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Thread: A question of composition

  1. #1
    Tony M's Avatar
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    A question of composition

    Hi all,

    I took the photo below just after dawn in Madrid. I liked it because the statue of the woman was shielding her eyes, just as the rising sun was falling on them. Back at home I thought more about the composition, and how it could be improved. So I did two crops, also shown below. One has the statue in the middle, and the other observes the rule of thirds and places it on the left side. I'd be interested to know people's thoughts on these, or any other crop that produces an interesting image.

    A question of composition

    A question of composition

    A question of composition

  2. #2
    Moderator Donald's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    I think a building like that is all about symmetry. And I think your composition of this needs to reflect that. Which is why the frist crop is, I think, a much stronger image.

    It's one of those cases where it's good to know about the rule-of-thirds and then ignore it.

  3. #3
    MrB's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    Tony, I agree with Donald and, as the distractions from your intention are the signs at the top, I wondered if you had considered a less severe crop to include more of the symmetry of the building -

    A question of composition

    Philip

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    JPS's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    Hi Tony,
    lots of interesting points to be taken into consideration with this picture.
    Firstly I must say I love the way you have caught the shadow on 'her' eyes, well thought out and executed. Well done.

    Philip, IMO has the crop spot on; symmetrical to the point where the symmetry could only be made better if it was PP'd, with half the frame copied then pasted and flipped, which I don't advise. I like Philip's crop, but must congratulate you on getting a great shot in the first place.

  5. #5
    FrankMi's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    Well done Tony! This is a great example of why you don't want any text (or watermark?) in an image. There is a dramatic improvement in the scene the moment the eye isn't grabbed by the text and is free to explore all that the image has to offer. Lovely capture!

  6. #6
    Moderator Dave Humphries's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    Hi Tony,

    Good shot, I agree about the symmetry over-ruling the thirds and no text.

    I find Philip's crop, with more synnetrical lines leading the eye to the statue the best of the bunch.

    I'd consider cloning out the lamps though; their shape breaks up the sweeping arc.

    Cheers,

  7. #7
    Markvetnz's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    No 1 and No 3 for me. I don't mind the text because it adds to the symmetry. I think the blue sky also adds something.

  8. #8
    Tony M's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    Thanks all for your comments; they were very helpful. I also thought that placing the statue in the horizontal centre was the better option. The suggestion to use a more square crop is also a good one. I may well pass by another day and try to take a more symmetric photo and compose it more closely to what I want so that I don't lose so many pixels in the crop.

    Tony

  9. #9
    PBelarge's Avatar
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    Re: A question of composition

    I would not mind seeing this in b$w...

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