Please share your first response before reading the hidden notes below. The photographer is looking for an unbiased initial impression.
Feedback Focus: Artistic + Technical
Questions for Viewers
Do the angular buildings bother you or should the walls be vertical?
Is there too much sky in this image? If so please show me how you would crop it to improve it?
Are the tones as they should be?
About This Image
I recently photographed the grain silos at Condon(?) in Central Oregon. I had come across them last year and was so impressed that I made a point of going there last week just to photograph them. I’m still trying to decide how I feel about my work. It’s all about light and shadows. As the sun descended the shadows moved.
I love the various shapes, Igor, and the composition works very well. The converging lines add interest and I like the round shapes contrasted with the angular ones. There is just enough visible sky to give the structures space. The tonal values are nicely realized, too.
From experience, I can say that even with a view camera with an adjustable back (rise-fall, swing, and tilt), it would be a real challenge to eliminate the vertical convergence here.
I love this. I don’t mind the leaning at all. To me, it makes them more imposing, like the buildings are closing in on the viewer (or the farmer). The different tones in building and sky, the raw geometry of it all, and the cables supporting the massive structures give me a particular kind of impression: these are dominant, fragile, imposing structures. It gives me the same sense: massive infrastructure, a huge investment, but one that could overwhelm humanity.
Gosh. Sorry if that’s not what you were going for. Now I’m going to read the hidden text.
Okay, hidden text didn’t change my thinking. However, I did notice something new: All of the buildings take on a kind of block-like human form. They all have heads and shoulders, and they cast shadows on each other.
ML
Bingo! I can always count on you to see beyond the first impression. Yes, I had the same impressions when looking at the lcd screen. At first it was an arrangement of shapes, lines, and shadows. And then the shadowed building caught my attention and things went on from there. But you’re never sure if you’re making something out of nothing so it was good to read your post.
I don’t think this would express your vision with vertical walls, Igor-certainly it wouldn’t fit the title as well. the walls leaning into the frame evoke the feeling of three people leaning into the frame, though I might go with “inquisition” from the slightly foreboding feel I get. I think the amount of sky works and I wouldn’t want to get any closer to the tops of the taller buildings, so without stretching the center, there’s not much you could do. An interesting and evocative image.
Igor, these drying sheds are one of my favorite things to photograph and I always struggle with the vertical lines. I think you have a strong composition here, To me the heavy support lines help unify the three buildings eliminating the need for them to all be aligned. The variation in shaded light brings contrast and interest. I think the sky is just right, it gives the tallest building enough room to breathe.
Alice
Igor, there’s a very strong sense of mechanical beings (or maybe that’s grain monsters, ) gazing down at the viewer,. The two towers at the edges have faces. The tones look fine to me, you’ve got everything from pure black (windows) to nearly pure white in a few spots on the buildings. The sky looks just right to me.
) gazing down at the viewer,. The two towers at the edges have faces. The tones look fine to me, you’ve got everything from pure black (windows) to nearly pure white in a few spots on the buildings. The sky looks just right to me.