Critique Welcomed Der Spiegel acting as Der Spiegel!

[Bill Watts]

A very distinctive building in Hamburg, headquarters of The Mirror newspaper. [Der Spiegel]. How appropriate that it should be acting as a mirror and reflecting the sky.

Camera: Olympus Air A-01
Lens: Olympus mZuiko.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ @14mm [28mm equiv]
Exposure: f3.5, 1/1250s, ISO 200



Unfortunately due to works going on at the Deichtorhallen I could not get back far enough to get the whole building in and do a keystone correction. I will go armed with my mZuiko 7-14mm f2.8 next time!

 

[Beth Anthony]

or go with a pano. it is very der spigelish.

apart from what you've already mentioned about verticalling the verticals, i'd move the camera up just a smidge higher to get over the two black pipes/bollards on the bottom left.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

Definitely an architecture that stands out, and the title is more than apt. Thank you, @Bill Watts.

 

[Bill Watts]

Does this work better? Bearing in mind I did not have a wide enough wide angle lens to photograph the whole building? boosted the saturation a little too.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

I liked the first version more. Just a personal opinion.

 

[Stefan Wilde]

I guess the second shot would work as part of a series. The first shot gives an impression of the dimensions, the second one doesn't because you can't see where the building ends. But the second one is more focused on the building itself... I was told once that in architecture photography it is good to start with an overview of the building in its surroundings and then get ever closer for the detail. So this two picture mini series is by the book You can never have enough pictures...

 

[Bill Watts]

I guess the second shot would work as part of a series. The first shot gives an impression of the dimensions, the second one doesn't because you can't see where the building ends. But the second one is more focused on the building itself... I was told once that in architecture photography it is good to start with an overview of the building in its surroundings and then get ever closer for the detail. So this two picture mini series is by the book You can never have enough pictures...

G'day Stefan,
i have a day off work tomorrow, if the sun shines i may venture back with my 7-14mm lens and try again - then I will have 3 pictures!

 

[Bill Watts]

Re taking with a wider angle lens to get all the building in:-

Camera: Olympus Air A-01
Lens: Olympus mZuiko 7-14mm F2.8
Exposure: f8, 1/329s, ISO 200 @ 11mm (22mm equiv.)
Converging lines corrected and image cropped in Affinity Photo 2.

Which one looks better?



or

 

[Pete Askew]

The first of the latest two for me, Bill. I always like context, and the wall with its graffiti adds that and a stylistic contrast. I would be tempted to correct the verticals and horizontals in PS though.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

I totally agree with Pete about everything he said. Nice one, @Bill Watts.

 

[Bill Watts]

G'day Pete, Gianluca many thanks for the comments. Pete, the verticals have already been corrected a lot I was actually very close to the building, and the building is not square to the path I was standing on, the left corner is farther away than the right.

 

[Pete Askew]

Hi Bill. Have you ever tried using Edit/Transform/Distort in PhotoShop? I’m not saying that this image needs it, but I find you can often sort out asymmetric corrections better using that than some of the other correction methods / software.

 

[Bill Watts]

Hi Bill. Have you ever tried using Edit/Transform/Distort in PhotoShop? I’m not saying that this image needs it, but I find you can often sort out asymmetric corrections better using that than some of the other correction methods / software.

Effectively that is what I was using, the perspective tool in Affinity Photo performs these functions - I just need to get better at using it!