I probably didn't get enough coffee this morning to make that make any sense.

The second one just doesn't really evoke much of anything for me. Again, if it were mine, I *might* try cropping WAY in, maybe make it a portrait orientation, so that the only water and sky you see is that little bit at the far end. You might not have enough resolution to crop it that far though, I dunno.

 

[pgriz]

You have an implicit diagonal running through your first shot (the point the pilings enter the water). If you located this diagonal on the two opposite corners of a square crop, you could create a visually interesting image that would not give away too many clues as to what it actually is.

 

[HerkFE]

I liked the idea of the light at the end of the tunnel from the first poster so I played with the image a little. Then I noticed the cable or whatever it was hanging down.

I then noticed that was in your current crop as well and found when I cropped tight enought that it removed the cable I liked the image even more.

This is what I ended up with (forgive the small size)...

 

[Derrel]

The second shot is much more interesting to me. The first one is just some pilings, or so you say (!!!), shown in blackness...there is almost zero visual payoff. The second shot however, has some lovely bits of color, and gives us some reference, some vantage point, from which we can experience the underside of the pier with a frame of visual reference, which makes the viewing experience feel worthwhile. The smoothing of the water's surface due to the long exposure on the second shot, gives the photo a mysterious look, which the first picture totally lacks.

 

[squirrels]

Thanks so much you guys! I'll take another look and see what I can do tonight. Derrel, wait, they aren't pilings? And I was so excited about my pun title!