petermoons
Forum Enthusiast
thank you all who took the time to participate.
we got off to a bit of a rocky start and i have to admit i was very close to throwing the towel at one point. i'm glad i didn't since then i'd have missed a couple of gems.
let's start with the entries that i don't consider as architectural abstracts. entries from : swimswithtrout, deepak kaw, sammy youssef, jomike, k5mitch, rosiesphoto, trixny, 40dee, priscilla messinger, jiri sedlacek mr, herve5 (i still stand by my claim that, for me, your subject is by far the most interesting of all shown here), sukotin and jkjond (though i'm glad you finally got round to processing that file).
i think john said it well, that an architectural abstract comes down to lines, geometry and shape. i can't really explain my workflow since i don't give it much thought in the first place, but when shooting together with some other photogs i do notice that i frequently am much closer to a building than the others. as if i, from the start, want to reduce the subject from all the "ballast" around it. to sort of de-complex it.
obviously, getting an interesting building in front of your lens is half the job and when you do, it's up to the photog to get the composition right. i find, in an architectural abstract it's not only important what's in the middle of the frame, but also how your achitectural abstract lines relate to the border and the corners of the frame. shooting an architectural abstract is very much a detail game.
subjects shown by robert fehnel, hobbiesarefun, pixd90, tarakanchik, rhlpetrus, cgs11, winniepoo, obsydian and joe huckleberry (joe, second shot is a much better architectural abstract) all have the potential to come up with good/great architectural abstracts.
another point i'd like to address, post processing is not the devil. i often hear photographers boast about getting the shot right straight out of the camera. i can understand that, i really do. but surely, playing/experimenting with contrast, brightness and why not colour balance won't send you to hell.
entries from james robertson (great example that you not always have to look for modern architecture to shoot an architectural abstract), rb0321, david a hamments and vittodigital (i've got a shot from the same building. i'll post it if you want to see it.) would all benefit from more thorough post processing.
okay, down to business. three entries stand out for me. makes for a very conveniently top three.
3rd place : cathedral caleidoscope by guilford
2nd place : the lowry by ian bramham
1st place : front to back to front by david41
it really was a close call between these two. ian, i love how you composed this shot, how you processed it and how you presented it (wish more people would pay attention to presentation. so important.), but david, that photo is just perfectly framed (love how you let that arch go all the way down to the right side of the photo). i find it an intriguing shot. so many layers. i even became to like the brown tones (though i'd love to see a darkish b&w version).
david, challenge #170 is all yours.
p.s. if anybody wants some personal cc, just let me know. cheers, peter.
we got off to a bit of a rocky start and i have to admit i was very close to throwing the towel at one point. i'm glad i didn't since then i'd have missed a couple of gems.
let's start with the entries that i don't consider as architectural abstracts. entries from : swimswithtrout, deepak kaw, sammy youssef, jomike, k5mitch, rosiesphoto, trixny, 40dee, priscilla messinger, jiri sedlacek mr, herve5 (i still stand by my claim that, for me, your subject is by far the most interesting of all shown here), sukotin and jkjond (though i'm glad you finally got round to processing that file).
i think john said it well, that an architectural abstract comes down to lines, geometry and shape. i can't really explain my workflow since i don't give it much thought in the first place, but when shooting together with some other photogs i do notice that i frequently am much closer to a building than the others. as if i, from the start, want to reduce the subject from all the "ballast" around it. to sort of de-complex it.
obviously, getting an interesting building in front of your lens is half the job and when you do, it's up to the photog to get the composition right. i find, in an architectural abstract it's not only important what's in the middle of the frame, but also how your achitectural abstract lines relate to the border and the corners of the frame. shooting an architectural abstract is very much a detail game.
subjects shown by robert fehnel, hobbiesarefun, pixd90, tarakanchik, rhlpetrus, cgs11, winniepoo, obsydian and joe huckleberry (joe, second shot is a much better architectural abstract) all have the potential to come up with good/great architectural abstracts.
another point i'd like to address, post processing is not the devil. i often hear photographers boast about getting the shot right straight out of the camera. i can understand that, i really do. but surely, playing/experimenting with contrast, brightness and why not colour balance won't send you to hell.
entries from james robertson (great example that you not always have to look for modern architecture to shoot an architectural abstract), rb0321, david a hamments and vittodigital (i've got a shot from the same building. i'll post it if you want to see it.) would all benefit from more thorough post processing.
okay, down to business. three entries stand out for me. makes for a very conveniently top three.
3rd place : cathedral caleidoscope by guilford
2nd place : the lowry by ian bramham
1st place : front to back to front by david41
it really was a close call between these two. ian, i love how you composed this shot, how you processed it and how you presented it (wish more people would pay attention to presentation. so important.), but david, that photo is just perfectly framed (love how you let that arch go all the way down to the right side of the photo). i find it an intriguing shot. so many layers. i even became to like the brown tones (though i'd love to see a darkish b&w version).
david, challenge #170 is all yours.
p.s. if anybody wants some personal cc, just let me know. cheers, peter.
