Towers in cloud

[Tony M]

Hi all,

I took this photo this morning, of the four towers clustered together in Madrid (continuing my "study" of these buildings ). I'm having difficulty doing my own critique of it and would appreciate others' views. On the one hand, it is quite eerie to see such tall buildings almost swallowed up by clouds; on the other, it would have been great to get some sunlight breaking through the clouds from behind me. (It was taken at dawn.) The clouds are just too monotonous.



Photo details: 1/6 sec at f5.6, focal length 10mm, ISO 100, Canon EF-S 10-22mm

[JPS]

Hi Tony,
I like this picture and certainly commend you being there at dawn to capture it, in the light you wanted.
IMHO I feel you should have got closer (as near to being directly under the buildings as possible). I presume this was not possible. I have wanted to do the same thing myself on many occasions, but am usually restricted by something or someone.
Did the Sun breakthrough at any time after this shot was taken? If so I would like to see that picture as well.

[epmi314]

I like it and agree a few other perspectives would be interesting. It's ominous.

[Tony M]

I could have approached the buildings more closely; however, I didn't get the opportunity to take many more, as the cloud quickly lifted slightly, exposing the buildings completely and losing the effect. You'll note the large aperture and slow shutter speed; that was because it was my first photo of the morning, I was still half asleep and hadn't the wit to increase the ISO! By the time I had adjusted it, the clouds were drifting upwards, leaving this as the most interesting photo.

The sun didn't break through at all. I took a few more photos but nothing very dramatic. One was a bit abstract, which I'll post in a separate thread shortly.

[Donald]

Tony

I'd endorse the idea of thinking about different perspectives if the same opportunity arises again. I think there's maybe too big a gap in the centre of the frame, between the pair on the left and the pair of the right. An angle that brought them closer together might have made it more powerful.

If you are able to do so, it's one of those shots that' suseful to set up before hand' i.e. you go and find the location from which you would want to take the shot. Then you wait for the right weather conditions. And when you get them you know exactly the location you want to go to. It speeds up the shoot on the day.

[Tony M]

You're quite right, Donald; I've read that advice in books too. But sometimes you just have to learn the hard way...

Thanks to you all for taking the time to comment.