Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Jonathan Wienke on December 29, 2005, 03:08:53 pm
-
(http://www.visual-vacations.com/images/2005-12-02_0021.jpg)
-
A very nice subject--a nice emotional feeling to the shot. You have a good eye for subjects that do well in black and white. I like the tonal range; you did a nice job on the B&W conversion. It would be interesting to compare the color version.
I'm a little troubled by a slightly artificial, overworked sense of the image--perhaps due to the downsizing and sharpening for the web. It is particularly evident in the brush in the foreground which has a lot of contrast between dark edges and light branches and therefore seems to distract from the central subject. The sky feels a little busy to me (particularly at the top center) and there is a bit too much of it for the scene--I would be inclined to crop a bit from the top and the left
-
I'm not usually a particular fan of the "old barn" sort of pictures, but this one really appeals to me. I've sat here for several minutes trying to figure out why, without much success, except that it has something to do with the textures of the old wood and the weeds. It has a very strong atmosphere that's difficult to describe. My only complaint is that it makes me very much want to see a little more of the surrounding landscape the building inhabits, rather than focusing quite so squarely on the building itself to the exclusion of its surroundings.
Lisa
-
The composition is straight from the camera with no cropping so far. One of the challenges of shooting this particular subject from that vantage point was the fact that there is a rather busy freeway (I-70) about 50 yards behind the building, and semis and SUVs sort of detract from the ambience. IIRC, this shot has a semi or two directly behind the house. Several of the other shots had to be timed carefully to keep the traffic out of frame as well. I did boost contrast quite a bit to bring out some texture in the sky; the day was hazy and the lighting was a bit flat.
I'm thinking that if I crop, I'd take just enough off the left to eliminate the disembodied branches on the left edge, and enough off the top to keep the same aspect ratio, and call it good. Or else just clone out the branches and leave the crop alone.
For the B&W conversion, I followed my usual practice of doing a levels adjustment on each color channel such that .01% of each color channel is clipped to black and white, and then theimagingfactory.com's excellent Convert To B&W Pro set to boost contrast and bring out as much sky texture as possible. The levels adjustment maximizes tonal range, and limiting clipping to .01% confines it to small specular highlight and shadow areas that do not detract from the overall image.
-
I like the look of the sky, but agree with getting rid of the disembodied branches at the left. The branches in the front do look slightly oversharpened, but that's just me being nitpicky. I'm sure the print will look magnificent. You definitely trumped my best barn shot (http://www.digiteyesed.com/portfolio/images/2005/12/00920.php) of the week.
-
I decided to go the clone route, and leave the composition as-is:
(http://www.visual-vacations.com/images/2005-12-02_0021b.jpg)
And just for reference, here is the original straight out of the raw converter and sized for web:
(http://www.visual-vacations.com/images/2005-12-02_0021c.jpg)
I tend to sharpen web JPEGs as much as possible, to get the most use possible out of the limited resolution available.
-
This photo has a lot of potential as a color print also. I really like how the rust color is repeated through the image.
[attachment=102:attachment]
-
I agree; by itself it's one of those androgynous images that could kind of go either way. But I've been shooting dilapidated buildings for several years, and eventually intend make a B&W monograph or collectible print series or something when I get enough really good images for a series or set or book or whatever. Most of the images in the collection work better in B&W than color, so I chose B&W for this shot to kind of fit in with the group.
-
The power an perhaps illusion of a visual image! One would not have dreamt that there was a freeway nearby. Thank you for supplying the info about the image, and the original photo. It is interesting to see how others percieve images, and the potential images have when changing colour tonings. Like Lisa, i too was intrigues by the atmosphere of the photo. I loved the texture of the clouds. The swirling movement in the clouds above the house hints an eerieness. The inclusion of the sky I think adds to the feeling of isolation.
Julie
-
My philosophy is that images are where you find them, not necessarily where you expect them to be. Sometimes it's fun to find an image where you don't expect it, and sometimes you have to be creative with choosing your vantage point to avoid including totally distracting elements. I was on my way from Montana to Texas, and when I saw the house, I knew it had potential and had to stop. So I slid under the fence and spent about 40 minutes shooting there.
-
... You definitely trumped my best barn shot (http://www.digiteyesed.com/portfolio/images/2005/12/00920.php) of the week.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=54670\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I disagree - you do yourself a disservice, that shot you posted is excellent, I love it.
-
My philosophy is that images are where you find them, not necessarily where you expect them to be. Sometimes it's fun to find an image where you don't expect it, and sometimes you have to be creative with choosing your vantage point to avoid including totally distracting elements. I was on my way from Montana to Texas, and when I saw the house, I knew it had potential and had to stop. So I slid under the fence and spent about 40 minutes shooting there.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=54792\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Well put, Jonathan. Very nice barn, and I agree with your decision to clone rather than crop, and BW rather than color. The barn needs that much space around it or it would feel too cramped.
Digiteyesed's barn is really nice, too. Very different mood. I like them both.
Eric
-
You definitely trumped my best barn shot (http://www.digiteyesed.com/portfolio/images/2005/12/00920.php) of the week.
I don't know if I'd go that far; there's no obvious technical deficiencies, and while the subject has a somewhat different mood than my image, I imagine some people will prefer my image, and others will prefer yours. It's certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. But I appreciate the compliment.