Pathway on the Water Villageby
ZulComment by dr rick: Greetings from the Critique Club
This is certainly an interesting place to make a photo. There is a nice rhythm in the rooftops and the fence, and a great cloud. Lots of nice lines (converging on a Vanishing Point, which is important for this challenge). And the vertical format complements the scene.
But two things make it a bit boring: the harsh mid-day light and the centered composition. Taking photos close to sunrise or sunset gives both more appealing color and interesting shadows. And keep the rule of thirds in mind; put the focal point a third of the way up or down (and/or left or right) for a more interesting composition. No "rule" in photography is hard and fast; there are always times to ignore them. But they are working against you here.
The composition of this photo could be improved by cropping. Unlike iamwoman, I would keep the sky and crop some of the bottom; the sky is interesting, the pathway is not. While I'm at it, I'd also crop off some of the right; the fence is a bit overwhelming there in the foreground, and it throws off the balance.
It would also help a lot to darken the sky to make the cloud more dramatic. This can be done without spot editing by using Shadows/Highlights to darken the highlights or, for finer control, using Curves to increase the highlight contrast. Using a polarizer while shooting probably would have worked even better.
Overall, not a bad photo. But not a very interesting one either. Keep making pictures; getting your vision across in a photo takes lots of practice.
Photographer found comment helpful.