htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
The Marin headlands lie across the Golden Gate from San Francisco. In the 20th century, the military used the headlands for defensive emplacements to ward off an invading fleet. In WW2, the existing guns were upgraded by the addition of several sixteen-inch batteries, which in turn were replaced by Nike missiles. None were ever used and the Nike missiles were likely useless except to reassure the civilian population during the cold war.
When the military had no more use for it, a great development was planned with housing tracts and retail malls and all the other sorts of things one expects from a city. Fortunately, some people had a greater vision. They campaigned for the notion of turning it all into parkland - and won. The old emplacements are still there, crumbling away or, sometimes, kept in a state of arrested decay.
The big guns needed spotters - people who could see the ships coming and where the shells fired from the headlands fell. These people hunkered down in little steel bubbles, half buried, with slits they could look through. This photo is of the surface of one of those spotting stations as it appears today.
I'M sorry but with all of the highlights (little white spots) I find the image quite confusing, I would suggest you retake the image under different lighting, overcast or shading the area from bright sun. Rust can be very difficult to photograph especially when wet.
I'm drawn first to the only recognizable shape, the vertical line that stands out with help of some thicker areas of white and gray. There's a subtle depth created by that and the floating blob in upper left. I like the image!
Linda From Maine wrote:
I'm drawn first to the only recognizable shape, the vertical line that stands out with help of some thicker areas of white and gray. There's a subtle depth created by that and the floating blob in upper left. I like the image!
Indeed, the vertical line with the light-colored spot satisfies the rule of "thirds, in my mind anyway.
I like the story behind the image, too!
Jason
htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
Manglesphoto wrote:
I'M sorry but with all of the highlights (little white spots) I find the image quite confusing, I would suggest you retake the image under different lighting, overcast or shading the area from bright sun. Rust can be very difficult to photograph especially when wet.
I appreciate the critique. The white spots are not highlights. The surface is quite dull, and the day was foggy, and the surface was not wet. I think if I did it again, the results would be similar.
That said, your critique has merit. There is no clear focal point. It's all texture.
Thanks for commenting!
htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
Linda From Maine wrote:
I'm drawn first to the only recognizable shape, the vertical line that stands out with help of some thicker areas of white and gray. There's a subtle depth created by that and the floating blob in upper left. I like the image!
Thanks. The vertical line is a seam where they welded two steel plates together. I almost didn't post this image because of that line.
htbrown wrote:
Thanks. The vertical line is a seam where they welded two steel plates together. I almost didn't post this image because of that line.
You just never know what people are going to like and what they aren't. I don't think I've ever seen a consensus of opinion
And your texture would make an awesome "texture" as part of playful pp too!
htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
JasonC wrote:
Indeed, the vertical line with the light-colored spot satisfies the rule of "thirds, in my mind anyway.
I like the story behind the image, too!
Jason
Huh. I never thought about the rule of thirds when working with this image. Guestimating the location of the line in the frame, it's more like the rule of fourths. Maybe I'll try sliding the right edge in to put the line on the third.
htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
Here's the image cropped for the rule of thirds. Is it an improvement? I can't decide.
htbrown wrote:
Here's the image cropped for the rule of thirds. Is it an improvement? I can't decide.
Yes that revised image better approximates the rule thirds; I like it better.
htbrown wrote:
The Marin headlands lie across the Golden Gate from San Francisco. In the 20th century, the military used the headlands for defensive emplacements to ward off an invading fleet. In WW2, the existing guns were upgraded by the addition of several sixteen-inch batteries, which in turn were replaced by Nike missiles. None were ever used and the Nike missiles were likely useless except to reassure the civilian population during the cold war.
When the military had no more use for it, a great development was planned with housing tracts and retail malls and all the other sorts of things one expects from a city. Fortunately, some people had a greater vision. They campaigned for the notion of turning it all into parkland - and won. The old emplacements are still there, crumbling away or, sometimes, kept in a state of arrested decay.
The big guns needed spotters - people who could see the ships coming and where the shells fired from the headlands fell. These people hunkered down in little steel bubbles, half buried, with slits they could look through. This photo is of the surface of one of those spotting stations as it appears today.
The Marin headlands lie across the Golden Gate fro... (
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Interesting. I'm guessing the straight line is some sort of welding.
htbrown wrote:
Here's the image cropped for the rule of thirds. Is it an improvement? I can't decide.
No, it makes the image too boring. The "rule of thirds" is about 5% of the total compositional principles, and, as in this case, actually can take away from the dynamics of a photo.
Your original choice reveals your innate compositional eye. If one analyzes the composition (I taught composition and design in a college art dept. for 30 yrs) it will be found to be quite complex, using balance, triangular, and circular compositional principles.
I do wonder if a LITTLE more value range and contrast would bring out the beauty you saw.
Beautiful work.
htbrown
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area
artBob wrote:
No, it makes the image too boring. The "rule of thirds" is about 5% of the total compositional principles, and, as in this case, actually can take away from the dynamics of a photo.
Your original choice reveals your innate compositional eye. If one analyzes the composition (I taught composition and design in a college art dept. for 30 yrs) it will be found to be quite complex, using balance, triangular, and circular compositional principles.
I do wonder if a LITTLE more value range and contrast would bring out the beauty you saw.
Beautiful work.
No, it makes the image too boring. The "rule ... (
show quote)
Thank you for the compliment.
I added a tiny bit of contrast and it helped: A little bit more and it was too much.
I'm not familiar with the term 'value range'. Could you give me a thumbnail definition?
htbrown wrote:
Thank you for the compliment.
I added a tiny bit of contrast and it helped: A little bit more and it was too much.
I'm not familiar with the term 'value range'. Could you give me a thumbnail definition?
Sure. Make the darks darker, while still keeping some detail in them. Make the lights lighter, without causing the lightest to go all white ("blow out"). Various programs have various ways of doing this.
Good luck!
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