Black & White ray of light

dbzotte · 01-29-2014, 07:35 PM

This is an image I took while exploring an old abandon cabin in north Florida. Let me know what y'all think. Thanks

Attached Images

guest · 01-30-2014, 01:42 AM

I really like this style of photography.

The picture draws you into the light and leaves exploring the hard to see areas.

To me its one of those pictures that you see something new every time you look at it. The depth of shadow and texture on the back wall are wonderful and the picture really give the sense of and old barn falling apart.

Great shot

amoringello · 01-30-2014, 04:14 AM

I like the contrast but there isn't much of it causing interest to look at.
The large negative space (totally black areas) isn't significantly helping the image so most of that can go.
(FYI, My monitor is calibrated but may be a bit dark. By increasing the exposure I see some detail improvement in the shadows but it very quickly degrades from JPEG compression, so I believe I am seeing what is intended.)

Maybe it is just to wide of a shot? I am drawn to the vertical white bar but there is not enough interest to pull into the dark areas... of which there is a lot.

My eyes are pulled to the center 1/9th of the image. The white bar is also very centered, making it a less powerful image. This might be OK if other leading lines were more defined or drew the eye away form the canter 1/9th. A more rule-of-thirds composition might be stronger here. Maybe cropping in to get closer and allow those lines to extend away from the center could be an alternative.

What might raise the interest is to toss some fine dirt in the air so we can actually see the ray of light and shadows coming in through the fine dust.
And again, maybe get in closer focusing attention to that area.

Gregory_51 · 01-30-2014, 10:33 AM

Strong graphic elements. As for the details. I think the framing is OK. There are always a lot of limitations on angles and framing in situations like this, some things are and aren't possible. Looking at it here on this site it looks too dark in the shadows, just a black void and needs to have some details for the viewer to explore I think. However I opened it up in Photoshop and without any changes made it lightened up a fair bit. It's frustrating when that happens and I don't know why it does. Looks OK when you edit it and then you post it somewhere and it changes. That being said even when I opened it up I still think it would benefit from some more details in the shadows. ( My monitor is calibrated, pointless commenting on these things when it isn't)

amoringello · 01-30-2014, 11:15 AM

Originally posted by Gregory_51

... . ( My monitor is calibrated, pointless commenting on these things when it isn't)

haha! yeah... but if you don't mention it, you know that will be the first thing someone will ask about.

dbzotte · 01-30-2014, 11:52 AM

I thought that it was strange that when it was converted to JPEG it looked darker than in photoshop

amoringello · 01-30-2014, 12:54 PM

Originally posted by dbzotte

I thought that it was strange that when it was converted to JPEG it looked darker than in photoshop

That can happen if you're using AdobeRGB from the camera and not converting to sRGB before saving as JPEG. I always convert from 16bit to 8bit and convert to sRGB before saving as JPEG.
That might help... You can view the resulting JPEG locally on your machine in a browser and compare it to what is seen in Photoshop.

Then again, a lot of photo hosting/display systems process and re-compress the image. This can have a host of effects on the images beyond your control. Dunno how much if any this site does to images posted here.

**Miguel** · 02-01-2014, 01:08 PM

Originally posted by amoringello

there isn't much of it causing interest to look at.

That's the first thing that came to my mind.
This photo needs a person. I'll let the everyone's imagination run with that.

M

Na Horuk · 02-08-2014, 05:46 PM

Great processing, awesome contrast. Can really feel the textures and atmosphere

hks_kansei · 02-10-2014, 10:57 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Miguel

That's the first thing that came to my mind.
This photo needs a person. I'll let the everyone's imagination run with that.

Perhaps instead of a person just some form of indication of a person.

The image (to me anyway) seems to convey emptiness, abandonment, etc, a person may lose that and seem a bit posed.

But something that indicates a person WAS there, would work. Something like an old chair, or a pair of grubby boots.

Na Horuk · 02-11-2014, 11:26 AM

Originally posted by hks_kansei

But something that indicates a person WAS there, would work. Something like an old chair, or a pair of grubby boots.

