Can anyone give me some tips about the composition of this pic? And does the bridge look stupid the way it is? Rendered in P4, plant life slapped on in Painter 7, dry brush filter applied in Photoshop 7 (but didn't apply it to the bridge). The bridge is an excellent freebie by Rebsweb. Search for 'bridge.'

I'd even the bridge and make it more centered. Looks like its drooped to the left and that creates an optical thing which moves the eye that way. Center and even it. Needs shadows. I'm sure you plan on developing the grass, water, etc. No, I don't think the bridge is stupid, actually, you could make a really great scene with a Dani tribeswoman and her kids walking across it (Indonesian New Guinnea style).

you might do with a tree or shrub in the foreground.

There is an art thing called Value Degration. Basically you can impart a 3d effect by establishing bright in the foreground, dark in the background or visa versa. Here you scene is of the same lightness regardless of distance. This causes the back to pile onto the front. Once you establish a scheme don't break it. For example if you do dark in front and light in back be careful not to stick something light in the foreground or that will act like an anchor and destory the illusion. Also some artifacts where the bridge meets the dirt would be nice. A rock in the right spot can imaprt depth if its in front of the bridge rails. You can also perform detail degration which works similar to value degration only as far as focus. A sharper, more focused and etail item between the viewer and the bridge and duller items behind the bridge can add depth as well. Right now you have nothing in the foreground to establish depth or scale. The eye gets to the bridge then the scene cascades off into flatness going toward the viewer. Maybe a bunny rabbit or bird on a tree would help. Nice pic. I like the grass and trees. Again the grass is monotone in detail. Having sharper grass in front and bluryer in back could help.

You've created a really beautiful picture but I think the problem with the bridge is it's facing straight on. Try tweaking the pic slightly and give a more isoemtric (3/4) view of the bridge. This would alleviate alot of the flatness you're seeing. My 2 cents worth ;)

The positioning of the bridge is really crucial here. The composition of the background forest moves the eye to the right of the picture, as does the bend in the creek. I think that should be balanced by moving the bridge slightly so that it starts further up on the left bank and balances the composition. You might want change the camera angle slightly after this to center it on the bridge. The strength in this picture lies in the composition, the balance between the background, the creek and the bridge. Some work here will result in a very pleasing picture, no doubt.

What the previous folks said is good. But in real life, there would probably be a path to the bridge on both sides.

try making a small thumbnail and looking at it then.this helps me alot when deciding on composition.

Dang, the path! It was in the early planning stages but as I got more into the pic, I forgot all about it. Thanks everyone, I'm saving this page and will try to implement the suggestions. Also, I thought the center of attention (the bridge) was supposed to be off-center for proper composition? I also forgot to mention, there will be a child sitting on the bridge looking down into the water (I hope). Thanks again.

Well, if you're putting a child on it, then it would be the child who should be off center as the focal point of the pict. Right now for me the bridge is very two dimensional because I'm not reading the slats as having any depth. I'd change the camera angle, up, down sideways, maybe two directions. I tend to like Up and sideways because people look rather nice looking up at you, however a child would be looking down at the water I think so maybe down and to one side or another. I didn't notice the lack of a path, could be hidden in the grass, stuff like rocks or leaves where the bridge is fastened would help. Emily

One very basic question that hasn't bee addressed is what kind of mood are you wanting to set? If you're wanting something kind of peaceful you might consider making the banks shallower. Speaking of banks, right now the banks are rather steep considering they have all the vegetation still growing on them. Just completely "what-if" ing, if the child is seated on the left side of the bridge, you might consider actually darkening parts of the background a little more but adding a sunbeam coming through the trees from the upper right corner of the picture to the area where the kid is sitting. It looks like you kind of have that going on now - the right bank appears to be in the shade - but it might help to define the border between shadow and light a little more tightly. Just an idea.

Thanks queri, I will change the camera angle and it might be easier to hide the path than create one, as my skills in Painter aren't all that great. Bob, this pic started out as something totally different (a chase scene) then evolved into what it is now. I'll play with the banks. Resaving this page, gonna play with ALL the suggestions. Thanks again.