I took these for challenges but for some reason didn't submit them. Nevertheless, I still really like these shots and I thought I'd share them.
The first picture is inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
The second is less widely regarded in the same light as The Great Gatsby, but is still heralded as a cult classic, Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I think the first one was for Billboard... and it probably would've been killed because of the not conforming to the ratio.
The Hitchhiker's one was for late night, and I was waiting all week for a clear night to get a spiral stars effect, but nothing doing, and that's all that happened. I wasn't overly satisfied at the time though in hindsight I imagine it would've been ok.
Now knowing that Eckleburg was for "Billboards", I think you could have gotten a much more intense effect if you had concentrated on the eyes, cropping out the negative space. The black is great, showing only the eyes is exactly what you need, but the negative space makes him lose his oppressive and all-knowing quality.
Yeah, in hindsight I could've cropped the frame to the specified size while at the same time keeping to the same subject matter. I would've missed the effect the negative space contributes, however. It would be interesting to see how such a shot would've fared
