I took this shot with the the current Weekly Assignment "Doors" in mind. It is a door on an old train car. The train was behind a fence, so I couldn't walk to the right spot to get the perspective I wanted, and I'm having a hard time cropping it to something that I like.
I was wondering if anyone might have suggestions on how to improve this shot, perhaps with some additional cropping. I've included the whole thing, rather than the crops I was trying.
I think the crop is fine, playing on symmetries in the subject.
The level of contrast/processing is a matter of taste. To my eye, the image appears flat and a bit washed out.
I rotated the image slightly to correct the verticals.
A bit of adjustment to exposure, highlights and blacks, followed by aggressive curves work in LR.
High detail, low radius sharpening and slight clarity bump to bring out a bit more texture.
I think the image could be processed a variety of successful ways, and also lends itself to toning.
Good luck.
Scott
What appeals to me about this one is the symmetry in the pattern of trim and rivets around the door and how it contrasts with the diagonal shadow over the sign which will attract attention there and make it (for lack of anything more interesting) the focal point of the shot.
I'd keep it centered but crop above the arc and below the step to remove all the distracting detail on the bottom and sky gap on top, and perhaps straighten the perspective a bit and clone out any remaining gap in the upper right.
Then to guide the viewer via tonal gradient I suggest burning in only the outside of the car (not quite as much as Scott's edit) so the interior part where the focal point of the sign is found is slightly brighter. Not an extreme difference mind you, just enough of a tonal gradient to tell the viewer's subconscious to send the eyes to the area of greater contrast with the edges / background. A subtle "star in the spotlight" cause and effect.
Food For Thought For Next Time:
If that's the widest view you have the next time you are in a situation like that crop wider then move in for closer crops in camera. It will give you more options later when editing. When shooting we get tunnel vision on the center of the frame and miss stuff at the bottom like the coupler cut in half (it would have been a nice element of all of it was seen) and the gap at the top (which wouldn't have been as distracting if uniform on both sides).
I took a crack at an edit. I'm kind of torn between Scott & RustyBug's processing. All the texture that comes out in the darker one is interesting, but it was maybe a bit dark for my taste, so I ended up not going quite that far. I do like seeing the pattern on both sides of the door, so I went with a crop more like what cgardner suggested, and made a rough attempt at leaving everything inside the frame of the door a bit lighter.
I think I like every one of these is an improvement over what I originally posted.
You're definitely right about the tunnel vision on the door. I was sticking my lens through the bars of a fence, and got lazy. I believe that was as wide as I could go on that lens, but I probably should have tried to move a little bit more. In retrospect, I really wish I got the coupler and a little more below the step. Definitely something to try and keep in mind for the future.
I like the subject matter, but I believe the versions posted by Scott and Kent are both "better" to my eye for the simple fact that there is more contrast. Both of your versions are pretty flat, but I prefer your original post to your edit. The edit just sort of lies there, with nothing to draw my eye into the picture. Kents version clearly shows the opening of the door and depth of the doorway.
