Carillon in Canberra x 3

[jstp]

Hi again,

This is one of the most photographed places in Canberra. I have joined in, which given that I live in Canberra was probably unavoidable, and present 3 different processed images, the original a B&W and a tone mapped. The B&W and tone mapping being my two fave past times at the moment. Feedback is of course welcome and appreciated.

Cheers

J

[Donald]

Jason - I'm interested in your choice of composition and:

1. why you decided to go for having the subject dead centre and,
2. why have so much on either side of it? There's a lot of space to the right and to the left of it

I'm not so sure that that works as well as a version that was cropped on each side. But I do not know what your thinking was nor what you wanted to achieve, so could be totally wrong.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I was thinking the same thing last night when I looked at it (you only had one photo posted then). I'm thinking you were trying to capture the reflection in the water as well but I'm thinking a view with say Parliament House behind it would suit a more panoramic view - or the morning rowers going past to add a bit of interest (can't remember whether they're only out in winter or not). Although as Donald mentions, it might help if we know what your vision was.

Regarding the treatments, either the second or third work for me. You're getting better at bringing out the details of the clouds without overcooking them - they look great to me

[Geoff F]

I'm not really sure how else I would crop this photo.

Maybe quite a lot tighter to the main structure, possibly even try a 4 x 5 ratio. But that excludes quite a bit of landscape which 'puts the scene into context'.

Otherwise, there are elements on both sides which I would want to retain.

How about crop the left to just show the distant hills, which would also remove whatever it is that is in the bottom left corner. Then crop the right side about the middle of the bridge?

That still leaves the main structure centrally; but possibly that wouldn't matter if it 'increased in importance' due to removing some of the extreme edge elements.

I'm not really sure either way. Perhaps a case for doing several versions.

And of the three alternative edited versions, I much prefer the first. Although the second might work well with a crop.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Jason,

At first I convinced myself this wasn't level - except it is, checking both water 'horizon' and the building vs reflection - so it must be an illusion - or I need to sit straight in my chair

Regarding cropping, my choice would be to loose the square buildings and bridge on the right entirely. That leaves the carillion on the right third (almost) and the view through the gap in the trees to the mountains gives depth on left. Ideally it would need to be presented bigger and sharper (I was using browser zoom to experiment and it was obviously soft - because browser zoom is).

With a plain foreground like this, your little 'stamp in the corner' is very distracting - sorry, it should go - as Geoff says.

Hope that helps,

[jstp]

Thanks for the feedback guys. To tell you the truth there was not any real thought behind the photo, I was out taking some photos of benches that are on the lake for and idea I tried previously but wanted to revisit. This photo was one that I took just as I was leaving, mainly because of the cloud cover and I seem to always be thinking of what I could do to enhance the feel of them. I have tried a number of different crops and have to agree with Dave, cropping out the right seems to work the best, cropping onto the Carillon itself leaves the image too soft. Thanks again for your thoughts and ideas, it all helps me to get a better feel and understanding for the photos I am taking.

Cheers

J