Pakhuis Amsterdam

Any comments?

Hugo

It's always a problem including 'text' in a photograph. Here the text should be 'Parkhuis Amsterdam' if I recall from memory of Dutch and this scene and if not, please leave me a correcting comment.

I think it might have helped to analyze the light and maybe have chosen a different time of day/different lighting conditions for taking this shot.

I find this a little confusing, as it is a large grouping of geometric shapes, but they don't seem somehow to correspond in any meaningful way to the viewer or each other. Moreover the shadow from the 'bridge' (if it is that) upper left, creates a line of darkness that breaks the architectural lines of the wall and windows, left.

It might have been much better in more diffuse light, although the reflections tend to show it was taken under a typical Amsterdam cloudy sky. (I've been there often and sometimes lived there briefly).

As to the text, if it's misspelled in the caption, that can be fixed through 'options' -- otherwise I'm just wrong, for which I apologize. Great care should be used in cutting off words in the middle and moreover any letter ever (see the 'e' in 'Amste' where it's cut off, which might have been avoided by a little more judicious cropping).

I take sometimes a hundred photos a day, or even a thousand and take shots like this, but they end up in my discard bin (or deleted now as I am getting more sure of what I take), as I like to try everything, and you are not to be faulted for taking this photo, but for me, at least, it does not succeed. (nor are you to be faulted for posting it, for that's what the critique forum is all about - for both brickbats and bouquets, and you'll learn more from the brickbats than the bouquets so long as they are honest and not mean-spirited.

However, I do not rate, and you will not receive a low rating from me for this or anything else, ever.

I critique only where I think I have something to add that will help the photographer become a better photographer -- and I hope you take this comment that way. My guess is that you were looking for a certain something in taking this photograph, and that the next time you may very well find it.

Amsterdam has much wonderful architecture, and I could get lost just taking building shots, whether this parkhuis or the oude kirke and surrounding buildings.

My best.

John Crosley

Hi John,

thank you very much for this lengthy comment. First of all these are the comments I hoped for when joining this site, although I myself do tend to comment a bit shorter on other people's photo's but that is more because my knowledge of photography is...well, just leave it at that.

"It's always a problem including 'text' in a photograph. Here the text should be 'Parkhuis Amsterdam' if I recall from memory of Dutch and this scene and if not, please leave me a correcting comment."

Fortunately you are wrong. I checked another picture to verify, and if I didn't have one, I would have gone back (the building you cannot see but is on the right is one of my projects I'm working on soon professionally (I'm a building engineer). You are also unfortunately wrong, because I like the suggested misspelling which would have been very fitting in this case, because of the parking garage underneath. You must have been in Amsterdam recently, 18 month ago I don't think you could have seen this, but I can be mistaken, maybe it's finished a bit longer.

"I think it might have helped to analyze the light and maybe have chosen a different time of day/different lighting conditions for taking this shot.

I find this a little confusing, as it is a large grouping of geometric shapes, but they don't seem somehow to correspond in any meaningful way to the viewer or each other. Moreover the shadow from the 'bridge' (if it is that) upper left, creates a line of darkness that breaks the architectural lines of the wall and windows, left."

I like to put things out of their context, to make it a bit more 'abstract'. Is it so bad that there is some confusion, doesn't it make you look longer at the picture then?

"It might have been much better in more diffuse light, although the reflections tend to show it was taken under a typical Amsterdam cloudy sky. (I've been there often and sometimes lived there briefly)."

I do agree that the time of day can be very crucial, but, heh, this was the time I was there, sometimes you don't have much to choose, although it was very strange weather: a lot of clouds, and all of a sudden direct sunlight, so I hoped I picked a good (not great apparently) time.

"As to the text, if it's misspelled in the caption, that can be fixed through 'options' -- otherwise I'm just wrong, for which I apologize. Great care should be used in cutting off words in the middle and moreover any letter ever (see the 'e' in 'Amste' where it's cut off, which might have been avoided by a little more judicious cropping)."

With this I tried to experiment with not showing the full of the text, letting the viewer, who when Dutch will know what is should/could be, fill in the blanks for himself. Showing the text in full for me looked less interesting (I didn't crop the image though). The 'e' is not cut off? I guess the 'h'is maybe a bit annoying.

"I take sometimes a hundred photos a day, or even a thousand and take shots like this, but they end up in my discard bin (or deleted now as I am getting more sure of what I take), as I like to try everything, and you are not to be faulted for taking this photo, but for me, at least, it does not succeed. (nor are you to be faulted for posting it, for that's what the critique forum is all about - for both brickbats and bouquets, and you'll learn more from the brickbats than the bouquets so long as they are honest and not mean-spirited."

I made 160 photos this day, and I thought I was hard for myself to give 28 of them the benefit of the doubt and worked on them with PS to see. I still like this picture because of combination of colors (bluish grey at the left, the red bricks, the metal surface) and its, as you called it, confusion.

"However, I do not rate, and you will not receive a low rating from me for this or anything else, ever."

Thanks, but with this long comment you would have justified a low rate: the photo needs improoving o reach the standard you would like to see. I will keep on trying, and as I said, when I'm at the site again I'll bring my camera.

I critique only where I think I have something to add that will help the photographer become a better photographer -- and I hope you take this comment that way. My guess is that you were looking for a certain something in taking this photograph, and that the next time you may very well find it.

Amsterdam has much wonderful architecture, and I could get lost just taking building shots, whether this parkhuis or the oude kirke and surrounding buildings."

I think you meant 'kerken' but a good try. Thanks again for your comments. I feel I've learned a lot. I've been shown some things I hadn't noticed.

Hugo