If you ever felt sorry

Image Critiques Non-Nature Critiques
1

If you ever felt sorry
If you ever felt sorry2000×1333 667 KB

Somewhere on Route 2 either in Wisconsin or Minnesota is this little cabin on a hill. Luckily there is a road just below and to the left where you can park safely which I was very happy for. Just another busted farm in a part of the country that is very hard to farm in no matter how determined you might be. That roof won’t last much longer even though someone has tried to shore it up. Sometimes when I’m shooting these I feel a bit conflicted that I’m getting enjoyment out of someone else’s tragedy, but I can’t stop. They fascinate me.

Type of Critique Requested

  • Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
  • Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.

Specific Feedback and Self-Critique

Bright blue sky and snow keep this from being too bleak, right? But the snow and bare trees speak of hardship in a way that I think a summer scene wouldn’t convey. Thoughts? Also, what about those snow weeds? I like the line here and there wasn’t much else to do with them.

Technical Details

Handheld while receiving odd looks from folks rushing by on the road.

image

Lr for all processing including a nice tone curve and some texture & clarity. A bit of a crop. It really didn’t need much work.

2

What a wonderful old building! It’s great you can preserve their memory, and watch some decay over the years. You wonder how this stood up to even that much snow! I love the composition with the room on the right. The interest contributed by the distant trees is a very nice touch, echoing the two next to the building. FG weeds are a nice touch, adding some perception of depth (as opposed to depth perception). Is it a barn? The large door on the top story is intriguing, and adds interest to the building. Maybe they had a nice raised deck way back when…

3

Lovely scene along the road.

I like the building with the large trees and the snow on the roof. It helps convey the story of this old abandoned building.

For me, this just screamed B/W so I wanted to see what it might look like. Here’s one version. Small crop from the left and bottom as well.

Kristen_SmithFebruary-07,-2023_1112262-sharpened
Kristen_SmithFebruary-07,-2023_1112262-sharpened2000×1274 853 KB

4

Well-seen, Kris. I like this. The comp is great with those bare trees bookending the structure.

I also really like @Keith_Bauer’s B&W treatment. It adds a lot of drama to the sky. Both color and B&W work in my opinion.

5

Thanks @Diane_Miller, @Keith_Bauer & @David_Bostock - glad this one made you take a second look. It certainly did me. The B&W work makes this a completely different image and it works well on other levels. I don’t think it’s a barn since it has a chimney and is rather small, but the second story door is interesting, isn’t it? I wonder if there was another section of building there - judging by the studs on the outside wall there might have been and the door could have been to a porch.

6

Oooohh – what @Keith_Bauer did to the sky!! Wonderfully brooding over this brave old relic! I could see a subtle darker gradient from the bottom.

1 Like
7

Thanks @Diane_Miller - it does change things quite a lot, doesn’t it? Abandonment lends itself to many approaches.