Abandoned Farm C&C please

[PixelRabbit]

Hi everyone and thanks for checking out my thread :thumbup:
We got permission to wander around an abandoned farm so the other day we headed over.
These are a few from our visit.
Would love some c&c on them.
Thanks in advance!

Here we go, so ... one of the things I had trouble with on my last C&C was tooooo much stuff going on! Well this place was a treasure trove of too much stuff going on so I tried to simplify things and capture the details for the most part. Pop of colour here, contrast or light there. I had trouble isolating/choosing shots inside the barn, I could only stand in the doorway (was totally not going to see if there was floor under the hay since the roof already caved in and there was visible holes in the floor) and felt lost with finding the good compositions within the shadow and light but I know they were there!

The house was the same deal but worse on the clutter.. and there was a large scary animal in the basement ... who decided to make it's presence known when I was standing beside the basement door trying to capture the light through the glorious blue window above the front door, I'm glad I had a couple shots before squeaking like a girl and making a hasty retreat lol. I'm having a hard time choosing just a couple so if there are a couple too many pics in this thread I apologize in advance!

So here they are:

1.
Shot of one of the outbuildings, there wasn't a lot of colour with the snow, gloomy sky and grey and white barn board so I decided on sepia. I like the feeling of the shot but don't like the bird smudges in the sky (pretty sure that's what they are anyway lol) and not sure about the hydro lines. I like the weight/balance added to the right side by the old gas tank.

2.
This is the inside of the barn where I struggled finding pieces of light/interest to frame, everywhere I chose seemed to lose it's appeal with the framing because I lost too much shadow to balance or it became too complicated. I chose this shot because I liked the transition between the hole in the roof on the right and the light hitting the back of the barn on the left, wish I could have gotten a wider shot to include the whole hole in the roof and capture the transition between the rich warm wood to the cold snow under/around the hole in the roof. Suggestions on how to chop this up into pieces to capture the beauty in individual places would be MUCHLY appreciated!

3.
Ah this one, this one makes me go hmmm ...there is another version in my photobucket acct that is zoomed in more, I chose this one because I like the scale of it. It has a very religious undertone to me, I immediately think of a crucifix when I see it and I love the light on the wood inside and detail on the barnboard outside.

4.
This one is the "thankgoodnessigotthisbeforethescaryanimalmoved!" The glass over this door was stunning! but alas I didn't do it total justice. I took the saturation down in this image to the point where the blue stayed and the red tape that was on the plastic over the door/window blended in.
I like the feel.... almost... there is something here for sure...

5.
I like the composition of this one, wish the shadows of the branches were more pronounced.

6.
Finally this light was way cool, was shooting up at it and would have liked more light perhaps? something to really make the broken bulb inside "pop"

 

[PixelRabbit]

**comes in to shoo the crickets out**
darn it ... no tough love yet!

 

[KenC]

Suggestions on how to chop this up into pieces to capture the beauty in individual places would be MUCHLY appreciated!

This is always tough when one is not there. I guess my inclination in the barn for which you asked this would be to walk over to the brightly lit areas and see how they looked at different angles against different backgrounds, e.g., other bright areas, much darker areas, areas with vertical light stripes between boards. I'm sure you'd find a lot of images you liked.

A few general comments on a couple of the images as is: #1 doesn't really benefit from stretching it to include the tank, imo. There's just nothing else on the right side. #5 is not a bad composition, but this sort of composition usually is taken exactly straight on, with all of the verticals and horizontals exactly so. I know that would have changed what was visible through the fence, but the angles here just seem too distracting. You could crop the top to eliminate the diagonal along the top of the fence and then straighten the whole thing a little. If you want the shadows more pronounced, you can do that, and maybe also darken the wall. Just some thoughts ...

 

[PixelRabbit]

Suggestions on how to chop this up into pieces to capture the beauty in individual places would be MUCHLY appreciated!

