Today’s image is one that I took while doing my around Houston series. I really liked the image both when I took it and then when I processed it in Lightroom. Why didn’t I use? I decided that I wanted all the photos to be “outdoor” photos rather than indoor ones.
The photo is from St. Basil Chapel on the University of St. Thomas campus. As I was about to leave the chapel, I noticed the reflection of the Madonna and Child above the holly water dispenser. The photo was relatively straight-forward exposure, however, the composition was the problem. Because of the distance between the reflection and the holly water dispenser, the composition either had to include a lot of dark negative space to the right of the holly water dispenser or be a long, but thin image. I decided on the latter.
Any suggestions to my composition dilemma?
Enjoy.
Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 42mm, shot at ISO 200, f/9.5 and 3 seconds on a tripod.
Post Processing:
Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, clarity.
Photoshop—Cloned a few highlights in the granite wall and used nik Color Efex Pro tonal contrast on the holly water dispenser to add contrast to the shadows, mid-tones and highlights.
Good eye to see this one. The contrast between the two subject could not be greater which makes my eye go back and forth between the two. As to your dilemma, I am not sure you have one. I like the current format.
ReplyDeleteAnne
Nice shot Patrick!
ReplyDeleteDid you try cropping? There is a strong horizontal line through the photo about 1/3 down that seems like a natural place to crop. It seems to me the result would be two interesting photos instead of one. Admittedly I may be missing some important connection between the two main ideas of the photo though.
I like the photo like it is...just trying to think of alternatives in response to your question.
Well done!
Barry
Do you need all of the holly water dispenser in the photo? If you cropped just below the glass portion, your ratios would be a little more normal. I must admit I like all the different reflections that are on the wall. I found that I was trying to figure out what caused the various reflections, which adds more depth to the image. Good job seeing this one and then photographing it.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
I like it as is. It is abstract enough for me that I beleive I would find it just as interesting if it were rotated 180 degrees! The textures, colors, and shawdows really stand out.
ReplyDelete