I get a feeling of looking at a room which never have been a happy place. All gloomy, probably also when it was new. Then again, washing rooms, locker rooms and toilets often are like that.
A little dark perhaps? I like that you have allowed the windows to reach maximum brightness. I'm not really happy with the perspective. No duplicate layer-transform-distort routine here?
And, as I'm curious as always, what is the experiment?
- I used HDR-like techniques to bring back the windows quite a bit, to hint of the wood and the curtains. They were really white.
- It is in a basement, which is part of the reason I left it dark. I like my shots to retain some of the feeling of the real place, even if it makes them seem improperly adjusted.
- The experiment is that this is not an HDR shot, it is a single shot. Having seen some of Markus' shots, I decided that before automatically resorting to HDR techniques, I should at least see if there was a good, normal shot in the sequence. For this sequence I felt that there was
I like the idea or concept behind your photography, Carsten: being as near as you can to the real world and - through this path - retaining the experienced mood of the place. It sounds like a very honest approach to me.
On the other hand: I do not share this aim for my own photography. If reality (or my capture attempt of it) lacks something for me, I see photography or post-processing as a nice tool to reshape the look of a photo (at least if I have the freedom to do this). I have fun to do this more and more and I also recently re-processed a lot of my images from our tours to Beelitz and Wünsdorf (look here for examples: http://500px.com/ulfff?page=1).
Regarding HDR: In Wünsdorf I did a lot of HDR-series based on your recommendations. I also tried Photomatrix to process them. Eventually, I always went back to the traditional 1-shot technique. All pictures on 500px are done this way (1-shot), even although some of them appear like HDR. I almost always blow the highlights anyway because I like the look better. In the first of your two pictures on this page I do not like (in an aesthetical sense) what is behind the window. But if the aim is more realism, it's better to not blow the whites here. So everything depends on the intentions.
BTW: both rooms you show here have been very dark in reality if my memory is correct, much darker than you shots suggest they are...
Hey Markus. Yes, you are right: reality was even darker than my shots. I hint at it, but don't wish to make them even darker. Our eyes do adjust quickly, and I prefer to leave roughly the right impression, rather than a physically accurate rendering.
Your shots have opened my eyes to letting highlights blow out more often, and I will experiment further with it in the coming days. It does leave perceived reality a bit, and move more in the direction of emotional impact, but I think there is an in-between step which is fair to both directions, and this is what I will try to hit.
I love your work, but if I were to try to move in that direction too, I would not feel true to myself. About the furthest I could go would be like (from the page you linked) "the morning after" and "the night watch".
We seem to have a bit of a lull in communications. I have also been quite busy with non-photo-related items, and we haven't really found an agenda for that weekend (or any other) yet. Let's keep discussing it, and see if we can rescue it
Wünsdorf, Haus der Offiziere, ZF21, cross-posted from the Zeiss Lens thread:
I will be in Berlin (and have some spare time for shooting) at the weekend September 22/23.
In the Wales thread of Phillip Reeve there was a short discussion about a more landsape oriented meeting in Germany. I think in Berlin this would be rather difficult, but what about the following suggestion: A Berlin meeting in Dresden ;-)
Mainly for shooting the Elbsandsteingebirge/Bastei. For example driving on saturday (22.9.) together from Berlin to Dresden, some sunset shooting saturday evening and some sunrise shooting sunday morning at the Bastei and then return to Berlin.
What do thing?
Job on a weekend? Are you self-employed? Anyway, that is a very nice idea, and in general I am all for it. I do need to arrange it carefully, since my girlfriend is studying for her December exams, and we split weekends very carefully to allow for both of us to get something done, so grabbing two days from one weekend needs to be planned
I'm a student and that job is a voluntary one
I have planned to visit a friend in Berlin for quite some while and it would be great if i could combine both events.
At some point I mentioned I was interested in joining a September 22 Berlin meeting. As it stands right now I won't be able to participate. Reality (if money can be "real") got in the way and I'll probably have to stay at home.
That's really too bad, Jonas, but I guess I understand. Things are just tight all over financially at the moment, also for me.
maxx9photo, I just realized that the 3rd of September is this Monday... This weekend is already full for me, and I work full-time during the week. Monday and Wednesday evenings I am taking care of my daughter so that my girlfriend can stay in the library and study longer for her exams. I am also busy with friends every Tuesday. If you are still around on Thursday, then I could do something in the evening. Otherwise it would probably be until next weekend before I have any time free, personally. How long will you be around?
Boris, what are your current plans/wishes for the 22nd weekend?
Phillip, I am game for something either the weekend of the 29/30 or the 6/7, although it would be good if we could pick a date, since my schedule is often very full at the moment.
Carsten, I have no plans for the 22nd at the moment. I'm in Berlin from the 14th until 23rd, but on most days I'm either working or meeting some friends, but the weekend 22nd/23rd is still reserved for some shooting or FM meeting.
philber wrote:
Since when does a Padawan have the right to disagree with what a Knight plans to do
The Knight is just a bit clueless about great places for shooting in Berlin at the moment (and I'm pretty sure you would really like Dresden and the Elbsandsteingebirge).
When would you arrive in Berlin and when do you have to leave?
I have have a business meeting in Berlin on friday afternoon/evening and I have to be back in Ingolstadt on monday. In between I'm open for any suggestions.
I could imagine the following two options:
Option 1.
- driving from Berlin to Dresden at saturday noon
- shooting around Bastei in the afternoon/evening or explore Dresden (but probably not both)
- spent the night in Dresden or at Bastei
- some shooting before / at sunrise at the Bastei sunday morning (I would recommend to be there about one hour before sunrise = means quite early)
- drive back to Berlin after the shooting (arriving there around noon)
- altogether about 24 hours for the trip, which could also be possible for Carsten
Option 2.
as option 1 but
- spent another night in Dresden meaning time to do some shooting in Dresden and also some night shots in Dresden at the evening
- another sunrise shooting at the Bastei
- I would then drive on monday morning directly to Ingolstadt from Dresden
- which means, that I could not take anybody back to Berlin
