Staircase

This is my first upload to the critique section and I'd appreciate a bit of feedback. What are your thoughts?

Only thing I would suggest is to maybe get a tad more black from the bottom into the picture, sacrificing a bit of that "breathing room" from the top.

Nice contrast, and bw works for this one, but it lacks interest. What were you hoping to accomplish with the photo? I think a model...male or female, on the stairs could make it an interesting shot.

Hi,

This looks like one of those shots where there is great promise, but it lacks that little something to make it a great shot. Like Russ says - perhaps a person is needed or some interesting graffiti, or if the door was ajar...?

The stairs can be cropped tighter and more as a diagonal in the frame. Enhance the contrast and get rid of other elements, like the vertical drain pipe and the drip stains under the stairs platform.

May be a bit like this:

You don't need a model or graffiti, what you need is a more interesting perspective. Sure a model or graffiti could make the image shot as it is look more aesthetically pleasing, but most landscape photographers (and you may not consider yourself a landscape photographer but this would fit into the category of landscape/urban photography) don't typically work with models or have the option of adding graffiti to their subjects. Look, a lot of people probably won't agree with me but very few photographers are coming from where I am or have the experience that I have. I'm a landscape photographer living in an EXTREMELY ugly location. When I arrived here (17 months and 11 days ago), I immediately realized that I either had to give up my landscape photography dream or adapt and become a MUCH better photographer- because there is absolutely NOTHING to photograph within 2 hours of me in any direction. Well, except maybe 3 miles south but I'm not allowed in Mexico. The point is, I am now able to find just about ANY subject, no matter how uninteresting or common, and while I can't make decaying fish heads (just as a real life example) into a beautiful picture, by God they are going to be compositionally interesting. If you want to know what I'm talking about, you can look at my album here: http://fineartamerica.​com …s&artworkgaller​yid=231056 BTW, the decaying fish heads shot is about 3/4 of the way down the page. If you want to see what I've done with more "interesting" subjects, just click on the link in my signature block which will show you different albums with plenty of more compelling subjects. Anyway, this is all just my opinion and you can either use what I've learned and try it- or like most people, you probably have the luxury of just walking over to a more enthralling subject and taking a picture of it just like everyone else would; ultimately the choice is yours.

maybe a bit more rule of thirds and a more off center composition.. maybe even shot from real low.. good start though

Thanks for the comments. I trying to go for a Lewis Baltz type feel.

I didn't want to crop it tighter and lose the doorway at the top, but it does seem a bit more interesting cropped in post 5. I think I may go back to the spot this weekend and play with shifting the stair a little left in the fame and leaving a bit more space at the bottom.

I had a couple shots from a lower angle, but I didn't like the way it affected the vertical lines, nor was I a fan of seeing the bottom of the stair.

I agree need a diff perspective; composition. This doesn't hold any interest as is.

CactusJuice wrote in post #16452123
I agree need a diff perspective; composition. This doesn't hold any interest as is.

I agree with Cactus