The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Another from a trip to Bodie State Historic Park, perhaps historic in its own right as it’s from 2006. I’ve been doing a little cleaning on my web site and finding things dumped in that were just OOC that deserved some cleaning up.
Specific Feedback
All thoughts and comments always welcome! I worked up the wider view shown here then found a tighter shot following it that I thought brought out some of the detail that attracted me to the scene. But I didn’t care for the shadow on the left part of the window, and it would only get worse as the day went on. I felt that area wasn’t the strongest part any way, so did some straightening and cropping,
Technical Details
Updated to the current LR process but didn’t make a huge difference. Some minor cloning of distracting spots and removed the diagonal reflection in the LRC – maybe from a utility pole behind me? NR didn’t work on this one as it smoothed out the texture on the curtains, even as restrained as I could manage it. Hardly needed anyway. I tried B/W but liked the authenticity of the colors.
Hi Diane, I like the abstractness of this one. The colors are indeed nice. Overall, I prefer the wider version, probably because it gives me a sense of space or context.
This one a bit more graphic in nature. The window panes, the curtains, and the shadows. Very cool.
This is really evocative of times past, even in the most cropped version. I like what you’ve done to correct for the geometric alignment. I’ve done it with a window picture or two and it’s sometimes really fiddly. Could you not have done something similar just by cropping the wider version? The shadow on the left is a wonderful echo of the way the curtains are parted. The haze of grime adds a certain reality to the scene.
Thanks, @David_Bostock and @Kris_Smith! Kris, I probably could have done basically the same thing by cropping the wider view, but the 20D was 8 MP and the detail I love in the curtains would start falling apart fast. Back in those days I was doing everything I could to get the highest resolution, often doing pano composites. (Come to think of it, I still am, with 45MP and much better lenses. Greed know no bounds.)
I corrected the perspective and then did a further tweak to the mullion in the LR. Guides in PS showed it exactly vertical, as were the others, but a slight offset with the section above, and probably some optical illusion, made it look like it wasn’t vertical. I’m tempted to do a little more to the whole LR area with Warp, but enough, already.
I really enjoy images like this, especially images of old historic buildings (even isolated views of windows and doors).
My favorite composition is the third one that shows the old style header treatments with real crown molding and a slanted cap board. When I built my home, I went the extra mile and replicated this same style, the only difference was I made copper flashing caps to cover the wooden cap and of course insulated glass with laminated wood over a PVC sash (for an authentic appearance on the outside).
The only thing I can think of for the third image is to mask the glass panes and reduce the saturation, then increase the contrast but not so much that it completely loses that glare and old dirty glass look.
Interestingly, the glass isn’t wavy and the glazing looks fairly good so those glass panes must have been replaced at some point more recent than the 40s, maybe 70s or 80s? Bodie was abandoned in the early 40s (if I read the article correctly).
The top sash is drooping and the crown is warped in the opposite direction so the geometry looks pretty good as it is, get one part right and it throws something else off in the other direction.
Anyway, I appreciate how difficult it can be to get scenes like these to look right, much of it is subjective though.
Here’s an example of my personal interpretation just for fun. -)
Thanks, @Merv, that works too, but I’m a sucker for browns and blues together. I left the top seam in the siding close to the edge to help show the warping in the window.
Then I found the same window shot in 2015. The curtains aren’t quite as dramatic. This one is just out of LR with minimal tonal work. The shadows of the mullions on the curtain make the 2006 one so much nicer.
