The roof of the British Museum casts its shadow on the museums Library

I like it because it looks like a close up shot of a lady with a giant hat (and double chin) watching horses, you know the type of hat and lady you usually see in Ascott. Very British indeed.

 

If only the building had circular windows ...

I take the origonal in sepia cropped as is. Fantastic job and well done!

 

Cheers

Darren Nice composition, I prefer the uncropped original to any of the latter adjustments. When I set out to Photograph this roof, I went for a more abstract approach with some manipulation afterwards. I was interested in the lines of the roof support structure and so tried to accentuate this with the choice of sky copied into the roof panes...

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2028278

Darren, nice shot. I like it just the way you presented. Wanting to add a meaningful crop to the discussion but failing miserably to find a way to improve, I decided to post my "perspective enhanced" version just for fun.

Superb. I would only crop a tiny tiny tiny amount from the top of the shot to get away from that black line at top left.

 

99.999% Perfect!

 

I was wondering if there were any photo oportunities in the london museums. You have answered that with bells on!

I like this, the geometry of the roof-struts & their shadows, and I also like the tones. Good work!

The sharpness of the details are excellent.

This is excellent work. I'm not sure what, if anything, could have been done to make it better.

 

Congratulations, Darren, on having this picture selected as Photo of the Week.

 

--Lannie

matthew robinson - I laughed out loud at your post.

 

Tom Leech - you say its for fun but I think that really works.

 

This is indeed a very photographed bit of architecture and it is a great place to hang out for half an hour or so whatever the weather. I was thinking about taking a picture there but couldn't really find anything that satisfied me so I just took a couple of "record" shots as it was a very nice day and there was a very nice set of sculptures there. I think it's hard with something like this - not in the same "cliche" way that the Eiffel Tower is hard, though I suppose that the comments about how photographed this spot is lean towards that. What I mean is that the lines and angles in that roof are impressive because of teh effect they have on you when you are there - its outside, but it isn't. The lines you see when there looking around don't translate easily into a photo - I havent seen any "proper" architectural photos I dont think, maybe they could work a little (I mean wide angle on a view camera with angles adjusted type shot).

 

For those who don't know the place, have a look here at the floorplan of teh Museum, and click on "main floor" and you will see the layout of The Great Court. It's enormous, with a great big library slap in the middle.

 

I like Darren's photo though, and it is better than anything I came up with whilst in there. I also kind of like teh first crop suggested because it cuts a line from the top left corner to teh bottom right, which works for me in an abstract way rather than any effect it has on the building or roof etc - purely the lines.

 

Here, for what it is worth, is my proffered crop. I originally did this as a bit of a gag, but I think I quite like it. Blow it up to 3 meters wide and you have something worthy of the Tate.

 

An instant Bridget Riley

 

:o)

 

Floorplan: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/visit/plans.html

JOHN W SOMTIMES YOU MAY WANT TO CROP FOR A DIFFERENT PROSPECTIVE OR TO ALTER THE COMPOSITION TO YOUR LIKEING REMEMBER "YOU ARE THE ARTIST"

JPEG version of Robert's image. This should be displayed in-line.

Too much?

Robert, I like your Bridget Riley very much. The repetition makes it all the more interesting to me. The strong curves in the original make for some wonderful opportunities to experiement with different crops and mutations. I hope we're not offending Darren and his POW - certainly not the intent. Just going on a bit of a tangent to explore.

i don't see anything in this picture..i mean nothing to say because it doesn't inspired me anything..this picture is for the next generation, like a witness ? you can crop or do anything..the most important is that you had pleasure taking and showing it.. Me i feel nothing in front of this architectural instant.

Chaumeau, to each his own, but to me there is something very special in the windows and surrounding area, with the reflections of geometric forms in the windows and (at the same time) the shadows of the same forms on the surrounding surface of the building. How best to abstract that is a very good question, but I find that part of the photo absolutely stunning. I don't know what to say to the crop suggestions on this one, since this is a very complicated photo that defies finding the perfect crop.

 

--Lannie

Here's the best that I can do to try to focus more attention on the reflections in the windows and the shadows on the wall. (I'm not saying that this is an improvement, Darren.)

 

--Lannie

About different angle some people mentioned. If you go up the south stairs, there's a window on upper level where you can get more horizontal angle of the library and the roof. I made a (totaly) tourist type of shot from there during my short first (and so far only) visit to the museum in 2001. Said that, I find the angle on my photo very boring, and the angle on Darren's photo very dynamic.

Lannie's crop makes perfect sense. What's in the foreground is not there, I'm sure, as the photographer's choice, but rather because, going for this angle, there was no choice but to include it or too crop too much of the main subject: the foreground was in the way. Minimizing this uninteresting and fairly disturbing foreground is imo a good idea.

very interesing

I would only crop this image if it was neccessary to change the aspect ratio, otherwise it is fine in the original composition. What I'm more interested in is bringing out more detail in the sky, or at least reducing the brightnesss of the sky (to look more like our eyes see) I see potential for using something like Channel Mixer in PS instead of just adjusting the shadows, but this would require a color original. The sky is mostly blue, and the light on the building is closer to full spectrum sunlight (I assume because the shadows are not that soft) so by working the color channels you can control the final tones when converted to gray (or sepia) This could also be done with Levels, Curves, ect. You could even define the sky area and work with that part first (I'm still learning PS, so forgive my lack of proper wording and technique) Anyway, I really like the image, perhaps because I haven't seen as many shots of this as others have, and your original image "moves me" much more than the horizontal example posted. One last thought: would a polarized filter have helped tone down the sky? It depends on where the sun was relative to that part of the sky, but it can really help, even for digital cameras and black and white images (or sepia) I'm more suggesting things for "next time" than criticizing your image. Basically, I like to shoot all images in color, then convert to black and white later on, and also find polarized filters very useful (by the way, I hate when they are overdone... used at max... better to try different adjustments of the filter)

All you can find out another one in my London Folder including the complete library

Somebody asked what the US equivalent of this would be and I would have to say the Walt Disney Concert Hall although I have never been to the States. Stunning to look at, but shot to death. I think these buildings make great eye-candy, but unless a highly original perspective on them is taken they just become one in a million of other clichéd shots.

 

For me, this crop is too 'manufactured'. The entry point of the structure (for lack of a better word) in the bottom right corner of the image is too perfect. I think a wide-angle perspective on this would be far more appealing. That and a little more contrast between light and shadow to emphasise the image's whole point: shadow and light play.

 

I liked the original, but I feel that this has been messed with too much. Also I feel sepia detracts from an image unless used in a blatant manipulation. If you are going for a sepia look, I would suggest using duotones or tritones to give a bit of depth to the tonal qualities... Another option which works well is to reduce the saturation in a sepia/toned image so that the picture is just tinted.

 

My opinion: B&W (my first choice) or colour.