Part of an online "Visual Conversation": http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1005&message=24230370

Flemming Bo wrote:
> Yesterday I shot the amazing sunset from Kings Garden right in the
> middle of Copenhagen. the castle is Rosenborg Castle.


Geez you have some great places and gorgeous skies! I also like the way you see things; you are seeking out what is important in a place.

> This is the colour version, I have a black and white one as well that
> I'll upload tomorrow - can't decide which one is the best. I tried to
> dig a bit of info out of the shadows without overdoing it, I didn't
> want the hdr look.


The color is important here; especially wih the sky.
Celebrate the colors when they present themselves so intensely!

A few comments for you, which I will try to do in a logical sequence.

1. What's the primary subject here? Obviously the castle.


Theory: An image works the best when the composition reinforces the primary subject.

A few things that can easily do that.


2. Our eyes are drawn first to areas of brightness and contrast.
So my eye is strongly directed to the high contrast skyline.
Given the crop and amount of image area devoted to it, that emphasizes the big trees.
Are the trees the primary subject? No.
Howeve; including the trees is important because it tells a story about the place,
the grand open spaces and gardens. (Beautiful BTW).

3. So how to emphasize and direct our eye (with the compositional tools at our disposal) to reinforce the primary subject?
In this case probably with a crop. Now the spiky profile of the castle is more prominent and works to draw our eye to the castle.
The "spikyness" of the castle stands out against the more rounded silhouette of the trees, reinforcing its importance (opposites).

4. Also I brightened the shadows a bit to reveal the great colors in the castle which are sympathetic to the sky's colors.
Using sympathetic colors does reinforce the primary subject.
I chose the colored mats to be colors to direct the eye to, which are colors from the castle.
Also, the castle has such rich architectural details, so it would seem important to include that as it tells a richer story that just the silhouette by itself.
Granted that the silhouette is great, it just tells more of a story to include the rest of it.

5. On using porportions.
A comment on the placement of the horizon. Placing the base of the castle at the golden mean point would have been more "harmonious" or balanced.
The theory is that the more you deviate from that, the more expressive it is as it creates more "visual tension".
In this case it's just about perfect as the situation is certainly dramatic where the higher visual tension of placing the hroizon where you did nicely suits the drama.
It also shows off the great sky. Placing the castle more to the left of the golden mean is also expressive which adds something here and emphasizes the importance of the gardens as a contectual counterpoint.