Project 52 - First Quarter - by Nicola

[Nicola]

It's the second project 52 for me, and my goals are mostly the same of the last edition..
First of all, improve framing, focusing (and DoF) and exposure, to reduce PP.
And that's not an easy work
Eventually, to shot pictures every week, and it will be the harder task for me.

I hope many of you will comment and criticize my pictures, and I thank you all for that.
I also hope that many of you will follow the 2015 Project 52 - Guidelines, FAQ and Index

[Nicola]

Ok, I begin with a picture taken at sunset, quite a common sunset picture

I cropped in PP the bottom and left portion of the image, because I think it was too much of reddish rocks in the foreground.
Do you think it's quite balanced? Does it work?
Thanks

Nicola

[Geoff F]

I agree with the bottom crop, Nicola, but I'm not sure about the left side without seeing the original. Maybe show a fraction more on the left and lose some from the right? But that reduces the amount of yellow on the horizon.

Alternatively show a fraction more on the left and more sky to balance a larger size?

But I wouldn't want to make any substantial changes to the current scene.

[dem]

The rock/sea/sky are each taking about a third of the image and it is hard to tell what the main subject is.

While the composition and colours are nice and visually pleasing, I think to make this shot pop we need a kid in the left bottom corner watching the sunset.

The yellow on the right makes me want to see more of the sea and the sky beyond the edge of the image. I guess, if there is no sun in the sunset shot, we need another strong focal point.

EDIT: how about removing the left part of the shot to have a square crop? This will emphasise the wave and lead the eye to the remote rock on the left.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Nicola I like the image and PP . I would like to see some more on the left side too if possible . I like the rock formations and the movement of water.

[Shadowman]

Nicola,

Nice start to your project. I think there is just enough rocks jutting out to give a good set of leading lines.

[FrankMi]

Hi Nicola, although the image is excellent and there is sufficient detail, my feeling is that the real strength is in the colours, patterns, and lines of the composition.

It is the attributes that makes one abstract so much more powerful than another. Add to that the fact that it is a beautifully natural scene and you have a winning composition.

[Nicola]

Thanks a lot for the comments and appreciations!

@ Geoff and Binnur
I've very few room at the left side, a road with its bridge will appear suddenly...

@Dem
I agree, someone in the left bottom corner will help a lot the composition, maybe a Fisher is better than a kid... Don't know about square crop, I'll try this evening, and at last, I didn't get more yellow on the right, because my concern was to avoid burned areas, and to keep a continous (more or less) line of rock on the left

[Nicola]

I'm not able to find the best solution about week 1 picture, even this "pan-crop" could work...

[Nicola]

I'm still on the matter,
I'm scouting location near home to catch some sunset or twilight shots. Last week captures follow. Quite prolific way out I had, but none of the pictures shines on the others. I must work more on framing every shot I take, even if doing so I'll get less pictures. I also felt the need of a wider lens...
C&c always welcome!
Thanks

Nicola

[Geoff F]

Focus and exposure are good, Nicola.

Regarding composition; with #1 I think I would like to either see more or less of the object in the bottom left corner area. Maybe try a slight crop from top and left side instead of cloning it? Or a bit of both.

#2 works OK. Personally, I'm never keen on long exposures of moving water but a lot of people like this style.

#3 should be perfect, but I'm a little confused over the angle of those window verticals etc compared with the rest of the scene.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured week #2 set.

[mknittle]

Nice second set, I like #1 best followed by #2 then #1 Nice effort Nicola

[Nicola]

Thanks Mark, John and Geoff! Even if I don't understand the Mark's rating..
Geoff, I agree, the rock (that's it) in the bottom left corner on #1 is distracting, but cloning it out will create a too big empty area. I recognize right now that the line of the window in the #3 leads the eye outside the frame, is this what you mean with "confused"?
Thanks a lot!
Nicola

[Nicola]

cropped one, without cloning

[mknittle]

Thanks Mark, John and Geoff! Even if I don't understand the Mark's rating..
Geoff, I agree, the rock (that's it) in the bottom left corner on #1 is distracting, but cloning it out will create a too big empty area. I recognize right now that the line of the window in the #3 leads the eye outside the frame, is this what you mean with "confused"?
Thanks a lot!
Nicola

OOps meant #3 #2 #1

[Geoff F]

That edit looks better to me, Nicola.

With #3 the building on the left has the verticals (eg drainpipe) nicely vertical below the balcony; but above that dividing line the vertical lines are seriously leaning inwards towards the top.

I'm not sure what is happening here but it does appear strange to me.

[Nicola]

That edit looks better to me, Nicola.

With #3 the building on the left has the verticals (eg drainpipe) nicely vertical below the balcony; but above that dividing line the vertical lines are seriously leaning inwards towards the top.

I'm not sure what is happening here but it does appear strange to me.

Actually, that building has the wall below the balcony sloping to increase the base of the house. The wall above the balcony is vertical. So I think what you fell strange is just the optical effect of the glass that makes the building leaning to the center of the frame.

this is after a quick correction of the vertical perspective

[Nicola]

Hi all, still twilight this week
I've a couple of question this time.
The rocks on the right-top, have too low or too much details? fill in light or silouette?



for the one below I think a cut is needed at bottom. What do you think? where you'd like to cut?



as always C&C are welcome!

thanks!

N

[FrankMi]

Hi Nicola, detail draws the eye so the lower right works well for me as a starting point in the first image.

With the water lacking in detail, my view is drawn out along the pier but the pier detail seems to go soft the further out you go? My eye then goes along the horizon to the right and as this is both sharp and both the sky colour and rocks get larger closer to the frame my vision is taken out of image at that point with only darkness to lead it back to the lower right.

I'd experiment with this and possibly crop the larger part of the top right rock and leave the nub of rock in the image. That would also leave the pat back to the base of the pier much brighter and easier to follow down to the lower right. It would also increase the awareness of the ship on the horizon that might not be noticed on the first pass.

Any time you can create a circular path for the eye to follow, the viewer will usually follow that path multiple times, absorbing more detail with each pass.

In the second image, the pier and the land leads the eye to the top right side of the image and potentially out of the scene looking for the sun. It also has an advantage over the first for those that typically read from left to right and start their vision on a scene on the left. You might experiment with the first image and flip the scene horizontally to see if it works any better for you.

Both of these scenes have a lot of potential for alternate viewpoints that is well worth exploring at shooting time.