(And don't say "throw it away" - well, actually you can, that kind of feedback is valuable too.)
I can think of two or three ways of cropping it that might "improve" it, but I was wondering what the more experienced hands thought. I'm after thoughts on how to improve it as it stands (i.e. cropping or other kinds of post-processing), but also what stops it being better (i.e. how I can simply take something similar in the future, but better).
I realise the tram powerlines and line of street lamps are rather distracting, leading the eye away from the background. I just couldn't get a clear line onto the wooded hill and radio mast, I was on my knees already. I have a similar one with the horizon more on the 1/3rd line, but in that one there are a lot of cars and so forth in the bottom third, and I find the traffic even more distracting.
If it is was me, I would have binned it. Why? There is no real interest here for me, however you crop or process it, it is still just a traffic light and street lamp. Sorry
I'm sort of with @jase_h there isn't really a point of focus. It could work if you put in some leg-work in photoshop and removed the foreground. Would certainly be possible, but would be time consuming to make sure it blends right.
I have the same problem with a lot of my landscapes. I live in a built up area and find it difficult to shoot past the houses and street lamps.
@edie I agree. It's the overhead cables that are the problem. I'll speak to the city and see if they'd mind taking them down for me :D Only for the day... :-P No, I'm not married to it in any way. I was just curious if anyone could come up with any ideas.
@thisisthefox As I mentioned, I like the background. The sky, and the hill and mast dark against it. I knew when I took it that those cables were going to be in the way, but I hardly ever throw anything away in camera, because I want to see what it really looks like at a decent size.
@amyamoeba There's always something in the way :( I'm sure city planners do it deliberately.
@Cheesebiscuit Well, before I threw it away, I'd see if there's another way of telling a story with this shot. What makes the wires so annoying is that they distract from the colorful sky. So let's eliminate the colorful sky. Turn this into a black and white, and adjust the contrast such that the hill is a bit darker. (Be careful, you still want it lighter than the stoplight, or folks will wonder where that round light came from.) Toss in a sepia filter to eliminate the silvery contrast from the straight b&w conversion. Play with your levels a bit on the sky to retain the cloud contrast.
Check it out in greyscale or b&w to see if you can get something out of it. Work on the contrasts. It's not going to be easy, though. Maybe you should even try to go back and re-compose the shot?
@Cheesebiscuit Hi! I had a play with it... cropped it all over the place but that way you missed the sky which is so pretty. My daughter came over and her first reaction was to turn it black & white with a filter which made the shades in the sky more noticeable. (Who taught her these things?!) Other thing I quite liked was giving it a lomo effect which made the black lines almost glow and gave it a very urban feel.
Guess my reaction is that if it's a shot that you like, or it reminds you of a nice moment then keep it and make it your own.
And btw welcome to 365! :)
@cookie123 I could go back easily, it's somewhere I pass through every day, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to get a way through those wires and still get some idea of landscape. I might try standing in the middle of the road to give me a different viewpoint, I suppose (I think there's a pedestrian crossing just there somewhere so I wouldn't be in too much danger...
And no, the photo doesn't mean anything. I'm just using it as a means of learning. If people can give me ideas I can then try to see how they mentally got from A to B (if you see what I mean).
@Cheesebiscuit If you're going back I'd certainly find a different spot, it will just give you more options.... low down? High up? Loved the sky best of all but felt that the hill, and the shape of the trees bottom left set it all off very nicely. Got any large wire cutters.....?!
If it was the only photo I had to work with that day, I wouldn't feel obligated to post it as is. I would definitely clone out the wires, lights, poles and the tower on top of the mountain. I would then play around with it in color to bring out the sky more, in b/w to see what might happen to the contrast then and in sepia which might have an interesting effect as well. After deciding which I like the best (which in my head might be the sepia with a very small vignette around the edge to give it a vintage feel), I'd frame it and post it. But if nothing looked good, I'd leave it as is and run it through the "hypnotic effect" in Ribbet and have a good laugh.
