Abandoned cabin/Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

[shutterpup]

The Ghost Ranch area is where Georgia O'Keeffe spent much of her time. This cabin is on the dirt road leading back to the Ghost Ranch Conference Center. This shot was taken with the conference center with it's accompanying red cliffs behind it. The overlapping mountains in the distance are typical of the view of the high desert, and the plants in the foreground are typical of this area.
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[jasonrandolph]

This one really cries out for some composition.  What are you trying to say with this one?  Okay, it's a cabin, but so what?  What makes me want to know more?  You made the cabin large, yet there's nothing interesting to grab my attention.  This could just as easily have been shot by someone in a car driving by.  There are no compositional elements to draw eyes or attention into the image.  Also, the quality of the capture is pretty low.  There is visible noise all over the place, which leads me to believe that this is either a high-ISO shot or you cropped down severely.  This image is one that fails in its current state.  

(Please keep in mind that this is meant as constructive criticism, and not personal.  I said some pretty negative things, but it's all meant to help you improve your work!)

[Kirk Gittings]

It was not abandoned per se. It was part of the set for the movie City Slickers.

[shutterpup]

It was not abandoned per se. It was part of the set for the movie City Slickers.

I didn't know that, but I googled and confirmed that. I had never seen that particular movie. So it just becomes a part of a Hollywood set. How disappointing.

[jdemott]

There are many things right about this shot.  There is an interesting subject, the cabin, set in the desert with mountains in the background.  For someone unfamiliar with the area, it shows many of the "typical" features of the northern New Mexico environment.  The composition shows care in placing the subject in the frame with the inverted "v" of the roof echoing the mountain in the distance.  Exposure, focus and color balance all seem fine.  In short, it is a very nice shot documenting what you saw at a particular time, showing the cabin, its construction and state of repair, placed in its environment.

The question is...what are you trying to say with this photo?  Is your aim simply to document what you saw?  If so, then the photo succeeds. Or are you trying to tell a story about the cabin, or about New Mexico and its climate, or about the colors and textures of the desert and its vegetation, or about Georgia O'Keeffe and Ghost Ranch, or something else?   I don't get any feeling from the shot of what you're trying to say...other than "I was here and saw this cabin."  Next time you approach a subject like this, you could begin with a overall documentary shot like you have here and then begin to explore with your camera some of the possible stories you see.  For example, if you wanted to show the isolation of the cabin in the desert you could move away from it and find a point of view that emphasizes how small the cabin is in relation to the empty desert and the mountains beyond.  Or if you want to show the vegetation you could get down close to the plants, perhaps with some interesting side lighting, and put the plants in focus with the cabin out of focus in the distance.  Etc., etc.  That way you would have a shot recording your visit as well as some shots in which you practice trying to express some feelings or a story line about the subject.

[shutterpup]

There are many things right about this shot.  There is an interesting subject, the cabin, set in the desert with mountains in the background.  For someone unfamiliar with the area, it shows many of the "typical" features of the northern New Mexico environment.  The composition shows care in placing the subject in the frame with the inverted "v" of the roof echoing the mountain in the distance.  Exposure, focus and color balance all seem fine.  In short, it is a very nice shot documenting what you saw at a particular time, showing the cabin, its construction and state of repair, placed in its environment.

The question is...what are you trying to say with this photo?  Is your aim simply to document what you saw?  If so, then the photo succeeds. Or are you trying to tell a story about the cabin, or about New Mexico and its climate, or about the colors and textures of the desert and its vegetation, or about Georgia O'Keeffe and Ghost Ranch, or something else?   I don't get any feeling from the shot of what you're trying to say...other than "I was here and saw this cabin."  Next time you approach a subject like this, you could begin with a overall documentary shot like you have here and then begin to explore with your camera some of the possible stories you see.  For example, if you wanted to show the isolation of the cabin in the desert you could move away from it and find a point of view that emphasizes how small the cabin is in relation to the empty desert and the mountains beyond.  Or if you want to show the vegetation you could get down close to the plants, perhaps with some interesting side lighting, and put the plants in focus with the cabin out of focus in the distance.  Etc., etc.  That way you would have a shot recording your visit as well as some shots in which you practice trying to express some feelings or a story line about the subject.

John,
Your suggestions are the type I like to get. They are not about PP the photo to death. Instead, you make suggestions that I can use on any photographic subject. I think that I was tired that day of all the red cliffs, and turned around and saw the cabin with an entirely different backdrop. I was raised in the low desert of Arizona and it was this backdrop that I saw everyday as I grew up. When I moved away from Arizona, I began painting, and what I painted were the mountains against mountains coming down the brush-studded hills to the desert floor. That childhood memory was what caught my attention that day.

[jdemott]

I began painting, and what I painted were the mountains against mountains coming down the brush-studded hills to the desert floor. That childhood memory was what caught my attention that day.

That statement conveys a lot of emotion.  Grab a hold of that emotion and try to harness it in your photos.  If you can paint, then you already know the importance of seeing, but the photographic medium has its own challenges and limitations in conveying what you see.  As a painter you can emphasize the lines and textures of the mountains in your painting even on a day when the light isn't great, but if you want to emphasize something in landscape photography, sometimes you just have to be patient until the light and the weather give you what you need.  In your photo, the cabin has the highest contrast in the scene as well as lots of strong angles and hard edges so the viewer's eye will be drawn strongly to the cabin and not to the mountains.  If the mountains had strong light from the side at sunset or sunrise and the lower land where the cabin is located was in shadow, then the mountains would become a much stronger subject.  Of course, if you are traveling, then you may not have the luxury of the time to wait patiently and you just have to photograph what you can.  Enjoy,

[RSL]

Pup, It was a good try with a worthy subject, but the comments about knowing what it is you're trying to show are right on the money. In an earlier thread we talked about locating a photograph in its surroundings -- giving it a sense of place. I'm not sure what the background behind the cabin was. I usually spend a couple days a year in Taos, and sometimes we drive out to Abiquiu, where O'Keefe lived, but I've never seen this cabin.

