Stairs

[Cem_Usakligil]

I have a mild obsession with photographing stairs which are kind of run-down like this one. I have taken this particular one due to the composition made possible by the light and the shadows on the steps. There is this dark area on the left extending to a zebra pattern horizontally towards the right.

Cheers,

 

[Gary Ayala]

To moi ... this is an odd image ... yet enjoyable nontheless. The contrast make it hard to focus and view ... yet it is the contrast which makes one view longer ... I like the image.

Gary

PS- Cropping out he wall completely make the image a bit more mysterious ... cropping out the OOF portion of the wall makes the image easier to view.
G

 

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

I immediately like the idea. Stairs are a great subject and this is a novel view. Could you process the leaves separately so then the stairs will get more presence because they are not that.

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem,

I immediately like the idea. Stairs are a great subject and this is a novel view. Could you process the leaves separately so then the stairs will get more presence because they are not that.

Asher

Hi Asher,

Could you please explain what you mean precisely? Thx.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

I immediately like the idea. Stairs are a great subject and this is a novel view. Could you process the leaves separately so then the stairs will get more presence because they are not that.

Hi Cem,

When one makes global changes to the photograph to make the stairs look their best, the leaves will not necessarily be optimized too. It's always unlikely to get such different structure, the leaves and the stairs to be their best by one conversion. The stone is hard, the leaves are delicate. When you perfectly demonstrate the texture and shading of the leaves, then the picture segments into parts. The steps will then seem to be a structure on which there are leaves rather than a blend of the two.

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Cem,

When one makes global changes to the photograph to make the stairs look their best, the leaves will not necessarily be optimized too. It's always unlikely to get such different structure, the leaves and the stairs to be their best by one conversion. The stone is hard, the leaves are delicate. When you perfectly demonstrate the texture and shading of the leaves, then the picture segments into parts. The steps will then seem to be a structure on which there are leaves rather than a blend of the two.

Asher

Hi Asher,

Thanks for the explanation. To be honest I have done that. The fine results are lost when I downsize to 800 pixels. Besides, I was kind of trying to portray the decay of the stairs as well as the leaves which blend into the stairs.

Cheers,

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Asher,

Thanks for the explanation. To be honest I have done that. The fine results are lost when I downsize to 800 pixels. Besides, I was kind of trying to portray the decay of the stairs as well as the leaves which blend into the stairs.

Cheers,

Here is what I mean. I cropped the picture, this is posted at 50% size of the cropped area:

 

[Rachel Foster]

For me, the leaves make the image. B&W was a good choice.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

Maybe go further. Try something bold, if you still have the layers. Lighten the leaves and their shadows, so they float!

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

To moi ... this is an odd image ... yet enjoyable nontheless. The contrast make it hard to focus and view ... yet it is the contrast which makes one view longer ... I like the image.

Gary

PS- Cropping out he wall completely make the image a bit more mysterious ... cropping out the OOF portion of the wall makes the image easier to view.
G

Thanks Gary for the suggestions, I'll give the various crops a go.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem,

Maybe go further. Try something bold, if you still have the layers. Lighten the leaves and their shadows, so they float!

Might do that, although I am certain I have done something similar and did not keep the results eventually.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

For me, the leaves make the image. B&W was a good choice.

Thanks Rachel. I have taken the picture for the light/shadow combination so B&W was a good choice indeed.

 

[Kathy Rappaport]

What is it a photograph of?

If the photograph is of the stairs, then cropping only to the leaves makes it a photograph of the leaves.

While I like both...it's up to the photographer to tell us which he wants as the focal point of the image.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

If the photograph is of the stairs, then cropping only to the leaves makes it a photograph of the leaves.

While I like both...it's up to the photographer to tell us which he wants as the focal point of the image.

Hi Kathy,

To me, it is about the stairs primarily. I have posted the crop of the leaves just to demonstrate to Asher that there is a lot of separation and detail in the full sized image which is lost when I downsized to 800px.

 

[Asher Kelman]

If the photograph is of the stairs, then cropping only to the leaves makes it a photograph of the leaves.

While I like both...it's up to the photographer to tell us which he wants as the focal point of the image.

Hi Kathy,

I didn't see that anyone suggested a crop to the leaves. Rather than that, I'm questioning the fact that the leaves have been shown with the same esthetics as the stairs. The stairs and the leaves then suffer for that. Cem recognizes that and may have in fact exhausted trying out different ways of rendering the leaves v. the stone, but that is part of building the picture to have the most impact. This is not a trivial matter. How the two relate reflects on the qulaity of the steps.

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

If the photograph is of the stairs, then cropping only to the leaves makes it a photograph of the leaves.

While I like both...it's up to the photographer to tell us which he wants as the focal point of the image.

Hi Kathy,

I didn't see that anyone suggested a crop to the leaves. Rather than that, I'm questioning the fact that the leaves have been shown with the same esthetics as the stairs. The stairs and the leaves then suffer for that. Cem recognizes that (and may have in fact exhausted trying out different ways of rendering the leaves v. the stone), for that is part of building the picture to have the most impact. This is not a trivial matter. Just how the two relate to each other, reflects on the physical quality of the steps and our experience of them.

Asher