[chmance]

What tweaks would you suggest to improve this picture? I have already tweaked the exposure, contrast, clarity, etc. in RAW colour before converting to black and white. This seems to be the best to my untrained eyes. Am trying to improve my pp skills. All comments, including merciless ones, are welcome . I really want to improve. Thanks so much.

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[luftfluss]

What initially jumps out at me is the composition: the subject is so centered in the frame that there is no dynamic quality to it. I like the B&W conversion overall, maybe the clouds are a touch flat.

[chmance]

What initially jumps out at me is the composition: the subject is so centered in the frame that there is no dynamic quality to it. I like the B&W conversion overall, maybe the clouds are a touch flat.

Thanks so much luftfluss for the comments. I agree with you that the clouds/sky need a bit of work for contrast. Please let me know what would have been better in terms of placement of the grain elevator. You said that the subject is to0 centered thus depriving the composition of any visual tension. How would you improve it? Appreciate your input : )

[luftfluss]

Thanks so much luftfluss for the comments. I agree with you that the clouds/sky need a bit of work for contrast. Please let me know what would have been better in terms of placement of the grain elevator. You said that the subject is to0 centered thus depriving the composition of any visual tension. How would you improve it? Appreciate your input : )

Do you have a wider shot of this? The photo feels a bit cramped to me. The chute(?) in the lower-right corner is leading somewhere... I wonder if a wider photo cropped in a panorama-like format might be a more effective image. Is there a decent reflection of the grain elevator in the water? That might look awesome. Your photo has many elements - a dominating architectural element, a cloudy sky, water (and maybe a reflection of sorts), a hilly background in varying shades of gray, a boat... I'd have taken several photos with differing compositions, the choices are almost overwhelming.

OTOH, I might be looking at it wrong, and someone who is an enthusiast of your subject might say that you nailed it!

[GeoJerry]

I like this shot, it has a dramatic feel to it, and I like your choice of B&W for this subject.

Here are a few things I would have tried (and not necessarily gone with)
I'd crop everything below the ship's deck, so that you can only see the structure's supporting legs and top. I scrolled down so I could only see the upper ⅔ of the picture and thought it looked pretty cool.
I'd try decreasing highlights to see if I could get more definition in the clouds.
I'd clone out the birds. I think they're too small to add to the image.
The lighting on the front face of the building at the top of the structure, upper left, looks a little odd to me. I would add a bit more exposure to make the lighting more uniform on that side of the building.
All subjective, of course!

[chmance]

Do you have a wider shot of this? The photo feels a bit cramped to me. The chute(?) in the lower-right corner is leading somewhere... I wonder if a wider photo cropped in a panorama-like format might be a more effective image. Is there a decent reflection of the grain elevator in the water? That might look awesome. Your photo has many elements - a dominating architectural element, a cloudy sky, water (and maybe a reflection of sorts), a hilly background in varying shades of gray, a boat... I'd have taken several photos with differing compositions, the choices are almost overwhelming.

OTOH, I might be looking at it wrong, and someone who is an enthusiast of your subject might say that you nailed it!

Thanks for taking the time to give me such a detailed feedback. Am learning a lot from the feedback here. This is infinitesimally better than reading a book on photo tips.

I do have a wider shot of the scene. As you can see, the photo above is the product of several compromises. First, when I corrected for len's distortion (keystone effect), the photo ended up looking cramped. So your comment that it looked cramped is justified. I felt that way too. Second, I wanted to include more structure to the right but I don't think that will work composition-wise. I am posting the third photo below, which I think is a good compromise. All these are JPEGs straight out of the camera.

[chmance]

I like this shot, it has a dramatic feel to it, and I like your choice of B&W for this subject.

Here are a few things I would have tried (and not necessarily gone with)
I'd crop everything below the ship's deck, so that you can only see the structure's supporting legs and top. I scrolled down so I could only see the upper ⅔ of the picture and thought it looked pretty cool.
I'd try decreasing highlights to see if I could get more definition in the clouds.
I'd clone out the birds. I think they're too small to add to the image.
The lighting on the front face of the building at the top of the structure, upper left, looks a little odd to me. I would add a bit more exposure to make the lighting more uniform on that side of the building.
All subjective, of course!

I appreciate your insightful comments and incorporated the tweaks you were thinking.

What do you think of this one? (1) I lightened the grain elevator structure's exposure, including its entire length to make it better stand out against the clouds. I hope I did not overdo it. (2) I shooed the birds away with Elements 11. I cropped the bottom as close as possible to the base of the structure. (I tried cropping more but it looked unnatural.) The sky do need a bit of work still and I have to find the colour PSE file to tweak the blue sky and convert again to monochrome.

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[CreationBear]

Some great advice already from some very talented photographers! I can definitely see your fascination with the subject--it really lends itself to your Art Deco vibe, and puts me in mind of a train on the Chicago El (though one whose journey is about to come to an abrupt halt!) That said, one thing I might add is that you're probably fighting the light--I can imagine at a different time of day (or even day of the year) this very interesting structure would really pop against a dark sky and mountain range. Backlit as it is, it's really going to be tough to get any kind of "separation" in the frame that clues us in on what you intend the subject to be.


Otherwise, I'll plump for the composition of the first offering over the last...that "kink" as the structure gains elevation adds a bit of dynamism to the image for me (see "trains," above)--in fact, I might go back with a little longer lens so see if I could emphasize its curve in space...a bit more compression and shallower DOF might lift a really neat focal point out of the clutter.

[wildman]

add a little drama?

[chmance]

add a little drama?

What do you mean by "add a little drama"?

[GeoJerry]

I appreciate your insightful comments and incorporated the tweaks you were thinking.

What do you think of this one? (1) I lightened the grain elevator structure's exposure, including its entire length to make it better stand out against the clouds. I hope I did not overdo it. (2) I shooed the birds away with Elements 11. I cropped the bottom as close as possible to the base of the structure. (I tried cropping more but it looked unnatural.) The sky do need a bit of work still and I have to find the colour PSE file to tweak the blue sky and convert again to monochrome.

I forgot to reply to this way back when... Yes I think it's an improvement. I like the lighting much better.

[chmance]

I forgot to reply to this way back when... Yes I think it's an improvement. I like the lighting much better.

Thank you very much Jerry.