[Recovered Thread: 40106]

[Tom Overton]

Hi;

I discovered this old house yesterday. It doesn't look as though there has been anybody living in it for years, but surprisingly it is pretty much intact. Most of the windows are in place.

This is converted to B/W using a blue filter to darden the rust tones. I added about 10% monochrome noise.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to crop or otherwise emphasize the details of this shot. Any comments are welcome.

Tom, on Point Pelee, Canada

[Tom Overton]

I should add that I added a high pass filter on a blended layer to increase the range of this shot as the conditions were very dull when I was shooting.

Here's another... still looking for suggestions on how to present this image for maximum effect.

Tom

[Tom Overton]

This shot looks crooked. I tried rotating it about four different angles and I'm still not satisfied. There arejust so many twisting posts and boards. I finally went with levelling off the line under the door.Any suggestions would be welcome.

Tom

[Tom Overton]

Last one... after converting to B/W, I returned to the original layer and bled some colour back into the mix. Comments (and brutal criticism) please. :-)

Tom

[Rochchacha chick]

Tom, I'd like to see more contrast. Fie on the weather for not cooperating, but you should be able to add a fair amount with your photo editor (PS?) Can you get back there on a sunny day? I know they're unpredictable for the next 4 or 5 months:sad:

And I don't mind the crookedness of the photo given the subject. I might even like to see it accentuated.

I'm not as fond of the ones with the out-of-focus branches in the foreground.

Cool location!

[BillD9]

Tom,

On picture number three, sometimes it is easier to level a photo using a vertical reference near the center of the shot. This is especially true if there is no clear view of a true horizon or if the strong horizontal lines are distorted by perspective. In your photo, I would use one of the vertical lines in the window to the left of the door. If your photo editor doesn't have an auto-straighten function, you can erect a vertical guideline next to the line you use to level the photo to and rotate until they are parallel. Or, it may be easier to use a grid.

HTH,

Bill

[Tom Overton]

BillD9 wrote:

In your photo, I would use one of the vertical lines in the window to the left of the door. If your photo editor doesn't have an auto-straighten function, you can erect a vertical guideline next to the line you use to level the photo to and rotate until they are parallel. Or, it may be easier to use a grid.

Thanks, Bill. I hadn't thought of straightening the verticals by the window. I became obsessed with the horizontals. I did use a grid, and it was very helpful in trying one line or another. I really wanted to level the porch, but guess what... it was so low in the shot that when I straightened it, it would have ended up being cropped.

Thanks again, Bill. I'll have a go at those windows.

Tom, on Point Pelee, Canada

[digcamfan]

Get some tyvek and vinyl siding on that bad boy and straighten the door...

Then you would have yourself a nice cosey...

Youth Hostel!

Can you say...

"Residual income" ?

:-)

[Amateur]

With all the weathering, I see close-up and macro subjects galore. The broken window caught my eye immediately as a close up subject.

also of interest are the sagging door, chimneys, oil tank, trees too close to house (what were they thinking?), the half-barrel and weathering paint.

I don't like the air conditioner in the window or the concrete piers under the posts and would avoid them.

just my 2 cents

David

[Tom Overton]

Amateur wrote:

With all the weathering, I see close-up and macro subjects galore. The broken window caught my eye immediately as a close up subject.

also of interest are the sagging door, chimneys, oil tank, trees too close to house (what were they thinking?), the half-barrel and weathering paint.

I don't like the air conditioner in the window or the concrete piers under the posts and would avoid them.

Hi David;

Icertainly agree with you on almost every point. Close-ups were out of the question, though, as I did not feel comfortable prowling around on someone else's property. These were shot from the right-of-way a the side of the road. I don't mind the concrete re-inforcement so much, but I am troubled by the air conditioer in the window. On the other hand, it provdes an interesting juxtaposition of new against old.

What strikes me still about these images is the seeming contradiction the house itself poses. The house is old, and certainly falling upon itself, yet it ispractically untouched. Thetrees crowding the foundation are a tribute to its neglect,yet the yard itself is clean. The images I took pose morequestions than they answer, which, to me, is validation enough.

Thanks for the comments.

Tom, on Point Pelee, Canada