Just looking for thoughts on this image!

[bcornett72]

Just looking for thoughts on this images.

Blessings,
Brian

[Jake]

I like the shot, but feel the processing is a little too much. I'd like to see more details in the shadows.

[smalltrees]

as Jake mentioned... I might add to be careful with your burning techniques, that are obvious along the roof-line and around the towers... any technique/manipulation is allowable, until... it becomes obvious...

[brad]

Looks like you went overboard on the contrast... not only are the blacks completely dark, there are whites that are completely blown out. Read up on Ansel Adams' zone system to get a better idea of contrast theory and what's pleasant to the eye.

I like the subject.. it has potential, but it got lost in the post processing.

[bcornett72]

Is this a bit better? I appreciate all the direction and comments. I can always use all the help and guidance.

Blessings,
Brian

[Noel Hankamer]

I like it better. I'd lose about half the sky above the building though.

[jmstephenson]

i like the subject matter, and you did a better job at adjusting the contrast to bring some detail into the darker areas. What I don't understand is the halo-ing around the structure. Is this a post issue?

[smalltrees]

the halo-ing is from the burning of the sky, the first was too heavy, this is not enough, or not close enough... a very difficult this to burn... far easier to select/isolate the structure then mask your adjustment to the sky... or burn on another layer in darken mode and the burn will not affect the structure, only the lighter sky... in this case trying to burn evenly will be the challenge... far easier to isolate the structure, then multiply the sky to taste... or multiply with a gradient... numerous ways possible...

[bcornett72]

Well again thanks for he helpful comments and suggestions. I agree with cropping out half the sky. So, here it is with that done. As far as the rest, I will keep trying. I don't think it is to bad for an amateur like myself. Though I do realize I have a ways to go. Growth is good!

Blessings,
Brian

[bcornett72]

Here is another one of the same area, just a different shot. Any thoughts, suggestion, etc. on it?

Blessings,
Brian

[texxter]

Brian, i think you got the technical feedback already. My comment is more about the subject. While i dont disagree that there is a good image waiting to be made here, I think that there is just too much visual complexity for the image to grab me. It's an old factory with lots of pallets and overgrown vegetation on the concrete- that is the subject of the picture, but what is the focal center of it? What is it about this place that you want to convey? A visual cacophony of tones and lines is what I see, but what do you want me to remember when I walk away from this photo? What is the image about, not just of?

A succesful image is either purely formal, or it's a container of feeling or meaning. If it is formal, that is all about form, shapes, volumes, the these formal components should relate to each othermin some visually interesting. Hopefully not chaotic way. If the image is about feeling or meaning, that intention should jump out of the picture, even if it's wrapped in ambiguity. You can probably create either type of picture in this location by being intentional about it.

Hope this is not too dense or abstract of a critique - it tries to move the conversation from shadow detail, etc, and to the fundamental question of why we photograph something and what we want to convey with it, about ourselves, or about the world.

Thanks for sharing!

[bcornett72]

I was trying to capture the simply image of desertion. Thing we just simply for no good reason or other, just pick up ans walk away from. At one point this was a thriving lumber mill, and now just lost to nothingness while other types of plants and mill prosper around it. I realize that one can not see the surrounding from this picture, but that was what I was thinking while snapping different images of this place. What a waste!

I'm glad someone brought up something different than technical aspects, and got into the who, what, where and why we shot what we shot. Having been an artist most of my life, and just recently getting into photography, I want to make the viewer either feel something and/or take something away after viewing my images. Not just say "Hey that's a great image!" I want them to be perplexed and ponder over it after walking away from it. Again, I am still young in my quest.

Blessings,
Brian

[texxter]

Brian, I appreciate your follow-up on my comments. You definitely had a point of view and a message to convey to the viewer, and that's exactly what I think we photographers need to start with. How successful we are in translating intention to visual message is, obviously, a subjective assessment. It's not at all easy to do, especially as intention is intangible and invisible once the images stands alone without explanation.

I get the idea of a deserted place - it looks run down and abandoned, and I can tell there was production there at some point. It would be really cool, as one walks thru a place like this, to find clues as to the reason for the decline - it's hard to tell from the image what the factory produced, or the reasons of its demise - what can the photographer add to tell the story?

Also, concerning B&W, it has a strong abstracting effect - it moves us from the real world to lines, tones and volumes, and it shifts the attention from content to form - that's something to think about - are we more interested in the formal structure of the abandoned mill, or the story behind it. If the latter, color may bring the story to life better (this is certainly not universally true)

Thanks!

[bcornett72]

Thanks for the information. I have a friend wanting a print of this image, but would like to see it in color. So, I am going to load one up for her to see, as well as post it here to get thoughts.

Blessings,
Brian

[bcornett72]

Here is the image of the mill in color. Doe this help in any way better conveying my thoughts?

Blessings,
Brian