Empty House C&C requested

BlackSheep · Sep 2, 2011

I shot this old abandoned home last weekend, and would very much appreciate some C&C. In general, all of the images I got look flat & boring to me in comparison to what I've been able to do in the past (with film), and also in comparison to many of the photos that I've seen on here.

My thoughts on all three of these images are that the composition is good but not great, the flat grey sky deters from them all overall (I will go back and re-shoot on a better day). Focus looks good, colour balance is acceptable, exposure is within range, but they all look blah - Is it post processing that I'm lacking in? Exposure? Everything? I would very much appreciate any & all feedback:

All of them were shot in RAW (but using P-exposure), adjusted a bit in Photoshop (less magenta in the colour balance, minor unsharp mask, decreased contrast for the sky only), then converted to Jpeg for photoshop.

H4X1MA · Sep 2, 2011

The first pic, with a blue sky with some clouds and a little further back or maybe wide angle, I think would be a great one.

The way it's caving in on itself almost makes it look like a cartoon house. You may be able to photoshop some crazy effects

newb · Sep 2, 2011

I like the first one, but think it would be better with more detail in the clouds.

manaheim · Sep 3, 2011

First one has the most potential... a little cropping and a bit of editing and you can make it work. I kind "played" with it... here, check it out...

So first step is doing something with that sky. I was a little indelicate with it so you can sort of see the border of my selection as a bit of a halo, but this was a 5 minute job total. You can do better with a bit more care. Select->Color Range to get the sky, then ajust the color balance to add blue and cyan to the extreme, then pull down contrast and brightness to bring out the clouds. Down about 20 points each. You get this...

Next step is to work on that crop. It just needs a bit of an adjustment...

Finally, and this is I think where it really pays off, do a strong black and white treatment to it... then boost the image contrast of the ENTIRE image by 20 points or so, and finally add just a HAIR of noise, and you get this...

What do you think?

BlackSheep · Sep 3, 2011

Manaheim, thank you very much! That is exactly the kind of guidance I was hoping for.

I'm going to go back to the beginning on that first image, and work on it using your advice. Practice, practice, practice.

Thanks again!

BlackSheep · Sep 3, 2011

Alright, I've been playing with that first image a bit, hopefully there's some improvement now. Boy do I ever have alot to learn, though!

This is the original uncropped image:

Adjusted & cropped colour version:

And the B&W:

KenC · Sep 3, 2011

I'm not sold on the first image at all. The bush in the foreground is as big as the house and is not really very interesting.

BlackSheep · Sep 3, 2011

I agree Ken, and thanks for your comment. In fact, I was just saying to my husband that I really want to re-shoot this house in the winter, when the leaves are gone. Right now, though, my goal is to improve my technical skills (exposure, PP, etc.), so I'm using these images as a learning tool for that. I really do have alot to learn....

H4X1MA and newb - I meant to thank both of you for your comments earlier, but got distracted -A belated thanks to you both!