Bodie, CA

[JeffKohn]

We spent an afternoon at Bodie State Historic Park towards the end of our Eastern Sierra Nevada Trip. I didn't really know much about the place beforehand, except for the few pictures I'd seen on the web that all seemed to feature the same rusted out car. There was much more there to explore than I had expected.

 In hindsight I wish I'd taken time to shoot some details and interiors (furnishings and other items are remarkably intact inside many of the buildings); but I got wrapped up in shooting exteriors and the time slipped away from me. The weather was fortunate, as the storm clouds made for more interesting photography than I had any right to expect at that time of day. B/W seemed the obvious choice to me, I wanted to portray not only the harshness of the environment there, but of the town itself (which had a reputation as being a pretty rough place in its heyday).
 
As always critiques and feedback welcome. There are some more images in the gallery here

 
Swazey Hotel
Pano, click here or on image for larger version


 
Wheaton & Hollis Hotel


 
Lottie Johl House

[button]

Jeff, I like these.  Composition wise, they're great- strong lines and contrast with plenty of impact, especially #2.  Great use of wide angle on the last two.  Hopefully, you can answer a couple of technical questions I have:

1)  In image #1, is the right of the foreground building really curved, or is that distortion of some sort?

2)  In #3, the clouds on the right seem out of place with respect to those on the left.  Is that a stitching error?  If that represents what you saw, then I would love to hear about it, because I don't think I've seen anything quite like that.

Great work, as usual.

John

[wolfnowl]

Some great work, Jeff.  I was surprised to see a hydro pole with wires going into a ghost town, though!  I guess the ghosts still need their computer time.

Mike.

[RSL]

Jeff, Fine work. I agree with John that #2 is an especially excellent shot, though I get a kick out of #1 from the way the building's propped up with a pole.

I think #3 is a fine a shot as #2, and to set John's mind at rest, I'd guess a front is moving in from the right side of the picture. There's probably a cumulonimbus somewhere off to the right, and I'd almost be willing to bet the wind is coming from behind the house toward the camera. How's that for going out on a limb?

But maybe it's stitching too.

[JeffKohn]

Thanks for the feedback, folks. I appreciate it. To answer a few questions:

1) In image #1, is the right of the foreground building really curved, or is that distortion of some sort?

It's curved. My guess is the building started to lean, so they propped it with the pole on the left, which partly straightened the building out and turned the lean into a curve.

2) In #3, the clouds on the right seem out of place with respect to those on the left. Is that a stitching error? If that represents what you saw, then I would love to hear about it, because I don't think I've seen anything quite like that.

No stitching, it's a single frame. As Russ guessed, a storm front was trying to push its way in from the north (this image is shot facing roughly west). So there was a clash between the puffy white clouds and dark storm clouds which made for some interesting (and rapidly changing) conditions and light. Fortunately the storm lingered just to the north of us so we didn't get rained on.

I was surprised to see a hydro pole with wires going into a ghost town, though! I guess the ghosts still need their computer time.

Hehe. Some of the rangers (it's a state park) actually live on-site at the ghost town; they've converted one of the buildings into a living quarters. I can just imagine what that place is like at night after all the tourists have left and the wind is howling...

[jasonrandolph]

Great stuff Jeff.  Looks like you chose a good day to go, with a mixture of sunshine and clouds.  B&W was a good choice, although you might want to experiment with some sepia toning to give it a more rustic feel.  I like all three compositions, with #1 being my favorite.  The panorama works well with the houses off to the right keeping the eyes interested.  If you ever do return and shoot the interiors, please share some of that work as well.

[button]

It's curved. My guess is the building started to lean, so they propped it with the pole on the left, which partly straightened the building out and turned the lean into a curve.

No stitching, it's a single frame. As Russ guessed, a storm front was trying to push its way in from the north (this image is shot facing roughly west). So there was a clash between the puffy white clouds and dark storm clouds which made for some interesting (and rapidly changing) conditions and light. Fortunately the storm lingered just to the north of us so we didn't get rained on.

