Town Hall Variations

I went to St James Park the other night to try a few more photos of town hall. I was a little late to get the lowering sun hitting the building directly. But since I was there anyway, I took some shots. I guess the practice is good for me. I am going to show three results for what it's worth.

This one takes in the whole building and reflection and is also cropped relatively tightly on both sides although I have left some breathing room.

I then thought of using a tree as a partial frame in a tighter crop. I don't mind too much that I didn't get the flag. I am not ecstatic about the image, but I think it was worth a try.

Finally, in terms of processing although I think it was actually the first shot taken, is the image of the three that I like best even though I processed it last, kind of as an afterthought when I went back to look at the series again.

I like the third one best for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I was more zoomed out, which gives town hall more breathing space and puts it in context better in my opinion. Also, I seem to have processed it more naturally in terms of what the light was like that night. Finally, the 4x5 crop ratio seems to work better than the 2x3 ratio of the first one above.

My printer can print a 2x3 ratio quite well on 13x19 paper; I can go to 12x18 for the actual print and use almost all of the paper. This is why I always look for a 2x3 crop first. If I crop to a 4x5 ratio, the best I can print is a 12x15 image. While that isn't a bad size, I can more easily find frames to fit the former than the latter. Otherwise, I pretty well have to crop a little more to 11x14 for which there are plenty of frames. While 11x14 isn't too much of a different crop, it is still a smaller image.

Since I don't actually print too many images, it really shouldn't matter a lot if I crop it differently to non-standard dimensions, and I sometimes do for the web, but I still tend to look at the standard ratios first.

Addendum: I know I often do this: finish a post and then add something. But I saw one more in the series. It shows the whole bridge, which is certainly a viable option. It's not perfect with the reflection truncated, but it might be a good starting point for next time if I get back there when the light is more to my liking. As well as the one just above.