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Adare Castle – For your critique
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Complete newbie to all this so bear with me :? i’m doin photography classes, i’m using a Nikon D60 and just gettin to grips with it. I’ve photographed this castle plenty of times….so going on your comments i may put up more :lol:
C&C WELCOME
Mz Flick,
Not a bad effort starting out, there’s nothing particularly wrong with.
I suppose the only thing I’d say is that it lacks drama (apartr from the very dramatic c. Siobhan Kelly across the middle :-) ). The castle is placed quite conventionally in the centre of the photo, also I don’t know if there is a need for so much sky and water. If it was me I might crop out some or most of the river, I don’t think the reflection is particularly important in the photo. This would also highlight the length of the castle.
Its a pity you didn;t get the photo a few minutes earlier, as it looks like there might have been good light about twenty minutes earlier.
Anyways, keepy trying, you won’t be brilliant starting out, but you’ll improve quickly.
I agree with the above and also make the following suggestion.
Perhaps if you had moved a little to the left, while keeping your feet dry,
then the tree on the left mightn’t look as if it is growing within the castle
– unless of course, it is..This is a tricky castle to photograph. The main problem is that the sun sets beautifully over the river but if you are taking the classic view of castle from the bridge then the sunset is behind you. The second obstacle is the really orange floodlights on the castle which make life difficult after dusk. I’ve never passed the castle at sunrise but it might be worth checking out if you live in the area.
I think that you’ve done a pretty good job considering the above. I’d go along with Liams suggestion of cropping slightly from the bottom (but keeping the reflection). Also, a longer shutter speed might have helped to blur some of the distractions floating on the water. As for drama, maybe converting it to monochrome and boosting the contrast might be worth giving a go.
You’ve got a good eye for composition so keep it up!
also, try losing the watermark across the photo – its hard to concentrate on a shot when someones name is sprawled across it in bold black letters.
as for the photo, its grand, i like the reflections.
go back when ya have better weather – a more interesting sky.
I’ve passed this castle quite a few times around sunrise Kev. 5 times a week for over 2 years really… though the time of the sunrise changes obviously. The sun really rises in the wrong spot to shoot from this angle, its easier to shoot it at sunset. However on a foggy morning it can really work with some backlight and mist lifting off the river.
The real problem with shooting here is that its so bloody dangerous. You have to walk onto the middle of that bridge and its always busy. There’s little room to setup a tripod, even in the little gaps in the bridge and you really have to constantly watch your back.
This image though Sinead, as the others have said, is a good start. For me, its a little soft, maybe you need to use a bigger aperture, but I can’t make out any very sharp part of the castle. The day just wasn’t right either, there’s no real light in the sky. Liam’s probably right, 20 minutes before and it could have been much better.
Composition is very strong though, keep it up.
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