Archive 2014 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Kris Sproul
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

A few months back, I posted this photo of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge here:
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1247394

Last night, I returned to the same area, hoping for some color in the sky. The sky was almost completely clear, but we've had some nice pink skies (even when clear) at sunset lately, so I thought I'd give it a shot. As it turned out, there was very little color in this direction. However, I decided to walk down the beach a half mile or so to get a different composition from last time (see the photo linked above, with the pilings in the foreground). Here's what I ended up with.

This is my standard 3:2 aspect ratio with just a little cropping:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/ksproul/Miscellaneous/5582-3_1024_3x2.jpg

And here's a version cropped to 2:1:
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b73/ksproul/Miscellaneous/5582-3_1024_2x1.jpg

I've been thinking about more panoramic aspect ratios lately, and I thought this shot would be a good candidate. So a few questions:

1. Which aspect ratio do you prefer of the two shots here, the 3:2 or the 2:1?

2. Which shot do you prefer overall, this one or the older one with the pilings linked above?

3. Do you think it hurts the composition that the bridge is cut off on the right side? There was a bright street light at a boat ramp there that I didn't want to include in the shot, so I cropped it a bit to the left of the light.

Of course, any other comments or criticism are welcome. Thanks for looking!

Kris

Jan 26, 2014 at 07:52 PM

Peterk78
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Chris,

I prefer the first/original crop. While the foreground is quite prominent, it gives the eye more room to move through the image. Funny that the bridge seems smaller in the second crop, even though it's the same size.

Peter

Jan 26, 2014 at 11:35 PM

docsmiles17
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Well, I like the pilings of the prior shot but the bridge better in this shot. It would have been great to see the entire bridge. Can you edit the bright light you are speaking of?

I like the 2:1 crop here

….Sounds like you are quite in tune with critiquing your own work which is hard to do and nice to hear

Great location

Jan 26, 2014 at 11:57 PM

jemark
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

I like version two better than one.
I like version with pilings better than either. More interesting, more color, tells more of a story, I can almost imagine a boat tied up there in the past.

Have you considered cropping off the left side of the above, image to balance the crop of the right? Maybe on a line somewhere between those two rocks lower left corner? I am not sure the left two inches add to the photograph.
Just a thought.

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:06 AM

JimFox
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Hey Kris,

Nice work here with this shot. I think both versions work, as I went back and forth, they both tickled my fancy for different reasons.

Jim

Jan 27, 2014 at 04:40 AM

hrossm
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

I'll go with version one but (dumb question warning!) could you have got a bit to the left to draw the rock a little more into the shot?

Jan 27, 2014 at 10:50 AM

Peterk78
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Totally missed the original shot with pilings last night - I like the pilings shot the best of the three, then the 3/2 ratio.

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:27 PM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

It's so sharp! I really like the 2:1 crop. It's just simple, keeping all desired elements for the comp.
Best,
Fred

Jan 27, 2014 at 12:32 PM

Kris Sproul
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Tacoma Narrows Twilight #2

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback. To answer a few specific points:

docsmiles17 wrote:
Well, I like the pilings of the prior shot but the bridge better in this shot. It would have been great to see the entire bridge. Can you edit the bright light you are speaking of?

….Sounds like you are quite in tune with critiquing your own work which is hard to do and nice to hear

I tried editing out the bright light, but the light expanded so much into the surrounding area that it was very difficult to do it well. In the end, it seemed much cleaner to just crop it out. I do have a few earlier shots that include the whole bridge before the close streetlight turned on, but I didn't like those shots nearly as much as the twilight ones.

Thanks for your feedback and comments on critiquing my own work. I'm always looking to improve, and I really respect the opinions given on this forum, which is filled with amazing photographers.

jemark wrote:
Have you considered cropping off the left side of the above, image to balance the crop of the right? Maybe on a line somewhere between those two rocks lower left corner? I am not sure the left two inches add to the photograph.
Just a thought.

Thanks for the ideas. I did consider cropping it a bit more on the left, but I didn't want to chop off any of the bridge on the left side or any of the left rock. I may play around with the crop a bit more, but in general, I was pretty happy with how that side came out. I appreciate the thought though!

hrossm wrote:
I'll go with version one but (dumb question warning!) could you have got a bit to the left to draw the rock a little more into the shot?

I moved around a lot when taking these shots, so I don't recall if I could've moved further to the left at that particular point, depending on how close the water was. However, if I could have, it would've moved the shoreline itself too far to the right, bringing it more toward the center of the photo, which wasn't really what I was going for. I'll keep that thought in mind the next time I'm at this location though, since it sounds like a couple of you don't really like the extra space to the left of the bridge. Thanks!

Fred Miranda wrote:
It's so sharp! I really like the 2:1 crop. It's just simple, keeping all desired elements for the comp.
Best,
Fred

Thanks, Fred! This was actually the first shot I tried focus stacking on. I'm going for shots that I can use to do large fine art prints from, so having sharpness from front to back is important to me. I only combined two shots for this one, but I really did help keep full sharpness in both the foreground rocks and the bridge. I appreciate your comments!

Kris

Jan 27, 2014 at 10:52 PM


FM Forums \| Landscape Photographer \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.