This is always tough when one is not there. I guess my inclination in the barn for which you asked this would be to walk over to the brightly lit areas and see how they looked at different angles against different backgrounds, e.g., other bright areas, much darker areas, areas with vertical light stripes between boards. I'm sure you'd find a lot of images you liked.

A few general comments on a couple of the images as is: #1 doesn't really benefit from stretching it to include the tank, imo. There's just nothing else on the right side. #5 is not a bad composition, but this sort of composition usually is taken exactly straight on, with all of the verticals and horizontals exactly so. I know that would have changed what was visible through the fence, but the angles here just seem too distracting. You could crop the top to eliminate the diagonal along the top of the fence and then straighten the whole thing a little. If you want the shadows more pronounced, you can do that, and maybe also darken the wall. Just some thoughts ...

Hey Ken thanks for your thoughts.
I kinda figured it would be tough to suggest compositions w/o being there ... I wasn't able to walk around (because I'm a scardeycat and didn't like the holes in the floor lol) so I limited myself to shooting from the door, I'll keep the walk around suggestion in my pocket for next time I'm up against the same situation though.

#1 hmm ok, do you find it more of a distraction that it sits on the right and draws your eye? (I find it draws my eye to it and then I go back to the sheds.)
#5 thanks I'll try that and see the difference.

Thanks a million for taking the time to comment Ken

 

[bazooka]

1.
Shot of one of the outbuildings, there wasn't a lot of colour with the snow, gloomy sky and grey and white barn board so I decided on sepia. I like the feeling of the shot but don't like the bird smudges in the sky (pretty sure that's what they are anyway lol) and not sure about the hydro lines. I like the weight/balance added to the right side by the old gas tank.

Let me just say first off that I really like where you are heading with your photography. You have come a long way in such a short amount of time. I notice immediately how much simpler and well balanced your compositions are. Overall, very well done.

#1. This image evokes a strong mood for me. It is the kind of place that I grew up at (I wasn't raised in a barn, but almost.) I love the processing. I wish there were a bit more "margin" on the right side of the tank... it feels a little cramped over there. This leads me to believe that there was something over there that you were intentionally cropping out?

I think I would crop some more of the sky out. It's already a non-standard crop so I don't think there would be any harm in it.

I wish the power lines weren't there, but there is only so much you can control. You could clone them out but it would be meticulous work to do it well and I don't think they are enough of a distraction to warrant it. Personally I don't like to do those kind of major changes to a photograph... I'm more of a purist in that aspect. But it's art, there is absolutely nothing 'wrong' with doing it.

I didn't notice the birds until you mentioned it. Even then, I was like, "What's she talking about??" Took me about 10 seconds to see them. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It does leave a little something extra in the image to discover which I like, and they are composed well, seemingly intentionally. You could burn them in a bit to make them more obvious, but I think they're perfectly fine and add something to the image. Overall, I really like this photograph.

2.
This is the inside of the barn where I struggled finding pieces of light/interest to frame, everywhere I chose seemed to lose it's appeal with the framing because I lost too much shadow to balance or it became too complicated. I chose this shot because I liked the transition between the hole in the roof on the right and the light hitting the back of the barn on the left, wish I could have gotten a wider shot to include the whole hole in the roof and capture the transition between the rich warm wood to the cold snow under/around the hole in the roof. Suggestions on how to chop this up into pieces to capture the beauty in individual places would be MUCHLY appreciated!

I see your interest in this scene. Strong lines, two completely polar opposite types of light coming in (warm, hard, horizontal vs. cool, soft, vertical). You mentioned you couldn't get any wider which would have also been my recommendation. I would like to see more of the "skylight". I would also like to see a little more room underneat the base of the beam at the bottom of the frame... it's feeling a bit cramped there. Technically, your yellows are blowing out on the cross beams, particularly the first one on the right. I know that this is a tough shot to do as I was recently in a similar barn with the morning light coming in. Given the situation, I think you did quite well balancing the shadows and highlights.

