Bridge Silhouette...Critique Please!

[craynolds]

Long time lurker...first time poster. I'd love to know what you think about this shot I got the other day. I'm still somewhat of a beginner but I can take whatever you've got!

http://craynolds.smugmug.com/photos/474405487_Mtkx9-L.jpg

-Chris

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See my Galleries (http://photos.raynolds.net)

[wildviper]

I like this shot. My only problems are the two corners with the tree branches.

Anyway to get rid of them? Sky is fantastic.

[Miguel Delinquento]

I like the concept as there are some interesting lines in the bridge structure.
Unfortunately you are trying to capture too much in the frame. Is this a picture of the sky? Or perhaps you are highlighting the curved lighting fixtures as the central item in this shot? The people are rendered too small and are too few and are shunted to the side to be of much interest.

The lower 20% of the shot are just black swatches of the support structure and this sucks the energy out of the shot. Realize that this is prime real estate in a picture frame and really needs to be dynamic.

The stuff under the bridge is distracting and not necessary.
The sky is over saturated and it really competes with your idea of the bridge silhouettes.

I would advise that you continue working on the concept of silhouettes of people in a long line doing something with the sky as a background--it's a good idea. It may work better if you could somehow look down on this bridge or find another bridge without so much support structure that could fight your field of view.

M

[agunther]

The colors and the light are wonderful.
I don't particularly care for the composition. It is too static with the split right in the middle of the picture.
I also think the tree branches get in the way of me enjoying the picture.

[caazak]

perspective is an issue here. you might try and find an editing tool with perspective adjustment, which allows you to adjust the image and make that bridge look level. by doing so, you will lose part of the image, but in this case, it will probably work out fine, since it would be those trees in the lower right that would be cut.

The only free editor I know of which provides perspective correction is gimp, but this is a bit of a pain unless you run Linux. A simple rotation/straighten tool would help as well, and most free editors (such as Picasa) provide this.

Having said that, the fundamentals of this photo are strong. A beautiful sky with a strong silhouette, and those beautiful lamposts providing points of interest.