Enginehouse #2

[rick barclay]

I've been fooling with Scott Kelby's, The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers. Specifically, I've had this picture of Enginhouse #2 in New York CIty that I liked,
but the original suffers much from keystoning, or that leaning look you get because your
camera was tilted upwards. This is one result I got from Kelby's tutorial. I think it's an
improvement on the original, even with the distortion you can see on the sign next door.
But I would like to get some unbiased opinions on the picture's present merit. Thanks for
you help.

http://flashdaddee.com/enginehouse_e.jpg

[IanBMW]

Looks like a crop could further fix the leaning. Oh and use photoshop's patch tool and get rid of that lawn chair lol. Other than that nice pic.

[rick barclay]

Thanks for that tip on the patch tool, Ian. Any better now? Lol. I kind of
thought the chair added something to the image :) .

[Radtech1]

Rick,

I really like the shot, and I agree that the sign next door is a problem. Or is it an opportunity.

As I was looking at this, I was thinking that I would like to see the firehouse in its environment. Perhaps a pano along the street, looking left and right, but that would eliminate the upper 2/3ds of the building. Not good.

THEN I thought: (too much thinking) "Why does a photo have to be rectangle?" There have been many discussions on this board regarding 2:3 format or 4:5 - All variations of a rectangle. Even Panos are rectangles. Granted you see an oval matte hole every now and then, but that is about it.

So, "Why not an inverted T?" I think that that might look very interesting on the right subject, and this might be the right subject. First question, do you still have access to the building? Yes? Then shoot again, looking left and right of the building as well as up it, then put it together stitch them together as an inverted T. Who knows, might be interesting. Just a thought. (If this is a guide, imagine the thoughts that I used to have when I was still drinking!)

Rad

[Meerkat17]

I like this image too - it forces my eye to move upwards and I like the tonal values of the teracotta colour and the reflections in the windows.

However, I feel that the building is somewhat isolated ( I think this is how Rad viewed it too) my eye needs to see what's to the right - the left doesn't bother me but my eye naturally moves from left to right and it doesn't work with this picture.

I've no suggestions to give just how I vew the image.

Regards
David

[jgbeam]

I think you did enough perspective correction. Making the walls perfectly vertical when the perceived vantage point is rather close to the building would be unnatural. The problem is that leaving just a sliver of the buildings on each side draws attention to the perspective. Including a bit more of the neighbors would have improved the shot some, IMO. The AC unit and the flag wrapped around the pole are a bit distracting but nothing you can do about that. I'd leave them in before attempting to clone them out.

Nice shot, though,my comments notwithstanding. I like old buildings and feel that people should take more interest in them.

Jim

[rick barclay]

Thanks for the comments. I'm encouraged. :) The disparity in height between the firehouse and
its neighboring buildings made this a difficult shot. I had to shoot vertically instead of horizontal,
which disallowed including much of anything next door. Unfortunately, my skill level doesn't include
stitching. Any pano would have to include a firetruck exiting the building IMO. I'd love to stitch something together here, but that takes a lot of patience and detail, two things which I sorely
lack. The firehouse is located in Greenwich Village, btw, about 50 miles from where I live.

[GenEOS]

Using the camera on a stick method may help in getting an image that would be easier to fix. Put the camera on a monopod, with cable release and raise it as high as possible. Even 10' may help a lot.
To me the firer truck inside has been distorted and looks narrower than normal.
This is a tough one to fix, because this is a really tall building and you are close to it...making things worse.
I would drive an hour to re-shoot this... It has potential for a stunning shot.