This weekend marks the 240th year of the birth of the United States of America. Below is a photo of the famous Liberty Bell replica on display in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom with the Hall of Presidents behind it. Happy Birthday to America and to my fellow countrymen.
Liberty Bell replica on display in Liberty Square.
Nikon D700/24-120VR, 1/125s, f/18, ISO 320, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length.
Technical information about this photo. I used a small aperture and focused on the Liberty Bell which is about a third into the frame. This put everything in focus from the bell back to the Hall of Presidents. Not totally happy with this photo. As an exercise for the reader, can you tell me why you think I am not happy with it?
Hi Scott. I personally don’t like the location of the two flag poles: the one coming out of the top of the bell and the other one bisecting “The Hall of Presidents”. My problem with this is that I don’t seem to notice those things until after I get set up or have taken the picture.
Scott replies: Bingo!!! Yeah, sometimes we are concentrating so hard on the main subjects, we fail to see the entire scene. It’s a good idea to get in the habit of scanning the edges around the viewfinder for distractions. Easier to “see” when one does it on purpose as opposed to just looking and shooting. A good lesson for all of us!
I’m guessing that you would have liked the bell to be more dominant even if you didn’t get the entire bell in photo–a portion would have been better with just a bit of hall of presidents in background–crop out sky, bell stand, etc. Am I right?
Scott replies: Kind of. The bell is find but the angle I used here has way too many distractions from the yellow flag and flag pole sticking out of the top of the bell to the other flag pole dissecting the Hall of Presidents. I should have moved to my left to simplify the photo and remove those distractions.
Did you know this spot- exactly where you stood to shoot this photo, is also a fantastic spot to watch and shoot Wishes ?
Scott replies: I did not know that! Will have to check it out.
Hi Scott –
Could it be that you put the horizon in the middle of the photo and not in the top or bottom third?
– Jeff
Scott replies: While I do have the horizon in the middle, the subject is the Liberty Bell and it is front and center as was not the reason for my concern.
Is it the yellow flag?
Scott replies: That is one issue. I should have checked the image for anything like that along the edges of the frame. Good catch!
Perhaps you wanted to be able to capture the crack in the bell with the Hall of Presidents in the background but the bell is such that the crack is on the other side of the bell from your shooting perspective.
Scott replied: No, not really. As you pointed out, that would have been impossible. 🙂