Cool!  I would love to have seen the #3 clouds in person.  Hopefully, this doesn't sound pretentious, but the odd curves and the stretched perspective in these shots reminds me of work by Salvador Dali.

John

[JeffKohn]

Hopefully, this doesn't sound pretentious, but the odd curves and the stretched perspective in these shots reminds me of work by Salvador Dali.

I think I sort of know what you mean. I shot everything except for the panos with my 24mm PC-E, which is pretty wide but not super-wide. I tried to be careful to manage perspective, keeping the camera level and using shift as appropriate. But the buildings themselves are far from perfect, and in some cases the wide perspective emphasized where the buildings weren't straight and/or squared up as you would expect.


Jason - thanks for the feedback. Hopefully I'll get to make a return visit in the future there.

[Paul Sumi]

Hehe. Some of the rangers (it's a state park) actually live on-site at the ghost town; they've converted one of the buildings into a living quarters.

I take it that you didn't walk behind and see the satellite TV dish?  

Paul

[button]

I think I sort of know what you mean. I shot everything except for the panos with my 24mm PC-E, which is pretty wide but not super-wide. I tried to be careful to manage perspective, keeping the camera level and using shift as appropriate. But the buildings themselves are far from perfect, and in some cases the wide perspective emphasized where the buildings weren't straight and/or squared up as you would expect.

Hey, you don't have to defend it.    I meant the Dali comment in a good way- he's one of my favorite artists.

John

[JeffKohn]

Hey, you don't have to defend it.    I meant the Dali comment in a good way- he's one of my favorite artists.

John

No, I took your comment as good, I was just thinking out loud about maybe why some of the images seem that way.

[John R]

Excellent work. I never get to see anything like this in Canada. We do have pioneeer villages, however. And we do have Badlands and hoodoos in Alberta.

JMR

[cmi]

I like the b/w because I think it fits the subject well, but the framing doesn't quite appeal to me. It seems a bit compressed to me. Dont know how to put it better. To add, the slant lines in #1 and esp. #2 are very interesting, also the fact that there is glass in the windows so these places where never vandalized is interesting for me as an outsider (europe).  I wonder how it looks inside. Would probably make for some interesting, maybe spooky images.

Christian

[JeffKohn]

Thanks John and Christian, I appreciate the feedback.

Christian, when you say "compressed", are you talking about perspective, or the framing/composition being to crowded, or something else.

[cmi]

Thanks John and Christian, I appreciate the feedback.

Christian, when you say "compressed", are you talking about perspective, or the framing/composition being to crowded, or something else.

Jeff,

I looked now a longer time at it, also looked at the rest of the images at your site and tried to put it in better words. First of all, its obvious that these compositions are all done very careful. However - that may sound funny - I feel these compositions dont put the houses at full attention, they appear a bit peripheral, not as important as I would wish. They are formally pleasing but have the houses as padding - to overdraw it.  

To illustrate a bit,

#1 at your HP, Boone store: Phantastic. It stands out in the sense that my critique does not apply at all. I can imagine myself standing in front of it, and how it must have been like to be there. I think for a store, it is very fitting.
#2, Wheaton & Hollis: Cuts the image to different parts, formally very good, but the house itself feels not really important. Thoughtful about the spaces, the house seems secondary. The same goes with #5 Lottie Johl house, but less apparent, also with #4, the curch to name a few.

But where your idea works for me on the other hand is the #7, Swazey hotel pano, first here in the forum. This is the same neutral view but wich now opens up, and makes sense.

So this is my general critique, the houses appear a tad too normal. Maybe its because Im not used to such views I expect the buildings to stand out more. In my eyes they could put more prominent, party with more space around them, to emphasize their significance. Its not about big changes, or dramatic perspectives, just a bit room more here, maybe a slightly wider angle to make a house slightly bigger. Its about the room they deserve in my eyes, wich they did got only partly.

So as you see Jeff, its not about crowded compositions but (perceived) siginficance of these buildings. I hope this makes at least a bit sense to you

And all that said: They already are quite good!

Best regards,


Christian

[JeffKohn]

Christian, thanks for the additional clarification/feedback.