Marlow Reach

[ChrisH]

This was taken late yesterday afternoon and is typical of the light we experience on the river at this time of year. In addition to the clouds in the picture there was a very black cloud overhead leaving just Marlow Bridge and adjoining buildings in strong sunlight.

I happen to like the vastness of the River Thames, however this might be too much and need reducing. What do others think and any suggestions welcomed.



Aperture: f/8.0 Shutter Speed: 1/320 ISO: 100

[Donald]

I was sure it needed a litle counter-clockwise rotation - but it doesn't. Not quite sure what was throwing my senses off on that one.

I'd want to try a lose those two ducks.

I think this image is very much about the vastness of the river and to crop it in would take away a lot of the impact, in my opinion.

The light on the buildings is great and that sky is wonderful. Love it.

[darknight]

hi chris, i think for me it is a bit much, would like to see a crop of about half the water, theres something i cant quite put my finger on the whole image it seems too..........balanced? left and right, might need a little straighten up too?

[Geoff F]

I suppose you could try a slight crop of the sides and bottom. Just remove that very dark bird and concentrate fractionally more on the bridge. Not sure if it would give any real benefits though.

Maybe the church spire is giving a slight optical twist to the scene. The waterline is certainly level.

[FrankMi]

It might be the base of some of the clouds, but it does give the feeling that it is not level. I have often wondered what matters most - if the image looks level but isn't or if the image looks off-level but isn't? Should we correct an image to look right - or to be right?

If it were archetecture, it would be set to look right, for example, the Parthenon in Athens is not mathematically level but has refinements introduced to counter unwanted optical illusions.

[Donald]

........for example, the Parthenon in Athens is not mathematically level but has refinements introduced to counter unwanted optical illusions.

I never knew that. Thanks, Frank.

[FrankMi]

I never knew that. Thanks, Frank.

If you are interested in what kinds of refinements were made and why, there is a good writeup here: http://naffgap.hubpages.com/hub/The-...-the-Parthenon

One thing I learned when I visited the Parthenon Museum in Athens is that it was well known at the time that strong earthquakes were a relatively frequent occurrence and yet, based on the design of the structure; it has withstood earthquakes for about two and a half thousand years. These folks knew how to build massive structures that could withstand the ravages of time!

Sorry Chris! Didn't mean to get your thread off-track!

[Nicola]

it is a good picture,
but IMHO, I think you have to choose. more water or more sky. the bridge is too centered for me...
ciao
Nicola

[Mike Buckley]

I didn't see any tilt to the image upon immediately reviewing it and I still don't see it after studying it. I like that the bridge is centered. I agree with Donald to trash the ducks, as they interrupt the interesting pattern of waves.

[Ken Curtis]

Nice image Christopher. I like the lighting on the bridge.

I was thinking if you want to emphasize the sky, then perhaps cropping off much of the water would help.

Conversely, if you want to show the vastness of the water, crop off the sky half way between the top of the steeple and the top of the image. I agree that removing the ducks would help.

[ChrisH]

Sorry not have responded before to thank you for all your comments. The question of levels has been raised before on other images of the same scene - I believe the bridge to be level and often use the top of the two towers as a check. I wonder whether the church spire is the problem - it wouldn't be the first time as its predecessor collapsed and fell into the river.

I have finished the editing and have left it very much as it was apart from removing the Ducks as suggested by Donald and others. Nicola was concerned about the central position of the bridge, which I looked at but decided I liked where it was.