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Archive 2014 · Decay

  
 
WalterF
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Decay


Took this a couple days ago, during sunset. This barn is close by and I have been shooting it for almost ten years, it is sad to see the decay that has happened in that amount of time. The tobacco hanging sticks are still inside the barn ready to be used, like it is hoping for a second chance.

I was wondering how the feel of the photo came out? Does it give a sense of abandonment and decay?

Thanks for looking Walt





Shot at F5.0, 1/50 of a sec., ISO 100, and FL of 42mm




Dec 29, 2014 at 11:09 AM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Decay


I enjoy the comp and subject.

On this monitor it looks over-sharpened to me (not my usual machine) with a bit much contrast - but then my taste is biased toward softer and richer.

Did you get any tighter images? Interiors? I love decay, old buildings, old cars and such stuff.

Regards,

Bob



Dec 29, 2014 at 11:15 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Decay


The sky competes with it very much, imo.

The sky has a lot of intricacy / busy-ness to it, is bright in tonal value and large in mass. Those things pull the eye away from the subject somewhat competitively, and are more of a light/life/alive "happy" than the sadness vibe of decay (dead/dying).

That said, you might consider a crop to reduce the amount of weighting that the expanse of sky and its busy/brightness brings to the image competitively.

Similarly, the (oversharpened) grass pulls for our attention. The grass doesn't command quite as much mass in the image as the expanse of sky, so the reduction in sharpening may be sufficient to reduce the pull away from your main subject.

Even doing the "scrolling crop" ... that sky is pretty powerful stuff that is hard to compete with. Curious @ the color version to see if then you might have a basis of compare / contrast in wonderful color (alive) vs. greyed barnwood to help deliver the message of old. Also, might be a candidate for toning. Curious to at any diff angles?

Just some thoughts for consideration to help drive your viewer toward your subject / message a bit.

You mention the "hanging sticks" for the tobacco ... any shots?




Dec 29, 2014 at 11:47 AM
WalterF
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Decay


Bob Jarman wrote:
I enjoy the comp and subject.

On this monitor it looks over-sharpened to me (not my usual machine) with a bit much contrast - but then my taste is biased toward softer and richer.

Did you get any tighter images? Interiors? I love decay, old buildings, old cars and such stuff.

Regards,

Bob


Yes it does look over sharpened on mine too, when I downsized Bicubic Automatic it seems to have made it worse?

No tighter images or interior shots, will do next time as it is only across the street.

Thanks
Walt



Dec 29, 2014 at 12:46 PM
WalterF
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Decay


RustyBug wrote:
The sky competes with it very much, imo.

The sky has a lot of intricacy / busy-ness to it, is bright in tonal value and large in mass. Those things pull the eye away from the subject somewhat competitively, and are more of a light/life/alive "happy" than the sadness vibe of decay (dead/dying).

That said, you might consider a crop to reduce the amount of weighting that the expanse of sky and its busy/brightness brings to the image competitively.

Similarly, the (oversharpened) grass pulls for our attention. The grass doesn't command quite as much mass in the image as the expanse of sky,
...Show more


It was a beautiful sky and I was trying to capture it and the barn, conflicting points of interest.

I am adding a color version with less sharpening and more cropping to help focus the attention back on the barn.

A BW was also done with toning and a slight vignette, and cropping to help clear up the message.

Thanks

Walt

No interior shots.












Dec 29, 2014 at 12:54 PM
ben egbert
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Decay


I love old barns and sky's and color. The color version is great. I agree it looks a bit oversharpened, or perhaps too much clarity. Most evident in the grass and stubble.


Dec 29, 2014 at 12:57 PM
Bob Jarman
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Decay


Another rendition starting from jpg - not the best starting place but you get the idea. If you object I'll happily take it down.

Bob







Dec 29, 2014 at 01:54 PM
WalterF
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Decay


Bob Jarman wrote:
Another rendition starting from jpg - not the best starting place but you get the idea. If you object I'll happily take it down.

Bob


Nice job, I see the softer side you were talking about.

Thanks
WAlt



Dec 29, 2014 at 01:57 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Decay


Took some liberties and incurred some artifacts working from the small jpg, but kind of my take on conjoining the sky with the barn for a contrast of the two, yet still trying to drive the decay vibe.

As always, S&P to taste.







