Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: seamus finn on February 16, 2010, 12:46:16 pm

Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on February 16, 2010, 12:46:16 pm
Hi all,

Came across this old Morris Minor abandoned in a field in County Sligo, Ireland.

Cheers,

Seamus


[attachment=20301:abandoned_car.jpg]
Title: End of the road
Post by: fredjeang on February 16, 2010, 01:07:43 pm
Love the picture.
Composition is perfect.  

Fred.
Title: End of the road
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 16, 2010, 01:49:02 pm
Quote from: fredjeang
... Composition is perfect...
... and color.
Title: End of the road
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on February 16, 2010, 02:05:36 pm
Quote from: seamus finn
Hi all,

Came across this old Morris Minor abandoned in a field in County Sligo, Ireland.

Cheers,

Seamus


[attachment=20301:abandoned_car.jpg]
Lovely shot.

Jeremy
Title: End of the road
Post by: wolfnowl on February 17, 2010, 01:40:50 am
Nicely done!

Mike.
Title: End of the road
Post by: francois on February 17, 2010, 05:13:50 am
Well done! Sweet.
Title: End of the road
Post by: John R on February 17, 2010, 07:06:12 am
It expresses much more than a simple good composition and that is the point of all photos. Well done.

JMR
Title: End of the road
Post by: RSL on February 17, 2010, 07:19:21 pm
Great shot, Seamus.
Title: End of the road
Post by: Christoph C. Feldhaim on February 18, 2010, 02:59:17 am
Nice one !
One question: Did you arrange that door ? To me it looks like being put there for the shot intentionally. Just curious ..
Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on February 18, 2010, 06:03:37 am

Thanks, everybody for the positive reactions,

In response to ChristopherC, here's what I found initially:


[attachment=20319:car_no_door.jpg]




I looked around in the hope of locating the missing door, and there it was, practically under my feet in the undergrowth. At that point, the car became the model, so to speak and the door was the makeup, so I applied it like this:



[attachment=20320:abandoned_car2.jpg]


Than I tried this:


[attachment=20322:abandoned_car.jpg]


And this:


[attachment=20323:car4.jpg]




I hope you all don't disapprove of me tampering with the 'crime scene'

Cheers,

Seamus















Title: End of the road
Post by: Christoph C. Feldhaim on February 18, 2010, 06:38:45 am
I think its completely valid to arrange a bit.
Glad you showed the other variations.
I think I prefer the second one with the door applied to its original place above the others.
Thanks for sharing

Cheers
~Chris
Title: End of the road
Post by: popnfresh on February 18, 2010, 12:34:22 pm
I prefer the 3/4 shot of the car without the door in the foreground. I just don't think the door adds to the composition.
Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on February 19, 2010, 06:24:41 am

Thanks for the valuable feedback. On mature reflection, I think the door standing at the front of the car looks too placed. Very perceptive of ChristopherC to ask the relevant question. You just wouldn't come across a scene like that, sitting pretty, waiting patiently for some guy with a camera to wander past. The only place the door fits is in its original spot, or not at all.


Just up the road from the abandoned car, I found an old tractor. Wild berries were growing from a battered bucket beside the seat in the cab. Two shots in the one day. Jeez!

Cheers,

Seamus


[attachment=20370:strawber...tor_best.jpg]

Title: End of the road
Post by: Colorwave on February 19, 2010, 02:07:44 pm
I like the shot without the door the best.  I think seeing the interaction between the car and the weeds is strongest, and it is a more subtle shot.  Like the tractor, too.  Very fortuitous colors for these abandoned objects.
Title: End of the road
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on February 19, 2010, 02:28:07 pm
Quote from: Colorwave
I like the shot without the door the best.  I think seeing the interaction between the car and the weeds is strongest, and it is a more subtle shot.  Like the tractor, too.  Very fortuitous colors for these abandoned objects.
Likewise. In the very first shot the grasses in the lower left and the thin branch in the upper right frame the car nicely, adding to the mood.

I don't disapprove of your placing the door on ethical grounds, but I do think you saw it right in the very first frame. I have sometimes found an exciting subject, taken a first shot, and then tried to "improve" it in other shots. Almost always the first shot has been the best.


Wonderful shot!

Eric

Title: End of the road
Post by: eleanorbrown on February 19, 2010, 02:41:47 pm
Ohhh my gosh!! this is great!  What a "find".  Being one who loves to photograph old cars "as part of the landscape"  I could have spent hours on this one.  Really cool image and love the purple!! Eleanor

Quote from: seamus finn
Hi all,

Came across this old Morris Minor abandoned in a field in County Sligo, Ireland.

