I like this image a lot. It has a Magritte-y feel to it.... blue sky and ordinary homes. And the tunnel is cool! I think the scene is very pretty. I also like the single flying bird to balance the frame.
Thanks so much for entering the Urban Waterways contest!
I wanted you to know that your image struck me as I was judging the contest, and I was really impressed with this image!
Thanks for entering, and keep up the good work in 2022!
Happy New Year!
Dave Koch
Wow - I gotta say I am super surprised at the amount of noise in this on a D750 at only ISO2800. That said, with this much noise, I think you really should have edited for the noise.
So I am thinking you went up on ISO to get a quick shutter on the boat.... That's cool, and I can see why you would do that. But you can also then reshoot for just the background at ISO 64 or 100 at SS 1 or 2 secs (whatever it is!) to get a grainless background, and the just strip in the boat as a layer.
Another thing to watch for is your verticals... As you can see, in your image, the walls slant decidedly right on the right, and to the left on the opposite side. A 14mm has a lot of this geometric distortion. This can easily be corrected in most modern editing software.
On the bright side, you have a really good exposure here. The lights on the boat are not clipped, which is awesome. Nor is the boat motion-blurred.... so that is great too! The circular area - especially the bottom - does clip some, so I would have paid particular attention here - even shooting an alternate exposure to strip in there to recover those highlights and color correct.
Nice image with nice lines.... thank you!
Dave
On first glance at this image, I see an overexposed image. That can be fixed if you care to. But the image itself as I look deeper is just got too many elements- and too many distractions. Photography in essence is about sharing something interesting, unique or special with your audience. Because so much is going on here, I do not know what it is you want to share. Dive in, move closer, zoom in, isolate what it is you are saying.
As far as this image goes, it is fine. The exposure is good, and there are no obvious problems. But it sort of stops there. It does not take me to the next level with anything special about it or the subject.
So let's look at the composition. Your subject is dead center. Not the most interesting placement.... start thinking about storytelling with your images, and you will come up with more dynamic framing. I also notice a man on the extreme right, going off frame. Compositionally, this is a problem - it takes us off frame, and is very poor placement. To the left, you have cut a boat in half. Again, not the best choice.... probably just should have been framed out entirely.
My point is look at what you're shooting, and see what belongs and what does not. Edit. Move around. Spend some time making an image.
Dave
I wanted to comment on this because it is a good image, and I think it could be better and I have what I feel is a helpful comment. Lower right.... the boats. They're cut off. If they were cool boats, they would be much better if fully included (and if they are ugly, cut them 100% out). Cutting main objects in half is not a good idea usually - things should be either in or out.
Your top crop is also a bit tight. This would be better looser or a lot tighter I think. But here, your crop lines cut too much out.
I really love the tree cutting through the frame! I also love the woman on the left, and the boat on the right. Nicely balanced image!
Now go with me on this.... what if we had moved to the left and behind the woman? Enlarge her, bring her in closer, and provide midground with the boat and BG with the buildings (still fading away)?
It would be a lot more dynamic an image I think.
Also, as an aside, you need to correct your verticals when you shoot this wide and show buildings or other objects with straight verticals. At least to my eye, the building tilting in to the river is very distracting.
Thanks!
Dave
My initial reaction is nice image. Love the color! Exposure is really good in tricky and hard light.
How to make it better? A better sky would help... this is rather hum drum. Correcting your verticals would help a lot- no building outside of Pisa leans as much as the on on the right here... (it's an easy fix in Lightroom or Photoshop). But the most important way to make this shot really sing is to go up a few feet. Whether that is a ladder, a cherry picker or a drone I don't know but if you could lower the colored bridge a bit and get some more angle on the river (Thames?) this could be a really outstanding image!
After all that I see its an iphone. It's amazing how good those things work but you still need to do things to make great images.
Dave
Nice image. Great sky! Looks as though when you edited in the sky you crushed the blacks though and that's a shame. A wider contrast range would be wonderful for the bridge and the towers.
