Archive 2012 · Monte Carlo

astronomer
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Monte Carlo

Hello,

I've recently started following this forum and I enjoy the discussion and feedback. This is my first request for feedback. I keep looking at this image I took in Monte Carlo while on holiday last summer and keep trying to decide if it works. I'd appreciate any C&C.

http://paulevans.smugmug.com/Other/Travel/i-MZMg4wX/0/M/IMG3516-M.jpg

Thanks,

Paul

Jan 01, 2012 at 09:00 PM

sbeme

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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Monte Carlo

Great. Hope you like it here.
The shot works and is a bit overwhelming at the same time.
To me, the prominent feature is the repetitive horizontal lines.
Its a busy scene and I wish the cruise boat wasnt taking up as much horizontal real estate, but that's just me.
I think the issue here, is how to get more separation of some of the elements for greater contrast and depth. What do you want this to be about? The cruise ship with a background? The color play? The repetitive structural elements?
Options would include some darkening all but the ship for greater depth. You might also consider BW conversion and play with color filter sliders to provide more separation of the yellows, oranges and reds for more background depth and some increased brightness of the ship.
Overall, I like this.

Scott

Jan 02, 2012 at 07:34 AM

cgardner
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Monte Carlo

It's a nice study in patterns but what I found problematical in your original crop was the conflicting horizontal stratification of the ship and warm toned older seafront buildings and the contrasting blue awnings and strong vertical line of the more modern high-rise in the background. I also found that the tonality was rather flat and bland due to the lighting conditions.

I started by perking up the contrast a bit with the middle slider in levels then played around with the crop until I arrived at this which I find better isolates the ship in the foreground and similar patterns in the background, eliminating most of the building in the background that was pulling my eye up and out off the focal point. I made a few other minor tweeks such as reducing saturation of the red life boat so it wouldn't distract...

http://super.nova.org/EDITS/Ship.jpg

Jan 02, 2012 at 07:42 AM

Bob Jarman
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Monte Carlo

Welcome to FM!

I'm in agreement with Scott and Chuck but even with Chuck's rework, I find my eye drawn to the building near center - by the strong vertical arches and greatest area of contrast in the entire image. Assuming your intent is to focus on the cruise ship juxtaposed the background, you might blur and desaturate the background to add separation. In other words, I see the image as one dimensional - a touch of depth would, IMO, help.

Regards,

Bob

Jan 02, 2012 at 08:06 AM

astronomer
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Monte Carlo

Scott, Chuck, and Bob:

Thank you very much for the comments. To Scott's point, to me this photograph is mostly about pattern - and I probably should of said that in my initial comments. For example, I purposefully used as much telephoto as I had available at the time to create a compression effect between the various elements. I also like how the various patterns between the ship and city mirror each other (as they are all built to a human scale).

If seeking deeping meaning (and this might be a bit of a stretch

), I also like a subject matter juxtaposition between the historical and somewhat exclusive identity of the city and the modern cruise ship. Every day multiple cruise ships dump thousands of people into the city, many of which seek to catch a glimpse of the rich and famous -- and it seems that at least some of the rich and famous make an effort to be seen.

Chuck - excellent points and suggestions -- especially the ideas about colour and tone. Also, the vertical impact of the high-rise really jumps out at me once it was pointed out.

I think I have to decide if this is going to be mostly about a study in pattern or if I'm going to focus on creating an image about specific subjects (i.e. the ship and the central building). What I like most about this image is the former. With that in mind, I will play with this by using a lesser crop than Chuck but work the colours/tone in a similar fashion.

Paul

Jan 02, 2012 at 11:22 AM

cgardner
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Monte Carlo

Here's another slightly different crop to consider more in sync with your comment about juxtaposition of the wanna-be rich visiting the conspicuously rich....

http://super.nova.org/EDITS/Ship2.jpg

Cropping out more of the background causes the leading edge of the ship to more clearly divide the frame diagonally like a ying/yang symbol implying opposites in balance with each other.

Jan 02, 2012 at 11:41 AM


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