Cheers,

Seamus


[attachment=20301:abandoned_car.jpg]
Title: End of the road
Post by: dwood on February 19, 2010, 02:59:06 pm
Very cool Seamus. Nicely done.
Title: End of the road
Post by: HarryHoffman on February 19, 2010, 08:53:37 pm
Love the tractor pic.
Fresh berries and leaves against the rusting mechanical artwork
Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on February 21, 2010, 05:46:59 am
Quote from: Eric Myrvaagnes
I don't disapprove of your placing the door on ethical grounds, but I do think you saw it right in the very first frame. I have sometimes found an exciting subject, taken a first shot, and then tried to "improve" it in other shots. Almost always the first shot has been the best.


Eric


Couldn't agree more, Eric. Also, I've occasionally gone back to a scene where I 'struck gold' but somehow, it never quite works second time around. The magic just isn't there.

Incidentally, I've come to User Critiques fairly recently and have spent quite a bit of time devouring the websites of photographers who are active on these threads, your own included. Superb, glorious, magnificent are words that spring to mind, but basically, I can't find the superlatives to describe some of the work I've seen.

Thanks again, all.

Seamus
Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on March 02, 2010, 07:46:34 am
Another few bite the dust!  

Regards,
Seamus





[attachment=20621:car_front1.jpg]


[attachment=20622:car_front.jpg]


[attachment=20624:car_door.jpg]











Title: End of the road
Post by: jule on March 03, 2010, 05:11:42 pm
Quote from: seamus finn
Another few bite the dust!  

Regards,
Seamus






[attachment=20624:car_door.jpg]
Seamus, Fabulous subject matter and way of perceiving it. I actully love this last one.. I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty to have a play with the cropping (yes I know the saying...and I have my helmet on in preparation for the forthcoming beatings :-) )

I have translated the image into more of a graphical one rather than a narrative. The dimensionality suggested by the plants through the window, contrasting with the elements in focus on the one plane (the foreground plants I think would have been a tad better a bit more in focus)  I think gives it some tension and can mess with your head thinking whether it is 2D or 3D.

There is also a lovely balance between the corners of both the metal on the ground in the lower right, and the corner on the curved window on the left, which also creates a diagonal element to the image as the eye joins these two points, encouraged by the lines of the vines going upwards.

Thanks for this opportunity.

Julie
Title: End of the road
Post by: Mike Louw on March 03, 2010, 05:35:00 pm
Quote from: jule
Seamus, Fabulous subject matter and way of perceiving it. I actully love this last one..

Me too..:-) Beautifully worded critique, Julie, btw. Can't add anything to it.

In your first set, I also prefer the shot without the door. It seems to me more balanced and "complete", somehow. Great work!

Mike
Title: End of the road
Post by: popnfresh on March 03, 2010, 07:47:47 pm
I think this last shot shows the most potential. What makes it interesting for me are the car windows brimming with foliage. I would have gone in tighter on the windows. There are too many other things going in the shot that aren't helping the overall composition. Decide what elements make a scene interesting and compose the shot around those. In that shot it's the windows that make it interesting.
Title: End of the road
Post by: seamus finn on March 05, 2010, 05:02:26 am
Hi all,

Thanks very much for your interest, Julie. Rest assured, I have nothing against cropping and in this case,  your suggestion is just what the doctor ordered. You're right - there's too much irrelevant clutter at the bottom. When I took the shot I thought I'd include it to enhance a sense of abandonment etc but the crop tightens things up without interfering with that element.

Popnfresh: If I had had the presence of mind to concentrate more on the window at the time, I'd be a happier camper but unfortunatly, in the rush of blood to the head, I subconsciously  noted the obvious but failed miserably to react and didn't really see the possibilities until I was sitting at my computer playing around with the Lightroom crop which is a wonderful tool for finding out what you should have done but didn't.

Many thanks to all for your continuing interest in this series. I'll keep you posted if I find any more elderly cars peeping out from their resting places in the Irish countryside.

Slan,

Seamus
Title: End of the road
Post by: popnfresh on March 05, 2010, 12:00:08 pm
Quote from: seamus finn
If I had had the presence of mind to concentrate more on the window at the time, I'd be a happier camper but unfortunatly, in the rush of blood to the head, I subconsciously  noted the obvious but failed miserably to react and didn't really see the possibilities until I was sitting at my computer playing around with the Lightroom crop which is a wonderful tool for finding out what you should have done but didn't.

