Hi Sarah, I am going to guess this location is just down the road from where you work (La Trobe Street!?) and this is a good thing! More on that later, though!
Repeating motifs and leading lines are useful design elements within good photography… but what is also important is good lighting, supporting elements and the occasional sense of movement or moment.
As I look at this image I just see a very average, static scene.
There are two things that you can do in this instance. The first is to use Photoshop to try to save this photograph. In this instance I have used the Gaussian Blur tool to soften the top and bottom of the picture (a pseudo “tilt-lens” effect) so that we can concentrate on the repeating rail lines. I also lightened parts of the image using the dodge tool for the sake of making the image feel lighter and more inviting.
What I think this image really needs though is some movement or an additional element happening with the frame. That is why I have also added that figure of a man walking across the tracks – just to give you an example of how an extra element like this can add to the story of an image!
Ideally, if you get the chance I would go back to this location after work one evening, I would take the camera, a tripod and a hot coffee and I would wait for more magic to happen within the scene. It might be a railway worker walking across those tracks, but it might also be a V-Line train heading out on that right hand side of the scene. If this is the case I would use a low ISO setting (100), a small aperture (f16) and see if you can a slow shutter speed happening to create motion blur.
I would also keep an eye on the light within the scene… the lighting in this image is very flat. Perhaps have a look at this location when there is a chance of a warm glow from a sunset… or even in midday… when you can get a few hard shadows on the ground too.
If this location is really close to where you work then this is a perfect place to explore how the time of day and weather conditions can make all the difference in the world to a photo.
By chance, my office is just down the road from this same rail yard! I know it well!
Cheers,
The Image Doctor.
VLines - Image Doctor's edited version