I think I see another "shot" in this one... on the right side you have all of the metal lying on the ground. The ladder on the left leading up to the light overhead. Do a vertical crop with the metal at the bottom, light at the top, and no direct sunlight to polute the color or mess with the softness of the light. I think that would be a very interesting shot.

But I like that you were really trying to photograph that light here, and not just the scene. That's excellent progress imo.


3.
Ah this one, this one makes me go hmmm ...there is another version in my photobucket acct that is zoomed in more, I chose this one because I like the scale of it. It has a very religious undertone to me, I immediately think of a crucifix when I see it and I love the light on the wood inside and detail on the barnboard outside.

Technically, again, you did a fine job at getting the two different light types to match in tonality. I love how you juxtaposed a warmly lit interior item with the cool light of the outside. This shot simply wouldn't have worked at all if the light hitting the outdoor wooden wall was warm and hard light the indoor lit surfaces. This is a creative shot, good catch.

I think I would have picked up on the symbolism if I hadn't read your synopsis first so it is effective.

I think what bothers me with the shot is not the strong vertical perspective distortion, but the slight horizontal perspective distortion from turning your camera slightly to the left in order to center the "cross". You could have corrected this with a tilt-shift lens or you could have shot wider than you needed while keeping the camera straight and cropped (this is essentially what the shift part of the tilt-shift does except it uses the entire sensor as a cropping tool within a larger circle of light). This would have allowed the bottom, middle, and top to be parallel to the edges of the frame instead of leaning slightly. Even though it's a subtle technical detail, imo this is a big deal for this particular shot.

4.
This one is the "thankgoodnessigotthisbeforethescaryanimalmoved!" The glass over this door was stunning! but alas I didn't do it total justice. I took the saturation down in this image to the point where the blue stayed and the red tape that was on the plastic over the door/window blended in.
I like the feel.... almost... there is something here for sure...

This is quite beautiful. Again, you are photographing the light.... and quite literally here. The glossiness of the wood on the stairs is a diffuse reflection of the softbox that is the doorway. The colored overhead glass adds additionaly interest to the shot but doesn't pollute the light color. It is composed well... I see similarities to the popular yin-yang symbol. I think this is great. You have told me through this image alone exactly what being in that house is like...or at least what your impression of it was. Very well done.

5.
I like the composition of this one, wish the shadows of the branches were more pronounced.

This one is similar to the crucifix shot above in that it provides a "window", but it is less effective for me. Technically I see two issues... first it seems a touch overexposed, at least the bottom third of the image is kind of blowing me away. I would probably burn this in some so it's not so harsh. Second, you have the perspective distortion again because the camera is tilted to the left of the wall instead of straight at it. Only with this composition, I don't know why you chose to do that. I would make sure to shoot this so the wall is parallel to the camera sensor.

It's apparent that you thought about the composition, but I don't like it. I see how there are two windows and how one is looking into a dark, unwelcoming place, and the other is a window to the sky and open outdoors, but then there is the third "window" in the middle which doesn't make much sense to me. Or perhaps you were just trying to capture the shadow of the tree. I'm not sure. I think you've got too much going on here and the subject/purpose/emotion is unclear to me.

6.
Finally this light was way cool, was shooting up at it and would have liked more light perhaps? something to really make the broken bulb inside "pop"

I'm not diggin' it. Perhaps it was a very interesting light and I would love to see the detail, but I can't. It's strongly reflecting the sky and probably other things that I can't see past the glass. I would say get closer and level (probably not possible, but ideally) and put more care into the background. The tone of the light is very similar to the tone of the sky, and obviously color. The strong lines and shapes in the background are much more eye-catching than what little detail and shape I can see in the light fixture.

Sometimes we are equipment limited, sometimes we are limited by environment or subject location. Sometimes it's best to realize this and move on to the next subject instead of trying to force a shot.

Again, you have progressed more than I expected. Very well done.

C&C as requested.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Just heading out the door, the light is beautiful out there right now but wanted to take a second to say thanks and looking forward to really going through your C&C and going back and having another look at all the images from there when I get back (holy run on sentence batman!)