@filsie65 I'm not sure if I can get higher up, and I was on my knees for this one already! The road bends away and ismore built up in both directions and that view of the mountain just can't be seen apart from anywhere except a short stretch of road. Anyway, you bring the ladder, I'll bring the wire cutters ;-)
@olivetreeann You'd cut out the towers? :-o I like them! :-D I tend to like that kind of thing when I do landscapes - a lot of "natural" with something man-made in it to "spoil" it.
@Cheesebiscuit Well, you asked what "I" would do- but I realize there are many ways to process it. I like your idea/approach too- leaving one thing in to "spoil" it. I enjoy seeing the different ways people can interpret something- each putting a bit of themselves into the way the shot turns out. I see it a bit more abstract- but that's the beauty of any kind of art. There are as many ways to photograph something as there are photographers!
@Cheesebiscuit If you're going to take something similar in the future, my advice would be to wait a few minutes longer to take the picture. Wait for the deep reds and blues to really build, make the background so beautiful that you don't even notice the lines. You could also get further back with a longer lens and the widest aperture possible. Focus on the background and it'll blur the lines. I'm not saying it will work, but it'll change it up and get you started on improvement
@wanderographer Thank you. Yeah, I was under a bit of time pressure - I was aware that the light was going, it was cold, and my bus was coming, but you're right, if I'd waited I might have got a better photo.
My memory says I was already at maximum zoom, but looking at the exif that's not so. I don't know if I could have got much further back and still seen that scene though, because of the way the road is. It's in a somewhat built up area, on a steep hill, and only at various places can you get a glimpse across to the mountain.
Thank you very much for the advice though, it's really just what I was looking for. I'll see what I can do sometime about putting it into practice and will put the results up :)
Initially I didn't, but as I was about to take the photo the light changed to green and I thought "Whoa. Hold on. Just wait a little and it will go red, that will be better." If it hadn't changed, or if I'd been a second later and hadn't noticed it change, I wouldn't have thought about it, so it was at least partly luck :)
@Cheesebiscuit Believe it or not, you can create an interesting Rothko-esque image in Photoshop using your image. With motion blur and saturation you can turn almost anything into an interesting abstract.
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I have the same problem with a lot of my landscapes. I live in a built up area and find it difficult to shoot past the houses and street lamps.
@thisisthefox As I mentioned, I like the background. The sky, and the hill and mast dark against it. I knew when I took it that those cables were going to be in the way, but I hardly ever throw anything away in camera, because I want to see what it really looks like at a decent size.
@amyamoeba There's always something in the way :( I'm sure city planners do it deliberately.
Guess my reaction is that if it's a shot that you like, or it reminds you of a nice moment then keep it and make it your own.
And btw welcome to 365! :)
@cookie123 I could go back easily, it's somewhere I pass through every day, but I spent quite a bit of time trying to get a way through those wires and still get some idea of landscape. I might try standing in the middle of the road to give me a different viewpoint, I suppose (I think there's a pedestrian crossing just there somewhere so I wouldn't be in too much danger...
@olivetreeann You'd cut out the towers? :-o I like them! :-D I tend to like that kind of thing when I do landscapes - a lot of "natural" with something man-made in it to "spoil" it.
My memory says I was already at maximum zoom, but looking at the exif that's not so. I don't know if I could have got much further back and still seen that scene though, because of the way the road is. It's in a somewhat built up area, on a steep hill, and only at various places can you get a glimpse across to the mountain.
Thank you very much for the advice though, it's really just what I was looking for. I'll see what I can do sometime about putting it into practice and will put the results up :)
Initially I didn't, but as I was about to take the photo the light changed to green and I thought "Whoa. Hold on. Just wait a little and it will go red, that will be better." If it hadn't changed, or if I'd been a second later and hadn't noticed it change, I wouldn't have thought about it, so it was at least partly luck :)