Are these any good? Derelict place.

ndancona · Sep 19, 2013

This is a derelict garden centre/nursery that went bankrupt and was abandoned some years ago. I know this place has potential for some awesome photography but need to find the right angles and stuff. This was my first attempt at this place, I can revisit as it's quite close to where I live. Was a bit spooky, saw a bunch of rats and a large dog wandering about.
1.

2.

3.

4.

Derrel · Sep 19, 2013

I thought shots #1 and #3 were the strongest of the four offered. I'm not a big fan of old, run-down places and structures, but I do know that MANY people absolutely love the genre. what hurts shot #4 is the cutting-off of the support poles across the bottom of the frame...that really,really hurt the shot. The second shot has a lot of sky, and the building aspect is a bit dark,and hard to see, and the whole shot is sort of a jumble of "stuff". In contrast #1 and #3 seem to "show me more", more directly, more unambiguously. I personally think that this type of subject matter is somewhat difficult to make look "good"...it's just...so..run-down..so chaotic...so "what to point the camera at?", no?

wyogirl · Sep 19, 2013

As Derrel mentioned, some people love this type of photography.... I'm one of them. I love number 2. Keep shooting here, I'm sure you will find something new every time.

ndancona · Sep 19, 2013

thanks for your comments Derrel. Did not notice that I cut the legs off the support structure in #4 and now that you point it out it's bothering me. I remember I was concentrating on getting the aircraft flying overhead into the frame and maybe that's what got me looking up too high. You are absolutely right that this stuff is very difficult to make look good. I thought it would be a great place to photograph but was disappointed with my shots straight out of the camera. Only after processing them I started to like them a bit better.

tamccain · Sep 19, 2013

I love #2 because it gives me that creepy feeling that you describe in your setup to the pictures.

GDHLEWIS · Sep 19, 2013

Id like to see 2 and 4 in B+W, think when it comes to shooting old abandoned places BW will win every time IMO

Redeyejedi · Sep 19, 2013

i like #4 most could a recompose as suggested by D.
#3 is nice, however i would've included the entire nearby frame and cut off the far away one, and have the horizontal supports begin more towards lower left corner.
#1 has several lines that carry the eye toward the distance, but the one beam, partially blocking the sunlight....my opinion....reframe to backlight beam and have beam begin from the right corner, while using the vertical post to 'contain' or frame right side of shot.
nice work, i like the tones and feel

frommrstomommy · Sep 19, 2013

2 was the most eye catching to me for whatever reason. Not sure what it is about that one.

minicoop1985 · Sep 20, 2013

1 and 2 are just amazing. I'm another one who loves old decrepit places. These are all fantastic to me.

limr · Sep 20, 2013

I like shooting run-down places as well. Many years ago when I was first starting to get interested in photography, I tried some shots of an abandoned steel mill in Pittsburgh. They didn't come out like I'd wanted to and now that I know a little more, I'd love to go back and try again.

The black and white works well with the subject, I agree, though the one b&w conversion up there looks too contrasty. Needs midtones. There's a lot of detail missing in those deep shadows and the sky looks totally blown.

ndancona · Sep 21, 2013

thanks for all the feedback, I've learnt a lot from your comments. One final question; Image #2 is HDR, is it obvious? My goal was to shoot an HDR image but keep is as subtle as possible and not overcook it. I used 7 images for this result. Is it subtle enough?

Shipman · Sep 21, 2013

I really like them, I am really into decrepit areas and abandoned scenes. The only one that isnt doing it for me is #3, I dont really like the black and white. I think it ruins the photo, other than that I am very pleased with the images.