Dusk in Valentine, TX

[mezzoduomo]

I posted this elsewhere looking for some feedback, and I'd love to get a few thoughts here, too. My son and I drove nearly all day across west Texas, and as we rolled into the derelict town of Valentine, the light seemed just right.

[brandtb]

The light is the potentially interesting element of the photograph, but are the rest of the elements? The sky is a little wan, and the buildings themselves are somewhat interesting. I don't think it it's a good photograph, but if you were going to work on it I would pull up the darkness in lower left corner and work with the contrast of the light and shadows to make it more visually arresting. That corner just goes dark and dead and that combined with it's opposite corner where it is so light create "unwanted areas of interest".

[mezzoduomo]

I appreciate the frank feedback.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

...the light seemed just right.

Indeed. This is probably the first thing many photographers rightly notice. Sometimes that might be the only thing the scene has to offer. It seems to me this is the case here. I do not think opening up shadows would help much, as there isn't much of interest there either. As a matter of fact, it works better hidden. I think it is a good personal record from the trip and a testament to your ability to recognize and react to good light. You might have tried to walk around and try some other, more dynamic angles, but a bland building is hard to turn into a spectacular one, even with the light like that. Perhaps the very blandness is the image's secondary asset? An idea about that here: yes, the sky is kind of bland, the building and scenery just as well, so perhaps turning the camera vertically and placing the building in the lower 1/5 of the scene would have accentuated the blandness and desolation of the place?

I had a chance to see some other photos from the trip, on your site. This one is probably the weakest of the five. I would single out the b&w one and the West Texas Sky. If you choose to post them either here or in a separate thread, I'd comment on them separately.

My general impression, after seeing your web site, is that I like your approach and visual interest. Sort of New Topographics vibe. They reflect your personal interest that does not necessarily fall into the currently dominating oversaturated, spectacular scenery style, the likes of which we can see on 500px for instance (there is nothing wrong with that, i.e., both styles have their place).

[mezzoduomo]

Thx for the feedback, Slobo.  Speaking of wires(!), someone elsewhere suggested I remove the telephone poles (and presumably the wires would have to go too) and crop this much more tightly than 16X9, eliminating all the background on the sides, as well as most of the sky. While I did ask for the feedback, and I do indeed appreciate it, none of that feedback really resonates with me. I eschew Photoshop, and crop very little: That's my taste.

I suppose in this case, my emotional attachment to the place and to the moment my son and I were there together, etc...makes this a better picture to me than to anyone else, and that's ok with me.

I see all the points you've made, and I sincerely appreciate the dialogue!