Composition

[pikey]

I specifically tried to take a shot I was happy with here, but despite trying a number of things I just couldn't get there.

Care to comment?

1: I like this for the light - I know the composition is wrong, but not why. I would guess because the castle and the car appear as one.


2: Is this good? I don't think so. Perhaps playing with DoF would make it a bit better?


3: I *think* I like this.. because of the ground. But there again I might not like it because of the ground!


4: Now this one is just so boring... but there again the castle in the background isn't in the way.


5: This is my favourite of the bunch, but I'm not 100% happy with it - probably because the castle is interfering with the roof line..?


At the end of the day I think I should have tried moving the car and walked much further away.

Hmm...

[road2ruin]

Too much going on in all of them. Did you want a picture of the car or the castle or the landscape? The second one is best as at least the subject is bright. I would have moved the car so you couldnt see the castle or either it was far in the distance, need to get a narrow DOF too. Also too much foliage if you are going for the dramatic sky effect and would benefit from some colour saturation editing.

[Shadytree]

imo

get lower

get the camera on the floor looking up at the car at an angle and get those clouds in the background. I agree the castle and bushes just crowd the shot... to busy.

Edited by Shadytree on Friday 16th February 13:45

[bramley]

My 2p worth:

Shot 1: Doesn't really seem to have a subject, or anything that draws the eye in to the shot. I agree the car and castle blend together too much. I would suggest moving around so the castle (if you want that in your background) isn't 'attached' to the car if you know what I mean. Or, you could blur the background with a shallower depth of field, that would draw the viewer to the car.

Shot 2: Could be massively improved with a polariser imo. That would remove some of the reflections and saturate the colours. I think this shot works better than shot 1 because each element of the photo has its own space.

The others: i don't think the location is that great tbh, its an odd angle for the castle to 'work' and the weathers a bit overcast so the light looks a bit dull.

I notice in the last shot the car has moved. This is a good thing - try lots of different angles. Most shots seem to be taken at head height? Try moving around a bit, up, down, forwards, backwards. Don't (always) use a tripod unless you need it due to shutter speed as they can restrict you. The angle of the last shot suits the car well, but it doesn't do much for the castle.

If you go for a shot where the car (or other subject) isn't big in the frame look for a leading line to draw the eye into the shot. That could be a line of grass, a fence, a tyre track etc.

Out of interest can you get really close to the castle?

[pikey]

Wanted to get a picture of the car - but the fact you're asking the question is proof enough of how wrong it is!!

I purposely selected the landscape and castle as a background. The sky was lucky (or unlucky!)

[pikey]

bramley said:

Out of interest can you get really close to the castle?

Thanks for the comments. Seems that the location chosen wasn't as good as I thought.

Your polariser comment is interesting as I thought the reflections improved it / gave it some interest. Obviously I have a lot to learn!

In answer to your question, yes, one can get much closer (even into the grounds). (It's actually this )

[bramley]

pikey said:

Thanks for the comments. Seems that the location chosen wasn't as good as I thought.

Your polariser comment is interesting as I thought the reflections improved it / gave it some interest. Obviously I have a lot to learn!

LOL - it's all subjective at the end of the day! My view (and thats all it is!) is that the reflection could be used to your advantage perhaps on a more close up shot, for instance a detail shot of the porsche badge surrounded by the reflected clouds, something like that might work, but for a wider shot of the car I think a polariser would help.

Having said that, I've just looked back and the last shot probably is helped rather than hindered by the reflections. If they weren't there the car, castle and hedge might merge into one dark blob.

[V6GTO]

Shooting a sports car on dirt rarely works IMHO, it looks out of it's environment. There are exceptions, obviously, but this isn't one of them.

Martin.

[chris.mapey]

I like the last one the best.

My comments would be:

Play a little closer to the "rule of thirds" (ie where the car is in frame)

and

clean the car!!! - looks a bit "snaps" rather than "photos" with a dirty car IMHO

I like the location though, have you any in landscape format with the car & castle separate? That could be a winner...

Chris

[graham@edinburgh]

The first one might work if the car was on the right of the frame pointing down to the bottom center, ie bottom right third.

Possibly.

Edited by graham@edinburgh on Friday 16th February 23:47

[james f]

to begin with car should have been pointing into the light and not shot in shadow, longer expouse and use of a triopod would also be recomended as they are all a bit dark and underexposed

your framing is good but the compostin suffers form bad light there are to many grey tones runnung through the light but there is not enough light present in shot to bring out the full depth of feild either as there is simply to many mid tones to gerneate a full shot

Edited by james f on Saturday 17th February 00:33

[havoc]

chris.mapey said:

Play a little closer to the "rule of thirds" (ie where the car is in frame)


...have you any in landscape format with the car & castle separate? That could be a winner...

Agreed with both.

My first thoughts were to position the car on the lower rhs of the frame, angled front-quarter, maybe a bit closer to front-on, pointing away from the castle. And have the castle separated both vertically and horizontally (so it LOOKS separate in the pic), but with the lines down the side of the car 'leading you' towards the castle in the background.

Be better with a more imposing castle though IMHO.