Alcatraz

cool shot ,and subject , is it totally deserted ? or does it have a new usage?

Very nice shot with what you had to work with. I wish you had some interior shots. . I would loooove to visit inside one day. I believe they do tours of the place...

foxhound wrote in post #11635211
cool shot ,and subject , is it totally deserted ? or does it have a new usage?

Alcatraz has now been converted into a national park and there's a tour boat that goes back and forth daily.

Alcatraz Wiki Page

chomish wrote in post #11635219
Very nice shot with what you had to work with. I wish you had some interior shots. . I would loooove to visit inside one day. I believe they do tours of the place...

Thanks all I didn't get to actually go to the Island, but I do intend to come back to SF someday and do so.

good shot ... try leveling out the horizon

NeutronBoy wrote in post #11636456
good shot ... try leveling out the horizon

i tried leveling it before i posted, but the island looked a little bit weird to me. so i just left it that way.

edit: ok. maybe i messed up leveling it the first time. I tried it again, and it didn't look as bad as i remembered. I'll post it in a second.

like the cross processing on this.. the only thing missing is some dynamic element... it's all just horizontal and vertical

aRJun wrote in post #11636813
like the cross processing on this.. the only thing missing is some dynamic element... it's all just horizontal and vertical

hmmm ok. i'm not sure what you mean by dynamic element. can you elaborate? thanks (:

Much better with the follow up rotate...

Great image all round, and I also like the processing (although would be curious to see a B&W conversion too!)

That place just oozes scary!

LittleFish wrote in post #11637378
hmmm ok. i'm not sure what you mean by dynamic element. can you elaborate? thanks (:

There are no layers.

LittleFish wrote in post #11637378
hmmm ok. i'm not sure what you mean by dynamic element. can you elaborate? thanks (:

Well I'm not one to focus on leveling... I'd rather it not be leveled but have some diagonal lines that draw the viewer in and subsequent symmetry to keep the viewer engaged... this is a really nice photo, don't get me wrong.. I'm just saying I would take a different angle

LittleFish wrote in post #11637378
hmmm ok. i'm not sure what you mean by dynamic element. can you elaborate? thanks (:

He's saying that the image is too "static" (which I agree with). Basically, its a snapshot of Alcatraz Island, without any dynamic to hold the viewer's interest. The rather bland sky doesn't help much, either. Its properly focused and exposed, and considering that you shot from a moving boat you did well, but other than that its a picture of Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz is a piece of Americana, history, architecture and one of the most photographed sites in San Fran. Do a search on Google and you won't find too much better than what you have taken.
You have chosen to frame it and process it as above......this is where you might have improved a bit.
First, a straight horizon is basic in this case. It would have made a better photo if there were some clouds in the background sky but that is nature (lucky you didn't have fog).
I also think you could do better if you would have not processed the foliage the way you did - this would have at least added to some of the texture and colour. They and the other underexposed areas have been reduced to blobs of black. Perhaps this why the comments above about lack of interest/elements/dyna​mics etc.

Brightening up the shadow detail and adding extra saturation may help further improve this.