Old Mill gears

weatherwise2 · 02-10-2008, 10:04 AM

I like shooting old furniture, museums and early americana locations because of the wood texture and color and the details in the craftsmanship. This past fall I went to the Gilbert Stuart homestead in RI and shot a series of pictures inside the old grist mill. I like this photograph and a few others from there and submitted it to PPG and got almost immediately rejected. I know that site has a high standard and nobody knows exactly what they are looking for outside of the ability to show off the best features.

Since I want to try to improve, what can be done with this shot:

or a similar one that was not submitted:

Secondly; in this type of photography what should I be looking for? I usually bring my tripod and try to use available light. This spring there are a couple of places in New England that I want to revisit with the K10D and get some nice pictures.

Peter Zack · 02-10-2008, 10:17 AM

The first impression I get is, cluttered. Both images are very busy and your eye is constantly wandering. Available light is fine to a point but selective flash can do a lot to help this type of stuff. You can also use a reflector to help isolate a subject.

So if I was trying to get these shots I would get in a lot closer and open the lens up to blur
the backgrounds.
In:
1) I'd set up to the left of the wheel and shoot an image of the 2 gear wheels meeting. Limit the DOF to about 1 foot and have the rest blurr into the background. A close up of the gears basically.
2) hard shot to say without seeing the rest of what you had to work with but that same idea may hold true. Try to get an angle that isolates the subject more and again limit the DOF to display the construction details of the item. maybe concentrate on the wheel and belt more.

This type of cluttered shooting area might make for a series of shots of the same item, each picture showing various elements. Just my free advice...

weatherwise2 · 02-11-2008, 07:42 PM

Peter
thanks very much for the advice. When I first started posting pictures, all my shots seemed cluttered and I really have to discipline myself to reduce it even more. In the first I thought because of the curve of the gears and the wter wheels outside of the window it worked okay but as you stated they do appear overall cluttered. The second photo, now in hidnsight is totally too clustered. My eyes kept going to the wood grain in the holding box. This place I have a chance to go back in the spring when it reopens and sometime in the spring I want to go to Sturbridge Village, an old recreated colonial town with period actors.

paden501 · 02-11-2008, 08:18 PM

Weatherwise,

I dig the inside/outside view of the first photo... maybe just try for an 10x8 crop to cut out the distractions on the right. That might give the photo a whole new perspective.

Moggman · 02-13-2008, 12:59 PM

Just my $.02, but I agree with Peter Zack that they both seem a little cluttered. Beyond that, maybe a B&W conversion could improve #1

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02-10-2008, 10:04 AM	#1
weatherwise2 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Warwick, RI Photos: Gallery Posts: 740	Old Mill gears I like shooting old furniture, museums and early americana locations because of the wood texture and color and the details in the craftsmanship. This past fall I went to the Gilbert Stuart homestead in RI and shot a series of pictures inside the old grist mill. I like this photograph and a few others from there and submitted it to PPG and got almost immediately rejected. I know that site has a high standard and nobody knows exactly what they are looking for outside of the ability to show off the best features. Since I want to try to improve, what can be done with this shot: or a similar one that was not submitted: Secondly; in this type of photography what should I be looking for? I usually bring my tripod and try to use available light. This spring there are a couple of places in New England that I want to revisit with the K10D and get some nice pictures.

02-10-2008, 10:17 AM	#2
Peter Zack Pentaxian Moderator Emeritus Join Date: May 2007 Location: Edmonton Alberta, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 10,643	The first impression I get is, cluttered. Both images are very busy and your eye is constantly wandering. Available light is fine to a point but selective flash can do a lot to help this type of stuff. You can also use a reflector to help isolate a subject. So if I was trying to get these shots I would get in a lot closer and open the lens up to blur the backgrounds. In: 1) I'd set up to the left of the wheel and shoot an image of the 2 gear wheels meeting. Limit the DOF to about 1 foot and have the rest blurr into the background. A close up of the gears basically. 2) hard shot to say without seeing the rest of what you had to work with but that same idea may hold true. Try to get an angle that isolates the subject more and again limit the DOF to display the construction details of the item. maybe concentrate on the wheel and belt more. This type of cluttered shooting area might make for a series of shots of the same item, each picture showing various elements. Just my free advice...

02-11-2008, 07:42 PM	#3
weatherwise2 Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Warwick, RI Photos: Gallery Posts: 740 Original Poster	Peter thanks very much for the advice. When I first started posting pictures, all my shots seemed cluttered and I really have to discipline myself to reduce it even more. In the first I thought because of the curve of the gears and the wter wheels outside of the window it worked okay but as you stated they do appear overall cluttered. The second photo, now in hidnsight is totally too clustered. My eyes kept going to the wood grain in the holding box. This place I have a chance to go back in the spring when it reopens and sometime in the spring I want to go to Sturbridge Village, an old recreated colonial town with period actors.

02-11-2008, 08:18 PM	#4
paden501 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 234	Weatherwise, I dig the inside/outside view of the first photo... maybe just try for an 10x8 crop to cut out the distractions on the right. That might give the photo a whole new perspective.

02-13-2008, 12:59 PM	#5
Moggman Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 127	Just my $.02, but I agree with Peter Zack that they both seem a little cluttered. Beyond that, maybe a B&W conversion could improve #1