Critique Welcomed Wandering Around Downtown

[Keith Hollister]

My wife wanted to take the dog for an outing this morning, so we went walking around Lake Eola downtown. While Ripley (our Golden Retriever) got assaulted by swans, I went looking for interesting architecture on the adjacent streets. Not particularly productive, but I did get a couple interesting shots. The first one is looking up through an interesting sculpture that was recently installed - it is actually a large mobile and several of the "arms" spin slowly in the wind. I need to go back with a tripod and a 10-stop ND to capture the motion.

Fuji X-E2 and XF 14mm. The sculpture was with the Rokinon 8mm fisheye

 

[Rob MacKillop]

That first one is amazing. The rest are buildings...good shots...but that first is amazing!

 

[Keith Hollister]

Thanks, Rob.

 

[Brian Moore]

I like 2 and 3 especially, Keith. The angles are interesting and whereas color works well for 2 B&W seems to work well for 3. Very nice!

 

[Lesley Jones]

I love them all, but I have to agree with Rob - that first one is wonderful

 

[Keith Hollister]

Thanks Brian - I mean they are "just buildings" after all The 4th one really doesn't work too well - I should shoot it with a longer lens to eliminate the parking garage below - next time. With most architecture, it's all about the angles (and light, of course).

Thanks, Leslie. The sculpture is pretty unique (and far more interesting than the other junk our taxpayer dollars paid for that the city installed around the lake), but I think the image would be far more compelling if I could frame it without the building and power lines getting in the way. Can't get there from here, though.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Love #1 - very unique viewpoint - that fisheye was perfect for this

Also the colors in #2 - really nice palette of blues and greens

 

[Peter McCullough]

Love them Keith, fantastic angles and colours there, that Samyang 8mm is a beauty lens for that style of photography.

 

[Julian de'Courcy]

Great set , yet the first is very strong for me. It has attributes that thrive on my insecurities.

 

[Pete Askew]

Ver nice set Keith. I too really like the fisheye shot but I see what you mean about the garage. How about a bit more cropping -it look like that should still work and keep the abstract shape and the relationship between the sculpture and the clouds. I like the mono one very much too.

 

[Keith Hollister]

As I recall, I had the camera overhead at arm's length, so I can't frame it tighter with the fisheye (unless I bring a ladder ). Maybe I'll try the 14mm lying flat on the ground. I already lost quite a bit of resolution by cropping square, so I'm reluctant to keep cropping too much. I may have to take the D800 and shoot it at 16mm or so. It's local, so I can experiment.

I really like the Art Deco wavy metal panelling above the Publix sign - the vintage style of the building fits with B&W well. While the building is interesting as far as some vintage styling cues, it is quite monochromatic and there is nothing particularly interesting color wise (other than the saturated blue sky).