Seamus
You're definitely on the right track. Just keep shooting. Nothing improves a photographer's eye more than shooting like there's no tomorrow.
Title: End of the road
Post by: tokengirl on March 05, 2010, 05:12:38 pm
I like how the earth seems to be reclaiming them.  "Life After Humans" kind of stuff, very cool.
Title: End of the road
Post by: John R on March 05, 2010, 06:53:12 pm
Quote from: seamus finn
Hi all,

Thanks very much for your interest, Julie. Rest assured, I have nothing against cropping and in this case,  your suggestion is just what the doctor ordered. You're right - there's too much irrelevant clutter at the bottom. When I took the shot I thought I'd include it to enhance a sense of abandonment etc but the crop tightens things up without interfering with that element.

Popnfresh: If I had had the presence of mind to concentrate more on the window at the time, I'd be a happier camper but unfortunatly, in the rush of blood to the head, I subconsciously  noted the obvious but failed miserably to react and didn't really see the possibilities until I was sitting at my computer playing around with the Lightroom crop which is a wonderful tool for finding out what you should have done but didn't.

Many thanks to all for your continuing interest in this series. I'll keep you posted if I find any more elderly cars peeping out from their resting places in the Irish countryside.

Slan,

Seamus
I don't necessarily agree with the new crop. A couple of points:
Any reasonably good or seasoned photo enthusiast can crop a photo, seven ways to Sunday. The issue is what one wants to, or hopes to convey. To my mind, Julie's crop is excellent, but so too was the original. I can crop further and emphasize the delicate looking swirling vines in the plants even more. The point is, each new crop tends to emphasize and reinforce something slightly different. Therefore, if one has an excellent image, which this one is, a new crop is just someone's personal taste. The other point is, we all have to work with the 2X3 (about) rectangular format that is on most cameras, so we tend to see and compose the elements within that frame unconsciously. Even if wanted to crop out any part of a given given image, we cannot until we get home on the computer, and it is doubtful that most of the time we would have the presence of mind to think in terms of cropping while shooting in the field. Of course, perimeter cropping is standard and quite different than habitually shooting with the aim of making substantial cropping later on. I think the original image deserves more credit.

JMR
Title: End of the road
Post by: jule on March 05, 2010, 08:13:44 pm
Quote from: John R
I don't necessarily agree with the new crop. A couple of points:
Any reasonably good or seasoned photo enthusiast can crop a photo, seven ways to Sunday. The issue is what one wants to, or hopes to convey. To my mind, Julie's crop is excellent, but so too was the original. I can crop further and emphasize the delicate looking swirling vines in the plants even more. The point is, each new crop tends to emphasize and reinforce something slightly different. Therefore, if one has an excellent image, which this one is, a new crop is just someone's personal taste. The other point is, we all have to work with the 2X3 (about) rectangular format that is on most cameras, so we tend to see and compose the elements within that frame unconsciously. Even if wanted to crop out any part of a given given image, we cannot until we get home on the computer, and it is doubtful that most of the time we would have the presence of mind to think in terms of cropping while shooting in the field. Of course, perimeter cropping is standard and quite different than habitually shooting with the aim of making substantial cropping later on. I think the original image deserves more credit.

JMR
John, I'm not too sure that it has anything to do with not giving credit to the original image at all. Life is about experiences, as many as we can fit into this short time span....and if we can experience something or respond to something in a different way by interacting with it or putting our input into it  - well I say go for it! I wanted to share another vision and experience I had when I saw this image. If I had just left it alone and said...this image deserves for nothing more to be experienced from it, I would not have experienced the mind disorientation of the 2D and 3D effect and the lovely balance of shapes created by the crop I had a play with. There was room for me to experience something else from this image, and in this forum this is an ideal place to do so. Yes, as you rightly say...is just someone's personal taste...and mine - which I shared in a community in which I can interact and learn.

And personally, I also don't want to be limited by the parameters of the frame of the camera....why should I ? Just because my camera sensor is in a 2:3 format and the vision I see through the viewfinder is different from that proportion, what law (written or unwritten) is there to say that I 'shouldn't' do that ?  I may have another camera at my feet which has the ratio which suits my vision; is it ok to put down one camera and use the other just so I haven't broken the "Though shalt not crop after clicking shutter code" ? Why is it ok to use one piece of technology to determine a frame ratio (camera), yet frowned upon to use another (ie; computer)?

I don't want to start a 'can' or 'can't' argument about cropping and sidetrack this thread, but since cropping this particular image has been given consideration by a few, I thought I would mention my own personal opinions.

Julie
Title: End of the road
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 05, 2010, 09:14:43 pm
I like both versions, and I agree with Julie that they express different experiences.

In my own photos I am always pleased when a discerning viewer sees an image in a different way from the way I saw it.

Eric