Uniformity

Well, I didn't have my tilt-shift lens with me, because I don't own

one, but I thought the pattern and dull colors were interesting. The

bottom balcony was the lowest and I could not have gotten up higher

without entering a building. Comments?

the attraction of this picture is the repeating elements. There are five - good to pick and odd number. You are right to mention keystoning . . . if you have PS, you can easily straighten the vertical lines, not because the building appears to be falling over, which it doesn't, but because it will clean up the distracting edges . . . partial windows on the left and little element lower right.

This is well seen and, as Carl pointed out, the odd number of elements is important here. On the other hand, dull colors and monotonous patterns isn't usually the stuff from which winner pictures are made and this one is no exception.

 

The overcast weather makes it easy to get detailed shadows in the corner. But frankly, I don't see this as very important as the shadows don't add much here. Making them solid would perhaps add a touch of mystery.

 

As an alternative, you could try full sun (perhaps late day, for color) with solid shadows defining the shapes. You could also get closer to the building, use a wider lens and have the balconies overlap a bit. In such a setup, converging lines wouldn't be a problem - they'd probably be part of the appeal.

I can certainly understand why this scene caught Jeffrey's eye -- had I been there, I'd like to think it would have caught mine, too! -- but as much as I like his choice of subject, the pastel colors and contrasting patterns of the walls and the subtle shadowing behind the balconies, I'm afraid that, for me, the converging lines and the partial windows along the left side of the frame and in the corners detract enough from the image that my reaction to it ends up being "nice try" instead of "nice."

 

While it may be possible to fix some of these flaws in Photoshop and/or with a judicious crop or two, I'd love to see it reshot with a view camera -- Yes, my bias is showing here -- and with the appropriate perspective corrections and cropping done in camera instead of post-exposure. That said, I might also consider a square crop encompassing just the middle three balconies but that's definitely a personal preference on my part...

so what's the idea here?

The colors of this photo are great -- pastel blue, red, and white. Unfortunately, I can't say that this does much for me.

 

The uniformity of the photo is what makes it appealing, however, it's not completely uniform (the right side windows). I think this could be a better photo if all the elements were all uniform, the lighting was a little less flat, and perhaps, there was a fat guy without a shirt holding a beer on one of the balconys to provide some sort of un-uniformitiy.

 

Also, I'd love to see a version with the straight lines straightened via Photoshop.

 

_Dave

I'd make two minor changes: Crop slightly lower on the top so we can't see the roofline in the left corner -- then we can imagine the repetition goes on indefinitely. Also, I would apply a light sharpening filter to get rid of what looks like scanner blur. With such muted colors you need sharp lines to keep interest.

This is a job for a view camera. The scene is well spotted and composed. The fact that there is nothing in the image that is squared up with the edges of the photo really gives me an uncomfortable feeling when viewing this image. Granted, not everyone owns a view camera, and I think that you did the best that could be done with the equipment you used...I see this as an exercise in continuing to develop your artistic vision. Well seen.

Philippe is right about the light. Rhythm shots need strong colors, contrast, texture . . something to make them pop to keep them from being what they are . . monotonous repetition. As I discussed in the 'five eggs' shot, these images may or may not need a 'subject' (fat man w/beer can!?)

 

I just got back from Ocean City and took several shots of staircases. I'll try to post one when I get them back from 'Fuji' AZ. In the meantime, check out this one and some other rhythm shots in my portfolio.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=905612

This is an interesting photo. I like how you've composed it as well as capturing the varying patterns and colors in the two buildings.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1376111&size=lg