# How would you fix this photo?



## Isabella111 (Apr 21, 2010)

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff8/bbbother6/P4217333-2.jpg

Here is the original photo:

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff8/bbbother6/P4217333-1.jpg

I am working on lighting and composition and the rule of thirds... 

How would you fix it?

Should it be cropped differently?

Thanks!


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## eric-holmes (Apr 21, 2010)

It appears out of focus


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## LaFoto (Apr 22, 2010)

Well, I'd definitely leave in all four windows, and would only crop out the bits of green grass at the bottom. Not much else.

Apart from that I'd probably up the contrasts some more, play around with saturation just to see how far that would take me, or with desaturated versions, depending ... and I'd add an Unsharp Mask to bring out some more sharpness.


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## aastropak (Apr 22, 2010)

hi,
i would like to remove all the rust(corroded one in the pic) and later will add some lighting effects and remove the wire which is hanging over the  third one..
and later will add some Hue & satuaration along wid contrast levels accordingly to hihglight the pic


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## aastropak (Apr 22, 2010)

hi,
i would like to remove all the rust(corroded one in the pic) and later  will add some lighting effects and remove the wire which is hanging over  the  third one..
and later will add some Hue & satuaration along wid contrast levels  accordingly to highlight the pic 		
 		  		  		 		  		 		 			 				__________________


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## pbelarge (Apr 22, 2010)

I am curious

what are you seeing in this shot?


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## Russell.T (May 3, 2010)

I'm thinking the same, Pierre.  What exactly are you intending for this picture to convey?


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## KmH (May 3, 2010)

You don't have edit preferences selected in your profile.

Let me know if you want me to take the edit down.

I corrected the distortion some. (At the sides) Cropped out the grass.

I edited to make the uninteresting stuff recede, but kept the leading line.


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## eriqalan (May 6, 2010)

1) forget any "rules" like the so called rule of thirds (actually derived from how much weight a roof can support of all things and it isn't even thirds but 1 to 1.61..... - an irrational fraction). In this case you have an image in which that is improper in any event; the idea of the rule is that you have a single subject that you put at the "thirds" intersection (in this case the entire building is the subject - to apply the rule here you would have to see the building from far away, by itself in a field ...)

2) you have two different stories told by the crop - the original dark, dank, dilapidated 4 window shot that looks like an abandoned building crowded among other buildings and the brighter, 3 window shot that looks like it is apart from other buldings

Why did you crop that window out? What did that add to the picture?

Why did you brighten it like that? what does that add to the picture?

When I teach classes I try as a first exercise to get students to do this exercise: look at this picture and describe what you see, what it says to you. For example "The orange short-haired tabby cat chased the red and white striped rubber ball down the curved black wrought-iron railed staircase past the terra cotta pots with agave and yellow-and-red canna flowers, with the vine covered stucco wall on the other side, to the red brick tiled floor below with the fluffy white rugs on the floor" it takes all that description to build the image that ONE picture can show - that is the job of the photographer - to tell the story with one image

Do that with your picture - what story are you trying to tell? Look at both images and try the same exercise

Photographers do not take pictures by "rules". they take pictures on what they see, the beauty, the horror, the glory, the fear, the joy; the vibrancy (or life) or the sorrow, emptiness, death of these buildings as you seem to have done

Let the critics come up with remarks like some fanciful rules; just take pictures of what appeals to you


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## magkelly (May 6, 2010)

It is a bit blurry that can only be helped so much, but first I cropped it a bit then I tweaked the exposure and offset, used the smart sharpen filter and the hand sharpen tool in Photoshop. I then enhanced the reds in the picture by tweaking the color and levels and by using a red photo filter on a very subtle setting. I liked the rusty wire and the rust around the window. I thought they added character to the shot actually and I wouldn't get rid of them. It is what it is, a gritty shot of an old, decaying building. Making it too pretty kills the focus of the shot IMHO.


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## Jeff Colburn (May 7, 2010)

Did you shoot this through a window screen? It has that look.

As others have said, there is no main subject to this image. Now, if you were to photograph just one of the windows (shoot each one separately and make them a series) that would improve things. Also, shooting straight on is a little static.

Have Fun,
Jeff


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## KmH (May 7, 2010)

Could the OP be a one post member? It's been a couple of weeks.


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## Cpt.Beyond (Aug 27, 2010)

Do you particularly like this shot, or is it a test to make it into more than what it is (a simple shot, for me).


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