If I had shot this, I would have played back and forth along the embankment and get the bridge spans and the buildings to line up better. I really think you could have created a more pleasing batch between the elements of both objects. Regardless, your crop right is way too tight, and probably too loose on the left. A simple pan to the right would have framed this all a bit better I think!
I like the basic framing here.... the single point perspective works well in this setup. I also like that unlike many images of this island, you have not jacked up the saturation.
Problems? A couple I see.... one, the two people on the left. They bring you out of the image and to the edge... and then you walk away from this image. Your edges should keep eyes inside the image.
The other real problem is the sky replacement. The sky needs to match the light in the image. Here there is too big a difference from the image and the sky. (also, the colors in a real sky will reflect in the water....)
You have a lot of good things here. You have a good, natural style. I think with a little more practice you will be shooting great images!
Dave
Like many of the other top-rated images in this contest, this has no distractions - we know what the image is about. The reflected sunlight in the windows takes this up a notch, and shows your original spin on what would normally be a very boring image.
Why did this image win? Because this photographer worked. They did not just see something cool, snap a picture, and move on.... working this image until it was something special... and something original.
Distractions? None. All the items work toward the story this image tells.
Do we have real verticals? Honestly, I am not sure - I am gonna trust Brian on this one! :)
How on topic is this image? It is undoubtably urban, and we got reflections on the water.... so I feel this works within the topic well.
When I was judging the images, this was the first image that stopped me as I was scrolling through entries. This is a wow image. It grabbed me.
This is a winner image.
Great job and Congratulations!
Dave Koch
Brief
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At their best, urban waterways provide a welcome, natural respite from the endless bricks, concrete and glass of our towns and cities. Tree-lined arteries to stroll along, escape the noise, and spot some waterbirds. At their worst they have been built over, and only make occasional appearances, often to be decorated with a shopping trolley and other refuse. Urban waterways can offer grand photographic opportunities, as well as smaller studies of the life of a river, and how we currently choose to interact with them.
I like what you did here a lot. Love the mood, and I love that you didn't just show up, but you planned this! I think your treatment here is spot on! The only thing that concerns me is the wharf to the left. I like the light on it but overall it seems too small or mis-positioned. I think if it was in the shot a bit more, and down slightly it would fill the space better.
Great idea... love the multi level image and the use of the foreground to naturally frame the background. Not sure why the B&W treatment but I won't second guess you. I do think you could improve this with a little line-straightening.
Still a very compelling image with a lot of atmosphere and story.
Congratulations on making the top ten!
Dave
1,863 Images entered
This image is the King of exposure. Absolutely the best exposure in the contest. The composition is also so very cool. You have a wonderful natural contrast of colors too and that is great!
Your technique is developing this image is so good - a light, natural touch that is so realistic. Not overdone at all.
Well done! Congratulations on finishing in my top ten!
Dave
The great thing here is a new and unusual angle. So striking I could not ignore the image. A lot of rules have ben broken here - too busy an image, uncorrected verticals - a lot of things that I would normally judge an image as a "No!".... but here you make such a compelling image I have to make this a winner! Congratulations.
Dave
631 Photographers
68,791 Ratings
Such a well composed image. I get on a lot of images for having bad crops, and for lines or objects that take you out of the image. Here you have lines (rails) that (could) take you out of the image but here they push your eyes down into the background - enhancing the story of the image without it being heavy handed.
The lines of bridges bring you back up to the bike.... what this image is about.
A lot of this image should not work based on "rules"... but it does work - why? Because this photographer used their eyes! They made judgements while shooting, and that worked!
Great image! So glad you are in the top ten!
Dave Koch
This is new, fresh and exciting! I have not seen any images quite like this.
Like so many good images, just taking a picture is not enough.... you have to time your image (either for light, weather, or interaction, as here).
Obviously we are looking at a wonderful composition, with lines that lead you all the way through the image. Exposure (and here, shutter speed) are exactly what is needed!
Great job!
Dave
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