Finally getting to work on more images from my trip to Germany. I spent some time working on this one last night. Mostly trying to get the color balance where I liked it, getting the red just right and cloning out a lot of distractions in the reflections. I won't tell the connection, or the backstory on the wait to get this. I want to see if it works or not.

It works, have you considered rotating it say 180? Something bothers me about the direction it points, like it was going down hill.

I had not thought about rotating it...will look at it.

+1 @ orientation ... give a 360 spin to see if a different one falls in place somewhere else.

I did the rotate 180, I like it, but I think it is the more expected orientation. Not sure which I like better. I don't get the sense of looking UP at the reflection, more like looking down on it, making the reflection/refraction make less sense.

BTW, I did not like rotating it to portrait, 90CW or 90CCW...did not work.

Yep, I like this better and like you, I did not think a portrait would work.

I like this one a lot. If it was mine I'd print it large and hang it on a good wall! Then you could take turns rotating it to keep people guessing.

I think this is one where you are going to have to help your viewer MORE than you might otherwise think necessary. I get you're vision @ looking up vs. looking down ... BUT ... you already KNOW what the subject is. The rest of the world is trying to figure it out due to the creativity involved. btw.

Adding the inversion to it makes it a tougher image to perceive & enjoy, imo. You could rotate (non-90) and lose some of the negative space in the process to give it a bit of a twist if you like. BUT, I don't think the point @ looking up vs. looking down is going be realized by most viewers ... they'll remain enthralled by the kaleidoscope effect that you are playing with, the color contrast and the geometries involved ... all good stuff, but tossing on the additional upside down orientation (from the viewers perspective) I think pulls away from the power of the image.

IF the kaleidoscope effect wasn't in play ... then the more recognizable (for your viewer) form could be presented in the reverse orientation and not overburden the viewer.

I dig the "departure" from the norm @ orientation effort ... but you've already "SHREDDED" the norm very successfully. The orientation detracts from the power that you've already achieved. Of course, your vision, your call ... but that's my .02.

"Spiderman's New Car"

AuntiPode wrote:
I like this one a lot. If it was mine I'd print it large and hang it on a good wall! Then you could take turns rotating it to keep people guessing.

Love this idea! Get it printed at WHCC on a standout gator board and you can rotate it freely!

BTW, nice image Travis!

Greg

Hey Greg ... been a while.

AuntiPode wrote:
I like this one a lot. If it was mine I'd print it large and hang it on a good wall! Then you could take turns rotating it to keep people guessing.
Thanks Karen! Yeah, that would be fun. I think I am going to print it, maybe not large, as it will have to go in my office here at work, it won't be allowed on the walls at home...the boss doesn't like cars the way I do, and no matter what I tell her...this is still a picture of a car.

Kent, I do agree that the rotation helps it read a little better, I just had not considered it, and it has grown on me. Since I am the one who saw it as shot, that is what sticks in my head, but I can accept that it presents better with the rotation.

Travis Rhoads wrote: Since I am the one who saw it as shot, that is what sticks in my head

A fate we all suffer, time & time again.

Breaking out of that isn't always the easiest thing to do (nor is it always necessary), but I do feel that we have to ask ourselves (or our fellow FM'ers) if our viewer (others) will need more assistance than we require for own self ... since they didn't have the experience of the shot "etch" various things into their minds, as we did ours.

Of course ... it's your message that you want to convey to your viewer. So if your message is "upside down" well, then present it oriented to project that message. But if your message is "kaleidoscope", then the orientation becomes a detractor for me ... and we typically strive to minimize the detractors from our subject / message.

As always, S&P taste.

BTW ... just so it doesn't get "lost" in the verbage ... COOL SHOT, any which way you turn it.

Thanks Kent. I do like it rotated for a more compelling presentation. I might get this one done on metal, I think that could be cool.

Travis Rhoads wrote:
I might get this one done on metal, I think that could be cool.

Sounds cool.

Something bothered me about this rotation thing. If you were looking out a window, the car could be rotated either way, so why would it matter. Then it dawned on me. Its the tiles not the car that bothers us.

Look at the way the tiles run. Hold your hand over the car so you only see the tiles. In the top picture the tiles look like a vertical wall which I suspect they are. The perspective of diverging lines is tiny but detectable. In the other version the tiles appear to be a floor or roadway with the perspective leading from bottom to top. The car does not defy gravity in that version.

+1 @ converging lines give orientation to viewing perspective of "near to far" from where the image was shot/where we are looking from.

the reflective tiles are actually on a sloping ceiling...

here it is from a normal view point.