Dec 29, 2014 at 03:11 PM
FarmerJohn
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Decay


Very nice Walter - looks like a wonderful subject. It'd be interesting to see your series over the years as the decay increases.

I think Kent's pano crop works well.
Do you have more room to left to make a wider pano? I think that would be cool.
I think the color is more effective than the B+W. The red against blue stands out very well, whereas the shades of gray for barn and sky kind of run together.



Dec 30, 2014 at 09:32 AM
WalterF
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Decay


ben egbert wrote:
I love old barns and sky's and color. The color version is great. I agree it looks a bit oversharpened, or perhaps too much clarity. Most evident in the grass and stubble.




Thanks Ben may have been the clarity I am pretty heavy handed with it.

Walt



Dec 30, 2014 at 10:01 AM
WalterF
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Decay


FarmerJohn wrote:
Very nice Walter - looks like a wonderful subject. It'd be interesting to see your series over the years as the decay increases.

I think Kent's pano crop works well.
Do you have more room to left to make a wider pano? I think that would be cool.
I think the color is more effective than the B+W. The red against blue stands out very well, whereas the shades of gray for barn and sky kind of run together.



Thank you it has been wonderful to be able to look out the window at it. I do have many other pictures of it from different angle over the years. I will dig a couple up.

I don't have anymore room on the left sadly. My wife is also more fond of the color as well for the reasons you mentioned.

Thanks for responding.

Walt



Dec 30, 2014 at 10:05 AM
WalterF
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Decay


Here is the barn as it was in 2006 before they logged off the land behind the barn. This was shot in the morning light.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd272/immolder/barnacrossroadcolor2006_zps3c5b25cd.jpg

Walt



Dec 30, 2014 at 10:22 AM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Decay


Some folks like a crunchy high contrast almost pointillist soot and chalk black and white look. For me there are a very few images where that look works. For most images it's not a plus. When you sharpen over-all to the degree where lines build noticeable halos, it's over sharpened. The first and second versions are possibly a little over-sharpened, which also explains the crunchiness of the foreground.







Dec 30, 2014 at 02:45 PM
WalterF
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Decay


AuntiPode wrote:
Some folks like a crunchy high contrast almost pointillist soot and chalk black and white look. For me there are a very few images where that look works. For most images it's not a plus. When you sharpen over-all to the degree where lines build noticeable halos, it's over sharpened. The first and second versions are possibly a little over-sharpened, which also explains the crunchiness of the foreground.




Thanks for taking the time to explain halos to me. I redid this photo with very little sharpening, zero clarity, detail extractor amount NIK of 7. 0. 0. and sharpening of 33 amount, 3.1 radius, and 1 threshold. Full rez looks good but when I downsize to 1100 PPI the haloing appears worse? Any suggestions.

Thanks

Walt








Dec 31, 2014 at 09:28 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Decay


I'm not familiar with Nik, but I suspect that your detail extractor combined with a 3.1 radius is likely your culprit.

Using a classic HIRALOAM (High Radius, Low Amplitude) similar to what Karen uses @ 16, 60, 0 (iirc) and a finely detailed radius of .3 or .2 with large amplitude (often following HIRALOAM) can be useful depending on the structures in the image. The blue sky and the grasses are very opposite structure, so a different sharpening radius has a different impact.

To me, a radius of greater than one (file size dependent) can be responsible for the crunchies until you get large enough (HIRALOAM) that they can smooth out (such as the sky). 3.1 seems like a "no man's land" for much of what I've worked on, unless you are using very large files.

The main point here is that sharpening for well defined edges (grasses, roof lines) can be a diff thing from sky, cloud transitions. Similar applies to hair vs. skin ... diff structures = diff sharpening.

The subject matter of sharpening can be voluminous of its own. More than one way to skin the cat, but I'd suggest a good book followed by some testing of diff structures will be helpful to garner a better understanding.




Dec 31, 2014 at 10:57 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Decay


+1 Kent, on 3.1 radius, I saw that and had the exact same thought. I use .3 for my non HIRALOAM sharpening.


Dec 31, 2014 at 11:46 AM
johan.lucas
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Decay


This is a great subject. I do not know the surroundings but I think you would have a stronger image if the barn was placed off-centre in the shot. For example to the right of the image and leave some room on the left.

Thank ypu for sharing!



Jan 01, 2015 at 06:41 PM





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