Sun bathing lathe

[Steffen]

Having acquired a D7000 recently and no chance of a vacation in the near future I started revisiting nearby shooting locations I liked in the past. One of them was Cockatoo Island with its many delicious subjects of decrepit industrial installations and buildings. A workshop adjacent to the turbine hall had this humongous lathe, and as I walked past the sun broke through the clouds and threw a lovely light through the windows.

I didn't have much time to compose and the light went away soon after. The crop is straight out of the camera and was pretty much determined by fences and other unsightly things surrounding the lathe.



Click for larger, EXIF intact, critique most welcome and appreciated.

Cheers
Steffen.

[biggerry]

Man, i got a strange mind, if only I could share with you what my thoughts were when reading this topic heading!

This is a nice composition with a HDR-ish feel to it, what is your in camera d-lighting set to? From a composition point of view I feel a bit extra on the left side would give the viewer more room to move as they travel thru the image, as it is it feels you get spat down there and its all cramped. Now i know that there is a fence to the left of you, however I think with a bit of cloning on the floor you could achieve a bit more room on the left.

This is another location where you really need to work hard to achieve a different look to the plethora of other images out there on the same location, i think teh lighting on the day has given you a edge here.
I don't think BW is a option here so your choice of colour makes me happy

[Steffen]

Thanks Gerry for taking the time to comment. I agree about the composition, it leaves me wanting, too.

This is a nice composition with a HDR-ish feel to it, what is your in camera d-lighting set to?

I'm mindful of the allergy sufferers out there, all my images are 100% HDR free

I'm not sure about the D-lighting setting, probably "auto" While I said the crop is straight out of the camera, the colours aren't. I did massage the levels in PP to make it come out the way it did.

I don't think BW is a option here so your choice of colour makes me happy

I do in fact have a BW ("bromide") version, but I like the colour one better:



Cheers
Steffen.

[biggerry]

I wonder if a subtle amount of vignetting would be appropriate here? I think this may mitigate the effect of the viewer being led out of the frame, also possibly processing the head of the lathe to be more prominent and hold the viewers attention.

[gstark]

I'm thinking along similar lines to Gerry wrt the subtle vignette, but I'm also wondering about going down a high contrast mono treatment path as well.

[biggerry]

I take back my opinion on the option for BW, I had a quick bash in PP, it could be a winner in BW, nice one Gary.

let me know if you want it removed or object to your images being edited.

[Steffen]

Looks like Gary lured us both down a very similar path, this is what I came up with:



Cheers
Steffen.

[zafra52]

Somehow I prefer the first one. It has more natural
look in my eyes. I also like the colours.

[gstark]

I do like the high contrast mono versions. And to my eye, this has also brought out some of the texture in the backround as well. This is, to me, a good thing.

I'm wondering where you guys are the sharpening now? Steffen, you have the original: I'd like to see the teeth on the gears sharpened up a notch or too, if possible. Is there something you can do there?

I think this image is really looking great already, btw.

[Steffen]

Steffen, you have the original: I'd like to see the teeth on the gears sharpened up a notch or too, if possible. Is there something you can do there?

Oh, that sharpening slider has a long way to go, I'm sure I can make those teeth look more gritty. I tend to be a bit hesitant with the sharpening in general, to my eyes many images are ruined by over-sharpening.

I'll have a play with it tonight when I get home.

EDIT So here it is. I had a grittier version but that one looked way overdone to me.



I have a feeling that this image (if one wants to go down the BW path) calls for something high-contrast yet very fine, like Technical Pan, rather than grainy or gritty.

Cheers
Steffen.