Critique my LE building: Fine Art or Ho Hum?

Critique my Long Exposure building: Fine Art or Ho Hum?

LEE filter
5Dmkiii, 70-200mm
75mm, iso100 @~9s, f/9

What is LE?

Long exposure? I don't get the point of using a 9s shutter here. What aperture?

Bassat wrote in post #18157558
What is LE?

Long exposure? I don't get the point of using a 9s shutter here. What aperture?

My guess is to blur the clouds and their reflections in the glass.

The composition feels a little unbalanced to me. Maybe a little less sky at the top?

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Bassat wrote in post #18157558
What is LE?

I never would have known what LE meant, either, had the OP not gone back and added that information to his post.

joedlh wrote in post #18158153
The composition feels a little unbalanced to me. Maybe a little less sky at the top?

I agree. The composition is just awkward; as if the eye wants to see more of the building at the bottom of the frame, but it is cut off too short. Then at the top of the frame there is all of this empty space, which makes the foreshortened bottom even more drastic. Perhaps a different aspect ratio would help to balance things a little more so that there is not a sense of awkwardness.

The shot - or rather, the idea for the shot - has fine art potential, but the execution of the idea needs more work. Perhaps even a couple of re-shoots from slightly different points of view. But from a technical standpoint, I think it is very nicely done; the textures and tones of the building look great to my eye.

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I think it would be more "artsy" if you cropped the bottom to eliminate the lower building altogether.

It works for me. But as others have said, a little less sky would be better.

The clouds don't really work for me, they aren't streaked in a pleasing manner (to my eye) and appear more as white patches. This is a case where more defined clouds may have worked better. I also agree with those above who feel that more should be shown of the lower building and less of the, very bland, sky. The building is interesting and makes a good subject, but the lower element appears to be intruding into the scene rather than part of it. Dropping the lower edge to the point where the roof lines, of that lower section. meet the corners of the image would give it more relevance. Equally lowering the upper edge, to just above the top of that "flagpole" on the corner of the top element, would reduce the dead space as the sky holds little / no interest and should be minimised.

I also found the image a bit flat, tonally. I would like to see some more contrast, punchy blacks, bright whites.

As with any critique, of course, this is subject to personal tastes and other people's opinions are available and valid. The underlying concept is good, a reshoot with a better sky and shot with enough room to experiment with crops would be beneficial to my mind.

I like the way the clouds blur, but agree with others that the composition is off. The square crop isn't doing the image any favors.

"Did I just made an art, eh?!"

Agree...working the shot might prove beneficial.

I like the photo but there seems to be a halo around the edge of the building or is it just my monitor?

R6travel wrote in post #18172187
I like the photo but there seems to be a halo around the edge of the building or is it just my monitor?

I see it too. 'Tis probably an artifact from the B&W conversion.

great work

I see the potential, but I don't think this is the best you can do with this building.. doesn't quite have 'it' for me, but I certainly would encourage re-visits with different lighting and sky.

Yeah, chop off the lower building, it's just distracting, chop the right third off to get a portrait layout to emphasize the building height, and leave it at that, chopping off the right will reduce the sky and balance it out, but not cut any more sky from the top as this gives the building space to move into, compositionally for me that would be the better lay out. Or, I may be talking rubbish And personally, work the remaining sky slightly to get some character into it, medium vignette, some burning etc...

Quick rough hack below....

*Forgot to say, I like the technical side of the image, got carried away on the composition

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/NRh8​hy