Something ot talk about

[r-brian]

Since nothing has been submitted here for awhile, I thought I'd add something just for people have something to do.

This one is another one from the Blandford Church in Petersburg, VA.  I spent about 20 minutes there finishing a roll of film.  Nothing fancy, just killing time and film.  What do you think?



FED3b, J-12, yellow filter, TMax 100, Diafine

Brian

[sandeha]

I'd have gone in low ... that headstone against the bricks and grass would look good on its own.

[Don Day]

I have to agree with Sandeha. At this point, the background church and large expanse of wall compete with the headstone for interest.  How could you make it more dominant?  You could try some low, close shots, or perhaps a telephoto shot that creates compression between the headstone and the background, dropping out all other extraneous elements.  It's about looking for the angle and the relative size to create a strong composition.

Here's a similar example where I used a wide angle lens because I was pinched for room behind, but the resulting off-center, full frame view of the grave marker has a strong effect.  Telephoto was not appropriate because I would not have been able to isolate this unique marker.  I think your solitary marker has similar intrigue, and its tilt gives an interesting, sort of forced perspective.  Would you have a chance to go back sometime and try a low or telephoto approach?

[Don Day]

I'll bet there's another interesting photo if you approach the iron gate low and close enough to where it frames the front of the church beyond it (that is, if there is not another wall in the way).  Is the gate keeping God in or people out?

[connealy]

You have some nice texture and detail.
I think the composition could be made more powerful by greatly increasing the contrast.  As it is now the whole scene has an over-all gray look and the headstone, which I assume is your main interest, fades into the background.
     If you have Photoshop, pop up the Image/Adjustments/Brightness-Contrast box.  Move the contrast slider way over to about +40 and the Brightness slider can go the other way to about -8.  When I do that the lower right quadrant really lights up, and the upper and left sections are more deeply shadowed, though still retaining good detail.  The background is also rendered more as discrete blocks of tonality and exhibits more dimensionality.
     There are probably other equally as valid alterations which might be made to the image.  The test is whether any changes you make serve to better communicate your intent.  Why don't you try a couple variations, and then tell us what seems to work for you and what not.

[Julio1fer]

As you say, something to discuss. Thanks for animating us!

One of the hardest things in composition is spotting (or defining, or constructing) the dominant element or "point of attraction" while you are behind the camera. If you get it, it is easy to recognize in the photo. If you don't, you are left with a "near miss" from which you can improve.

In this image I cannot find that dominant element. It seems it should be the tombstone. If so it must be emphasized.  Just a crop of the upper half of the picture may help.

Many good suggestions were given above in order to look for ways to correct the photo. If you go with the suggestion of shooting the church through the gate against the sky, try a red filter.

Although tonalities and textures are good, it is hard for me to see how they contribute to transmitting emotions  in the picture. Tonalities, line, shapes, textures, etc should be aligned with the objective you planned in order to have a strong composition. If you look for texture, here it should be the smooth texture of the tombstone against the rougher one in the wall behind, for instance. If tonalities, the clear one of the tombstone against a darker one in the background.

If the loneliness of that tombstone is the point, then get closer and show vast spaces around.  

Just the fact that you are concentrating in a site and subject makes me very optimistic that you will come up with a WOW shortly.

Keep posting!

[r-brian]

Thanks all for the discussion.

To me, isolating the headstone against the wall would produce a 2 dimensional photo.  It becomes just a picture of the headstone.  What I was playing around with was directional lines created by the walls.   Positioning the walls were important.  Also, I like to strive for depth in my photos.  Must be the landscape photog in me.

connealy - I agree I made the shadows too light.  I have PSE3 and found the Highlight/Shadow control.  Great tool.  The original scan had very dark shadows to the point where the headstone was almost illuminated.  I think I need to go back towards the darker shadows.  Of course, what I see on my CRT screen at home is different than what I see on my LCD screen here at work.

Brian

[connealy]

Once I had downloaded the image and applied the additional contrast, I thought that it was a very effective composition, conveying a strong sense of place and mood.  In addition to the other things I mentioned above, I was particularly impressed with the change made in the lower left where the little flower-like objects really popped out into an interesting texture, still without competing for attention with the focal point to the right.