The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
You know how I love abandoned stuff. This is part of a tiny church slowly going to seed in rural Tennessee. When possible, I get right on top of buildings and try for details and see if I can tease out a story. Sometimes is a bit of overgrown garden, a swing or car in brambles or an old washtub; all of which I’ve found and more.
When I first came on the side of the building it was that bit of vine or plant sticking out that attracted me, but then I decided to include the whole of the window because of that reflection. With the busted pane it feels even more desolate somehow.
Specific Feedback
But is it too much…not simplified enough? Do the elements come together at all?
Lr for I think all the processing including a lot of work with transform to get the geometry of the window less wonky. Backing up lost the reflection so I had no choice but to stand close with a wide angle and you know what that does.
Lots of massaging of tones, colors, details and textures. Some global, some selective.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
I’m glad that you included the whole window. Great story telling.
A little bit more at the top would make me even more happy, now the window feels a bit cut off for me. But maybe you had a reason to frame it as you did.
I love stuff like this – and I love this! If you have a bit more of the top I think it could be good to include it, but I can imagine there was something in the way. I love the vine and wish it was brighter. I love the reflection. I’d be tempted to lighten the curtain in the empty pane a bit, to lessen its impact, but it may not work well. Fun stuff!! Hope to see more!
I like this, Kris. The empty pane adds a lot to it. Like Han and Diane, I think a bit more at the top, if you have it would be an improvement, but other than that minor issue I like it a lot as posted.
I like the idea of more at the top, Kris, as others have mentioned, but I also find myself wondering why. Is it just that we know a window has siding above too? Is it that the trim feels cut off?
In a way, for me, the story, maybe partly aided by the title, is in the missing pane, peeling paint, purple curtain on one side gray on the other, the vine, but also…the reflection.
In my mind, reflections give us not just a sense of someone looking at the window, but of looking back and looking forward at the same time. So it adds to the story: memory, a tree that was once small, a vine that didn’t use to be there, a pane that shows time and perhaps loss.
It’s a really wonderful image to explore, and your title choice has me curious and adds to my exploration of the image itself.
ML
What an amazing find! The peeling paint, the old wood, reflected tree colours, the bit of plant - all just amazing.
My only suggestion would be to include the whole top edge of the winder - cutting it off slightly offends my sense of order.
I’d also love to see the whole side of the building, or whatever was there before you cropped in on the image.
Really exceptional image! work here, in finding this and processing it.
What a great find! For me the image works very well with all of the window included. I like a lot that there are reflections in only three of the panes. But of course to include all of the window will take away some of the attention from the plant.
Thanks @Han_Schutten, @Diane_Miller, @Dennis_Plank, @Marylynne_Diggs, @SandyR-B & @Ola_Jovall - you know, I forgot the reason I cropped where I did and it’s because there is another 4-pane window section there and no reflection. It’s a tall, skinny window as you might expect in a rural, American church from the 19th or 20th century. If the reflection wasn’t possible in the lower glass, I’d probably have processed it as a vertical shot. The only way around it is to either include some or all of it (ugh) or use AI generative fill to make up a complete window frame and siding. Although it would probably do a decent job, I didn’t try. For me it adds a little tension and mystery, but I can see it’s a bit awkward, too. Such is life. Anyone up for some Tent Graves? Did I post those? So weird.
As I suspected, you had a good reason to cut off the top of the window.
Sometimes we have to accept what it is, no need for me to have AI come up with some extra canvas. We probably all regret within a few years that AI was allowed to take over our passion.