Here's a similar subject. It's the Hornbeck ranch, homesteaded by Mrs Hornbeck and her sons near the turn of the last century. It's now a part of the Florissant Fossil Beds national monument. The point of this photograph is that homesteading in the west was lonely, especially with a storm coming on. But I blew it. I should have moved back even farther, and included more of the background to increase the feeling of loneliness. The result is fair, but it doesn't quite do the job. Next time you see something like the ghost ranch cabin, see whether or not the way the cabin fits into its surroundings is significant. In the west, it often is.

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[shutterpup]

Pup, It was a good try with a worthy subject, but the comments about knowing what it is you're trying to show are right on the money. In an earlier thread we talked about locating a photograph in its surroundings -- giving it a sense of place. I'm not sure what the background behind the cabin was. I usually spend a couple days a year in Taos, and sometimes we drive out to Abiquiu, where O'Keefe lived, but I've never seen this cabin.

Here's a similar subject. It's the Hornbeck ranch, homesteaded by Mrs Hornbeck and her sons near the turn of the last century. It's now a part of the Florissant Fossil Beds national monument. The point of this photograph is that homesteading in the west was lonely, especially with a storm coming on. But I blew it. I should have moved back even farther, and included more of the background to increase the feeling of loneliness. The result is fair, but it doesn't quite do the job. Next time you see something like the ghost ranch cabin, see whether or not the way the cabin fits into its surroundings is significant. In the west, it often is.

[attachment=14905:Jun_14_2009_17.jpg]

Russ,
This is actually outside of Abiquiu on the same road but at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center turnoff. It is marked and is a dirt road. I wasn't driving so I can't be more specific. We were using one of those tourist guide maps of Santa Fe and the area.

What is funny is that my husband and I took almost the same shot; same angle, same amount of foreground and background. There is no crop in this picture. I compared the two side-by-side and they are almost identical. My husband almost always shoots a wider angle than I do, including more of a sense of place. Not this time!

This was my first car trip back to the southwest in more than 25 years. It was very emotional for me to just see the land. My husband says we will go back and I'll have my wits more about me. I am very attached to the land of the southwest; someone recently suggested I should have been a Native American for the way I think of Mother Earth.

[Kirk Gittings]

I didn't know that, but I googled and confirmed that. I had never seen that particular movie. So it just becomes a part of a Hollywood set. How disappointing.

Sorry. It didn't become part of the set. It was built specifically for the movie and is a shell. It has nothing to do with O'Keefe or Northern New Mexico historic architecture or anything other than Hollywood. I have been going to the Ghost Ranch since 1967 or 68. It ruined a good view. Frankly I think it should be taken down. It is a hoax and at the very least an explanatory sign should be put up. Behind it along the mesa edge if you look closely are some nice lithic scatters (residue from arrowhead making) and other archeological evidence of Native Americans.

[dalethorn]

Here's a similar subject. It's the Hornbeck ranch, homesteaded by Mrs Hornbeck and her sons near the turn of the last century.

This is an OK photo, but it really feels like it's leaning too much to the right.  A lot of classic photos have problems like that.

[wolfnowl]

The question is...what are you trying to say with this photo?  Is your aim simply to document what you saw?  If so, then the photo succeeds. Or are you trying to tell a story about the cabin, or about New Mexico and its climate, or about the colors and textures of the desert and its vegetation, or about Georgia O'Keeffe and Ghost Ranch, or something else?   I don't get any feeling from the shot of what you're trying to say...other than "I was here and saw this cabin."  Next time you approach a subject like this, you could begin with a overall documentary shot like you have here and then begin to explore with your camera some of the possible stories you see.  For example, if you wanted to show the isolation of the cabin in the desert you could move away from it and find a point of view that emphasizes how small the cabin is in relation to the empty desert and the mountains beyond.  Or if you want to show the vegetation you could get down close to the plants, perhaps with some interesting side lighting, and put the plants in focus with the cabin out of focus in the distance.  Etc., etc.  That way you would have a shot recording your visit as well as some shots in which you practice trying to express some feelings or a story line about the subject.

One of the exercises in 'Photography and the Art of Seeing' (a book I highly recommend, BTW) is to pick an object - could be a flower, a car, a rock, a fake log cabin shell that was part of a movie - and shoot a roll of film on that object.  Depending on the size and complexity of the object the first four or five or six images are basically crap.  But you've still got 30 or so images to go...  NOW you begin to look.  Now you begin to see.  Now you begin to challenge yourself.

And hey, you're shooting digital, so no harm no foul if you don't like 35 of the 36 or 40 or whatever images you make.  When you find something interesting, don't just make one image or two and walk away.  Push yourself beyond the 'I parked on the side of the road and made a postcard' image.

Mike.

[DarkPenguin]

It's a cabin.  All the image needs now is the real estate agent's for sale sign.

[shutterpup]

It's a cabin.  All the image needs now is the real estate agent's for sale sign.

Now that was helpful.

[DarkPenguin]

Now that was helpful.

Should have been.  But I guess not.