[slinkysteve]

Ok here's my first attempt at something half decent. Its a sculpture of a Nut by the riverside at St Peters in Sunderland. If you look through the centre you can see another sculpture of metallic tree which is meant to look a bit like a crane (see 2nd pic)





The first picture I'm pretty pleased with, the 2nd I really like having the sun behind the sculpture like that but I think was standing on uneven ground as it looks a bit wonky so I need to learn to frame things better.

Hope I'm not spamming by putting up too many pictures here!

[fionaB]

course you are not spamming!
the first i also like. i love the angle you have got it..... the second. i feel its an ok pic but yet has nothign really to capture the eye......... not trying to be horrible. but its just another image if that makes sense....... Love the nut tho! lol

Fi

[stepheno]

Both good shots but I'm the reverse of Fi. I think the nut is a bit OKish but the crane IMO would be excellent if you cropped the bottom thus removing all the distractions. main thing is you are getting out and taking them

[danpen]

I like the nut, it's also a little wonky but what's a little between friends. If there was one thing I might suggest to improve it then it would be to have stood slightly to one side, so that the nearest of the lamposts through the hole in the nut wasn't in view. You got a good angle on the nut though, I like the way the light and shadow work.

As well as straightening the second, I'd chop a big chunk off the bottom so only the top row of tiles from the plinth were showing.

Cheers

Dan

[slinkysteve]

Thanks for the comments guys,

Hows this? The dimensions aren't the same but it looks a lot tidier

[Rob Barron]

I think the metal tree shot is a compromise between light and composition. You have wanted to silhouette it against the light but in so doing have had to take the shot from an angle that compresses its form rather too much for my liking. We can see the front on form of this sculpture through the nut of the first picture and a silhouette from that angle would look really great but you'd have to do something different with the lighting. If you are not averse to tinkering with PS, you could always have a plain blue sky behind the tree and then use the Omni light render to get the same effect as you have here.

The nut shot is well composed and it's just a shame that there are distracting fences and things on either side. The lines of the paving work really well as lead-in lines and perhaps more could have been made of these rather than have such a lot of space at the top of the shot. It's a shame that the tree sculpture had to be positioned with street lights around it making it hard to take an artistic composition such as you have tried for without getting them in. I think the clone tool is the only way around those here.

Well done on what you have done, you have looked for the best angles and compositions and you have done pretty well. The limitations are due to the fixed nature of the subjects and their locations, not your fault. They still work pretty well

Cheers,
Rob

[JMitchell]

I like the nut, nice shot. I also like the second version of the tree, it's a completely different type of shot than the original version to my mind, but much better I think.

[slinkysteve]

Thanks very much for all the comments, they're really appreciated

[skipper954]

I pretty much agree with what everyone said.

When taking a picture, take your time. Look at all of the elements of the compsition, the framing, fg, middle and bg. Try to position yourself to remove distracting features.

And then do it again from a different position.

If you get it right in camera, you will spent much more productive time taking pictures and much less time in front of the 'puter.


skip

[P-E]

Every reason to be pleased with those

[namllihs]

I like the nut and prefer the cropped version of the tree, well done with those.
I will probably be up in Sunderland in March for the National Cross Country Championships, so I will look out for these sculptures.

[slinkysteve]

I geotagged the nut sculpture so if you click the image it'll take you to flickr and there's a link on the right hand side to see its position on a map if you're interested in finding it.

[namllihs]

Cheers, that will be a big help