Abandoned 1

DRicherby

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8 Dec 2010 - 12:59 PM

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You've found an excellent subject and had the good fortune for it to be under an interesting sky. Black and white is a good choice but the conversion is a bit lacking in contrast for my taste. For a shot like this, I'd be very tempted to shoot through a polarizer and convert simulating an orange or even red filter to get the contrast of the sky right up.

I'd echo the comments above about the placement of the van and the horizon. The rule of thirds is a good starting point for a shot like this — some kind of object placed in a fairly flat space with a background.

Within that framework, there are a few choices: four possible locations for the van and two for the horizon, for a total of eight combinations. Two of these (horizon on the lower third and van on either of the upper intersections) are physically impossible. Three of the remaining possibilities place the van on the left, facing to the left. As has been discussed above, the viewer's eye tends to follow the direction the van is pointing in which leads the eye out of the frame. Once they've stopped looking at your photograph, you've lost their attention. This leaves three possibilities within the rule of thirds and, of course, the possibility of stretching or breaking the rule (which is, of course, not really a rule but a guideline). Placing the horizon on the top third would tend to emphasize the wide space the van is in, though this would probably only work with a relatively uncluttered foreground. With the horizon there, placing the van on the bottom third would need an elevated viewpoint, which might not be possible but which would give an interesting effect; placing it on the top third would make it a part of the landscape, rather than a subject as such, as it would be rather small and in the distance. I rather like the option of putting the the horizon in the lower third, as it is in Frank's mod. The sky adds a nice dynamic element, in contrast to the van, which has obviously done nothing for years or even decades. You can almost imagine a time-lapse film of the van doing absolutely nothing, while the clouds whizz past.

I've never bought this idea that things should be moving/facing from left to right 'because that's the way we read'. If that were true, readers of Arabic and Hebrew must prefer things moving from right to left and, presumably, the Chinese would prefer them plumeting downwards... Wouldn't photography get rather boring if everything faced to the right? Having said that, a photo can often feel very different when mirrored so it's often worth trying, when you have an image that doesn't contain any writing or otherwise have an obvious correct orientation.

Constructive Critique!