Composition

I will go for the first shot, even if the chain is a little distracting for my taste. But the chain keeps the interest focused on the capstans, as it forms a sort of frame.

The second shot does nothing for me, and the last framing lacks something.

The best book I have read about composition is "Principles of composition in photography by Andreas Feininger. He pretty much debunks most of the "rules".

Long out of print, it is a book to buy SH if you are interested in this subject. No other book about composition that I have read even comes close.

So do not worry too much about the rules of composition.

Out of the 3, this one works best for me.

In the other two the chain, for me, does not work as any type of natural frame or relevant element in the scene.

you have to ask yourself what has the photographer added to the image

Actually they are only guides for people to optionally use.

They certainly are not enforceable rules.

For curiosity, I had a look on Ebay, where I usually hunt for SH books. It was once very cheap. Now I see it has become pretty rare and expensive.

Sometimes, we find what looked interesting and promising in the field, was pretty boring when we get home and look at the pictures on the PC. It is all part of the quest to make interesting pictures.

I rarely find that extreme post processing, B&W conversion or radical cropping, can save a picture that was not quite there.

Obviously that is true to some extent but especially if shooting raw and depending on the post processing skills of a photographer some very amazing things can be done in post to come up with very usable images when things didn't quite go to plan when the shot was taken.

No, that is not true. A flawed composition is never rescued by mucking around in post. You should make sure things go to plan when you shoot. Otherwise reshoot.

It depends on the type of compositional flaw and the extent the composition was flawed.

Another example is when the lens doesn't have enough reach for the composition you want. Cropping in post can often improve the composition.

There are many other situations where cropping in post can improve the final image.

I hope this doesn't violate the don't edit someone's image without permission rule but you seem to be asking for cropping advice and/or help on "rescuing" your image.

It's difficult in this case to describe a crop accurately without actually posting it.

Yes, I agree you need a subject/focal point for the eyes. One option is to make the Turncoat Bar sign the "subject".

A crop something like this works much better for me but the crop still lacks "drama".

If it was mine, I would turn it into a night scene with either moon light or a spotlight of some kind focussed on the sign.

You could also highlight elements of the bridge with lighting.

That would create an interesting image for me.

Something like this below?

Yes that could work as well depending on what else you might do with it.

This becomes very subjective now and comes down to personal taste and goal for the final image. The crop below is very tight and would probably need to be enlarged to some extent with something like Gigapixel to make it more useful.

Personally, I prefer the panoramic crop above, only because it gives me more options to play with lighting, as described earlier, to highlight different elements to help guide the viewers' eyes around the scene.

I think Alan's uncropped version in the op would make another excellent starter image in the "Edit Me An Image" threads to see what members would come up with to make it an interesting image.

For me the first image is the better one. The important details if we are trying to give away location or say something about history, are the bar sign as well as the old manual lock mechanisms.
I like the the different edits too, I didn't picture this as a pano at all and that was interesting.

These pictures make me want tacos. El Jefe's is open to 2am on the south side of the Commons. Midnight Tacos!

Did you get any images of the Independence?

Edit: Silly me, reminded me so much of Boston and it is actually Liverpool! It would help if I read those detailed signs!

First question would be, what are we trying to compose exactly? What's the subject? What are we're trying to show the viewers? Once we've decided on the above questions, we can compose so that the composition serves the purpose.

So depending on the goals, the chain in the foreground can be a distraction or it can be an important element.