Glass and Steel

[Wendy Kates]

This image is not OOTB...yet. I would just like your opinion of it as an architectural photograph. I shot it in downtown Chicago in pretty harsh light, but I love the varied colors, textures and shapes. I did flip it horizontally since one's eye moves from left to right. Let me know if you think I need to keep working on it: too much negative space? additional cropping needed? perhaps a "cloud texture" to make the sky more interesting? Thanks in advance!

[Dennis Bishop]

I'm still working from a laptop with only part of the image visible at a time, but here's what I'd try first if it were mine. Your comment about the colors, textures, and shapes is the key. After probably rotating a bit clockwise, I'd do a free transform in Warp mode to straighten the verticals as much as possible. Then, I'd make a copy, stretch and flip it vertically, and do some masking to reveal parts of both layers (probably eliminating the sky entirely). Not masking and using the right blend mode might do something interesting, too. Have fun with it whatever you do.

[Wendy Kates]

Thanks, Dennis. I ended up doing something a little different from your suggestion, but I think it works: instead of flipping vertically, I did a 180 degree rotation, which totally eliminated the sky. I blended the image with the overlay mode, and masked the buildings, but retained the overlay in the portion that was originally sky, reducing the opacity to about 23%. I am not that comfortable with the warp tool so I left the "unstraightened" verticals as is. Not sure whether I like this better than the original post....

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I like your repost Wendy, and I think it would work well in black and well too. I would get rid of the tin black line on the left hand side.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Wendy,

Greetings. Interesting shot & repost. I would be inclined to straighten up the lines on the left as the top of the buildings seem compressed rather than open. To my eye... I like the overall design of the repost. Thanks for posting them.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Nancy Bell]

With the repost this image is OOTB! I really like the shadow buildings in the bkgd filling the sky area. Fabulous, and a very OOTB, idea! Since the verticals are so much part of this, I would like them to be very straight, especially the sharp front edge of the center black bldg. I agree with Jackie about removing the thin black line on the right, and would also remove the thin blue one on the left. I think this is a fascinating image of stark city buildings.

[gary ellwein]

Wendy, I love the varying shapes, colors, reflections and textures. Filling the sky space is a good idea. I like your repost. Dennis's suggestion sounds fun. I am one who has not mastered the warp functions of PSCC. I have found the lens correction features in camera raw a good starting point when trying to straighten things.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Wendy, I like your repost and also Dennis' suggestion. I agree with Nancy about wanting the lines to be vertical and also about cropping out the black line.