Tannery

peter27 · Jun 12, 2013

This building was originally located at Rhayader in Powys, Mid Wales. Nowadays it can be seen at The Museum of Welsh Life, near Cardiff.

View attachment 47465

Pentax K1000
Kodak 400 (at 320)
50mm
F4, 1/30

sashbar · Jun 12, 2013

I am not a big enthusiast of blurred forefronts to be honest. I get the idea, but to make it work here you cut some of the house off which does not look natural. And compositionally it still does not work to me. What is the focal point ? Could be the door, but compositionally it is positioned randomly. Then we do not know how big this house is because some part of it is hidden. I would have either show the whole house or concentrate on some detail and then go for a much closed shot. I think you need to decide what is so special about this setting. To me it is the texture - the walls, the stones, the roof - it all looks great: excellent organised texture and clean colors. The forefront makes it all messy. This "path" that is supposed to lead you from the foreground to the house does not work to me because it leads you into the post, the forefront is blurred and dark and a bit untidy. And the railing is a distraction. So I would go for a closer shot, find a focal point, emphasise on the beautiful texture/structure and compose accordingly. Probably a shot from under the rail with a wide lense and max DoF would worth a try. I am not sure my aproach would work better that that, it's my 2p anyway.

peter27 · Jun 16, 2013

sashbar said:
I am not a big enthusiast of blurred forefronts to be honest. I get the idea, but to make it work here you cut some of the house off which does not look natural. And compositionally it still does not work to me. What is the focal point ? Could be the door, but compositionally it is positioned randomly. Then we do not know how big this house is because some part of it is hidden. I would have either show the whole house or concentrate on some detail and then go for a much closed shot. I think you need to decide what is so special about this setting. To me it is the texture - the walls, the stones, the roof - it all looks great: excellent organised texture and clean colors. The forefront makes it all messy. This "path" that is supposed to lead you from the foreground to the house does not work to me because it leads you into the post, the forefront is blurred and dark and a bit untidy. And the railing is a distraction. So I would go for a closer shot, find a focal point, emphasise on the beautiful texture/structure and compose accordingly. Probably a shot from under the rail with a wide lense and max DoF would worth a try. I am not sure my aproach would work better that that, it's my 2p anyway.

Sorry, I seem to have missed your reply. Thank you very much for taking the time to give such a detailed response. Very much appreciated and lots to mull over.