# Yates Mill Pond through my eyes



## ponygurl65 (Jul 26, 2012)

This is my take on Yates Mill Pond in Raleigh NC 

Any feedback is welcome


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jul 26, 2012)

The tilt is so...so...so artsy!


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## o hey tyler (Jul 26, 2012)

I just fell over.


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## 480sparky (Jul 27, 2012)

I'll bet that water wheel goes 2500 RPM.


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## Buckster (Jul 27, 2012)

First, you need to understand when and why to tilt an image, and that knowledge will help you improve your compositions.  Start here: Dutch angle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this case, I see no reason or justification to portray tension or uneasiness associated with the mill.


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## SCraig (Jul 27, 2012)

She did say it was through her eyes .....


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## Buckster (Jul 27, 2012)

SCraig said:


> She did say it was through her eyes .....


She also said any feedback is welcome, and I'd welcome her explaination of why she wants to introduce tension or psycho-drama to a peaceful mill landscape. 

Bottom line: It doesn't work for me, and I'm not getting the feeling anyone else is buying into the tilt either.


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## Bynx (Jul 27, 2012)

I agree with Buckster. The tilt is just not necessary other than to create controversy among those critiquing.


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## MK3Brent (Jul 27, 2012)

I'm so curious about the human perception of things. 
Disorders like anorexia for example... People see something in the mirror, and see a monster.
People see a subject, and tilt the camera almost 45° and think "Perfect!" 

I just don't know why... People are interesting things.


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## ponygurl65 (Jul 27, 2012)

The tilt was result of the angle I had to shoot in order to get this shot.  I for one love the angle but that's my opinion.  I did say I welcome feedback,  but not hostility.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Jul 27, 2012)

ponygurl65 said:


> The tilt was result of the angle I had to shoot in order to get this shot.



Could you give a more detailed explanation of why your camera could only be held at an angle?


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## ponygurl65 (Jul 27, 2012)

Its where I was having to stand to get that shot, only way to get it how I wanted was at the angle. I for one love the picture and get tons of compliments on it, everyone is entitles to their opinion.  I just don't see the problem with an angled picture but that's just my opinion.


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## Steve5D (Jul 28, 2012)

ponygurl65 said:


> I did say I welcome feedback,  but not hostility.



Unfortunately, those two words are synonymous for some here...


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## cgipson1 (Jul 28, 2012)

Too much tilt! How to fix it? Don't tilt the camera!


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## Bynx (Jul 28, 2012)

What you are taking as hostility is just the feedback from the information supplied. Its coming out that there was a reason for the angle you took the shot from. Without that information it just looks like someone who doesnt know any better, trying to be different took a picure from a bad angle and posts it on the internet, saying arent I clever for doing this. If you had supplied some information along with your photo then with a better understanding why you did it would certainly soften the comments made. Im sure you have heard the expression "garbage in garbage out". It seems to fit here nicely so to paraphrase that a bit "nothing in nothing out". It never hurts to explain what your intentions were or why you think your shot is worth posting especially when its such a break of the rules such as this shot.


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## Buckster (Jul 28, 2012)

Not seeing any hostility here, just opinion, feedback and information, which is to be expected when posting a photo and inviting feedback here.

That out of the way, I still don't get why the camera couldn't be turned level.  I looked at hundreds of photos of Yates Mill on Google, and not one was tilted, though many were shot from at least very close to this same angle and perspective.  Thus, I can't say that I'm buying the "forced to tilt" explanation at this point, considering what I saw on Google and my own experiences with handling cameras and lenses and shooting photos.

My take on it then is that it appears that it can be shot level, but you chose not to, which is certainly your prerogative. The question in my mind still remains though: Why?  What are you trying to say to the viewers of this photo about this mill with that (extreme) tilt?  I'm just asking, because I don't personally get it, especially when I understand compositional elements well enough to understand what a Dutch tilt like this is supposed to achieve.

The EXIF is apparently stripped from this.  What are you shooting with?  Is it that your lens is limited, not wide enough to capture all you wanted in one shot, perhaps?  If that's the case, sometimes a stitched panorama of 2 or more photos can get around the problem nicely.

The compositional choices we make are very important.  They can make or break a photo.  The golden mean, the rule of thirds, balance, and the rest of the compositional "rules" are all guidelines that can be broken, but it's important to know when and why and how to break them.  The same is true for Dutch Tilt.

It's great that you like it a lot, and sometimes that's all that matters.

It's also nice that you're getting "tons of compliments" for this photo, but I suspect that's mostly, or maybe entirely, from friends and family who are, frankly, usually unreliable at giving straight, unbiased, unvarnished and knowledgeable criticism on our photos.  Are people buying prints of it and hanging them prominently in their homes and businesses?  I'll bet they're not.

If it's not just friends and family, I'd be interested to check out the links to the photo critique sites and forums where you're getting "tons of compliments" to try to get a grip on what they're seeing in this image that I'm not.

Try to read the above without hostility, as that's how it was written.  I'm simply interested in learning more about this image and your compositional choices regarding it.  I'm not above learning something new myself - I do it pretty much every day.  

Again, if you like it, sometimes that's all that matters.  I'd like it if you could help me understand it better so that I can like it too.  :thumbup:


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## ponygurl65 (Jul 31, 2012)

Looking at the photos of yates mill on Google and actually being there are 2 very different things. I was standing at a very difficult angle and that is why I had to tilt it.


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## Buckster (Jul 31, 2012)

ponygurl65 said:


> Looking at the photos of yates mill on Google and actually being there are 2 very different things. I was standing at a very difficult angle and that is why I had to tilt it.


I wonder how everyone else managed to shoot it without tilting their camera?


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## Rick58 (Jul 31, 2012)

Seeing that this photo has already been taken through the "mill". I'll leave it alone. 
I'll just say that, in my opinion, a tradition B&W subject needs the feel of a traditional photograph. Now, if this was a lead-in photo to a story of the haunted Yates mill, it might work.


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