Great idea! It would hammer home the idea of abandonment. An old wooden chair would work great

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01-30-2014, 01:42 AM	#2
guest New Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 21	I really like this style of photography. The picture draws you into the light and leaves exploring the hard to see areas. To me its one of those pictures that you see something new every time you look at it. The depth of shadow and texture on the back wall are wonderful and the picture really give the sense of and old barn falling apart. Great shot

01-30-2014, 04:14 AM	#3
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	I like the contrast but there isn't much of it causing interest to look at. The large negative space (totally black areas) isn't significantly helping the image so most of that can go. (FYI, My monitor is calibrated but may be a bit dark. By increasing the exposure I see some detail improvement in the shadows but it very quickly degrades from JPEG compression, so I believe I am seeing what is intended.) Maybe it is just to wide of a shot? I am drawn to the vertical white bar but there is not enough interest to pull into the dark areas... of which there is a lot. My eyes are pulled to the center 1/9th of the image. The white bar is also very centered, making it a less powerful image. This might be OK if other leading lines were more defined or drew the eye away form the canter 1/9th. A more rule-of-thirds composition might be stronger here. Maybe cropping in to get closer and allow those lines to extend away from the center could be an alternative. What might raise the interest is to toss some fine dirt in the air so we can actually see the ray of light and shadows coming in through the fine dust. And again, maybe get in closer focusing attention to that area.

01-30-2014, 10:33 AM	#4
Gregory_51 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: London, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 343	Strong graphic elements. As for the details. I think the framing is OK. There are always a lot of limitations on angles and framing in situations like this, some things are and aren't possible. Looking at it here on this site it looks too dark in the shadows, just a black void and needs to have some details for the viewer to explore I think. However I opened it up in Photoshop and without any changes made it lightened up a fair bit. It's frustrating when that happens and I don't know why it does. Looks OK when you edit it and then you post it somewhere and it changes. That being said even when I opened it up I still think it would benefit from some more details in the shadows. ( My monitor is calibrated, pointless commenting on these things when it isn't)

01-30-2014, 11:15 AM	#5
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	Originally posted by Gregory_51 ... . ( My monitor is calibrated, pointless commenting on these things when it isn't) haha! yeah... but if you don't mention it, you know that will be the first thing someone will ask about.

01-30-2014, 11:52 AM	#6
dbzotte New Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 10 Original Poster	I thought that it was strange that when it was converted to JPEG it looked darker than in photoshop

01-30-2014, 12:54 PM	#7
amoringello Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Virginia, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,562	Originally posted by dbzotte I thought that it was strange that when it was converted to JPEG it looked darker than in photoshop That can happen if you're using AdobeRGB from the camera and not converting to sRGB before saving as JPEG. I always convert from 16bit to 8bit and convert to sRGB before saving as JPEG. That might help... You can view the resulting JPEG locally on your machine in a browser and compare it to what is seen in Photoshop. Then again, a lot of photo hosting/display systems process and re-compress the image. This can have a host of effects on the images beyond your control. Dunno how much if any this site does to images posted here.

02-01-2014, 01:08 PM	#8
Miguel Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Near Seattle Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,743	Originally posted by amoringello there isn't much of it causing interest to look at. That's the first thing that came to my mind. This photo needs a person. I'll let the everyone's imagination run with that. M

02-08-2014, 05:46 PM	#9
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Great processing, awesome contrast. Can really feel the textures and atmosphere

02-10-2014, 10:57 PM - 1 Like	#10
hks_kansei Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 834	Originally posted by Miguel That's the first thing that came to my mind. This photo needs a person. I'll let the everyone's imagination run with that. Perhaps instead of a person just some form of indication of a person. The image (to me anyway) seems to convey emptiness, abandonment, etc, a person may lose that and seem a bit posed. But something that indicates a person WAS there, would work. Something like an old chair, or a pair of grubby boots.

02-11-2014, 11:26 AM	#11
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Originally posted by hks_kansei But something that indicates a person WAS there, would work. Something like an old chair, or a pair of grubby boots. Great idea! It would hammer home the idea of abandonment. An old wooden chair would work great