Misha - I think it depends on what you are trying to show with your shot. It also depends on the shot itself. What you are doing in the right photo is actually a photographic technique. It's called "closure". The theory behind it, as described by Gestalt Theory, is that the human mind loves to see patterns and complete things. You ever read or look at something and you realize a little later you "saw" something that wasn't there? That was your mind finishing stuff ... sort of jumping ahead and guessing before it got all the information. We just enjoy "finishing" stuff. When you use closure (oddly enough, in closure, the act of cropping that way is called "opening a subject") to compose a photograph, you invite the mind to be active in the image. It will also add a dynamic element to the what may be a static image. And the theory is that, in making it much more interesting to the viewer, they will look at it longer.

I don't think it works here because while you cropped the top off, you left the building centered. If you were closer in to the building, looking up more ... where it would look more forboding, more oppressive, more dynamic, etc. then it might work better.

-=>Donald

Message edited on: 06/21/2004 06:55