Thursday, August 18, 2011

Photo of the Week: Chicago Vertical

Chicago Vertical
Nikon D7000 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/500sec at f8, ISO200. © Andy Marfia 2011 All Rights Reserved.

This week's photo is of the iconic Chicago Theater and State Street, as seen from the elevated platform at State and Lake.  Specifically I was standing on the stairs leading up to the platform when I snapped this shot.

I've been sitting on this photo for a couple of months.  I guess that's not that significant-- I have photos that I've been sitting on for years for various reasons.  In this case, the composition just wasn't quite working for me.  Here's the original:

DSC_4467_DxO

In this earlier version, the Chicago Theater and the "Godo Good" street light are meant to anchor the composition.  That's what I was shooting when I took the photo.  However, when I pulled it up on my computer afterward, I found myself much more intrigued by the guy running across the street.  I like how he juxtaposes with the vertical city around him.  Thus I arrived at the finished photo on top, cropped to 12x6 and losing most of the right side.  You're welcome to disagree, but I think it's a much more interesting photograph.

This is the third time that I've tried this particular crop, and I really like it.  There will definitely be more to come down the road.

1 comment:

JohnAK said...

It's interesting how a simple crop can alter our perception of a photograph. Nicely done. I like them both, but do prefer the vertical crop with the focus on the guy running across the street.