1st post to be critiqued, be gentle yet firm

[scrapin_frame]

Took this photo on the architectural boat tour on the Chicago River in November. What could I have done differently? I was kind of limited on shots due to the bars overhead on the tour boat for the canopy.

Remember, first post, be gentle

forgot to post the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/scrapin_frame/3349729355/

[scrapin_frame]

I wish there had been some clouds in the sky. I took pictures of my wife and I at the Cloudgate, but there were zero clouds

[mikewheatie]

Scrapin,

This is a really neat shot. I really like the gradation in the sky. The color and saturation and really good. It looks like you picked a good time of day to take this shot when the sun was low in the sky as well.

The screen on my laptop isn't calibrated, so I might be a bit off, but the picture looks a tad too warm. The boat closest to the camera looks like it's a little too yellow. Also, the building on the far right closet to the camera looks a bit too yellow as well. Like I said, my screen may be a bit off though.

Also, the buildings look they are leaning every so slightly to the left. A quick crop and straighten in PS or LR would do the trick.

I like how the channel leads the eye into the frame, but the tallest buildings are smack dead in the center. It may be a bit more visually interesting if the two buildings are a bit off-center. You might also crop a bit off the top to bring more focus to those buildings.


Mike

[Calindy]

Beautiful shot of Chicago! I see the former Sear's Tower in this shot...

[scrapin_frame]

Originally Posted by mikewheatie

Scrapin,

This is a really neat shot. I really like the gradation in the sky. The color and saturation and really good. It looks like you picked a good time of day to take this shot when the sun was low in the sky as well.

The screen on my laptop isn't calibrated, so I might be a bit off, but the picture looks a tad too warm. The boat closest to the camera looks like it's a little too yellow. Also, the building on the far right closet to the camera looks a bit too yellow as well. Like I said, my screen may be a bit off though.

Also, the buildings look they are leaning every so slightly to the left. A quick crop and straighten in PS or LR would do the trick.

I like how the channel leads the eye into the frame, but the tallest buildings are smack dead in the center. It may be a bit more visually interesting if the two buildings are a bit off-center. You might also crop a bit off the top to bring more focus to those buildings.


Mike

Mike

You are correct about the lean of the buildings. The buildings on the left were pretty much straight, but the Sears Tower and others had a lean to them. Since the Sears Tower was the main point of focus in the picture, I dropped a few guides in photoshop and used transform to straighten it up. The tradeoff is that not every building is straight. I wasn't really sure how to go about fixing it.
The boat you mentioned actually was yellow, but I did warm the picture a little too. I was trying to bring out the color in the leaves. I will try a couple more different versions.
Also, i agree with you about the crop. I may try to crop it in the way you mentioned with the Sears Tower off-center.

Thanks for the input.
John

[scrapin_frame]

Originally Posted by Calindy

Beautiful shot of Chicago! I see the former Sear's Tower in this shot...

Sad, isn't it?
Now we get the Willis Tower, which there has been talk of them repainting it silver too at a cost of $50,000,000. It will always be the Sears Tower to me though. As far as them repainting it, how can they do that to something so iconic? They should just give me that money

[1shot4u]

I like it..Check the tilt though.

[scrapin_frame]

I have tried straightening the photo several times, but it seems that no matter which building i choose to drop my guide on, the other buildings end up tilted. Is it my 18-55 kit lense?

I tried cropping it down some and cooling it slightly





Here is another photo I took a few minutes before the other. I was shooting more toward the sun than away from.

[LeuceDeuce]

Originally Posted by scrapin_frame

I have tried straightening the photo several times, but it seems that no matter which building i choose to drop my guide on, the other buildings end up tilted. Is it my 18-55 kit lense?

It's not your lens. It's converging verticals due to pointing your camera up in order to get the entire building in the shot. You can correct it using the lens distortion filter in photoshop.

In order to keep your verticals vertical you must keep your camera level when you take your shot.

[scrapin_frame]

Originally Posted by LeuceDeuce

It's not your lens. It's converging verticals due to pointing your camera up in order to get the entire building in the shot. You can correct it using the lens distortion filter in photoshop.

In order to keep your verticals vertical you must keep your camera level when you take your shot.

Wow, I am almost ashamed that I did not know about that. My major in college is Graphic Design and I have taken all the advanced classes offered in Adobe, and that is the one thing we never had to use in any of the classes. I am sure that we touched on it, but it wasn't explored in depth. It's hard to remember all that stuff.

Thank you so much! I can tell already that I will learn much from this site.

John

[Michael Vermont]

Beautiful shot, I would have done a tighter crop of the center buildings to illustrate their height against the gradient sky, the leaning building as others have mentioned, aside trying to straighten them, go to PS and choose distort and freetransform and enlarge the top just a pinch, and perspectively speaking it'd be accurate

[scrapin_frame]

I tried using the lens correction in photoshop.

Is this better?

[LeuceDeuce]

Originally Posted by scrapin_frame

I tried using the lens correction in photoshop.

Is this better?

I only looked closely at the first shot, and your converging verticals look good. You'll see a big improvement if you rotate clockwise by 0.82 degrees. Use the Image->Rotate Canvas->Arbitrary to enter the degrees of rotation.

I got the angle using the ruler tool on a long vertical as close to the center of the image as possible.

Edit: You can always turn on the grid from View->Show->Grid in order to check your verticals.

[jbreiman]

Originally Posted by Calindy

Beautiful shot of Chicago! I see the former Sear's Tower in this shot...

Take it from a native here. The SEARS tower will always be the SEARS tower. Just like marshall fields and Comiskey Park

[scrapin_frame]

Originally Posted by jbreiman

Take it from a native here. The SEARS tower will always be the SEARS tower. Just like marshall fields and Comiskey Park

True! I am a couple hours south of Chicago, but for me as well, they will always be as they were when we grew up.