Junk King...

[Bitter Jeweler]

Spent some time visiting the Junk King today.

It's a real treat, and a real test for a photographer.
How the heck do you capture the feel and scale of his Junk Castle?
You are constantly asking yourself, when to use small apertures, when to use large...everything was sooo cluttered, sooo busy! What to capture? The small tiny details? The grand scheme of it all? In between? From which angle? My god! What's important?! All of it? None of it? Auuuuurgh!

I'll post some of my favorites, over time, to not overwhelm you.
I'll throw in some "record shots", neat, but not fantastic, just to help convey the feel of the place.

You have to schedule time to go, and my friend scheduled Noon. Noon! So on top of an overwhelming subject, it was horrible, horrible light, extreme ranges, and dappled sunlight. :er:

 

[pgriz]

I think you're doing it justice. However, given the nature of the place, and your reaction to it, a collage seems to be the appropriate way to give the flavour of what you see there. And we're not talking everything fits into neat little rectangles on the level collage. As for the light - embrace the harshness, and the dappled light actually gives a pretty good metaphor for what's good, what's junk, what's neither here nor there...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

A collage is an interesting proposal, given that is exactly what the subject matter is.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Rubber ducks. Two ways.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

From the yellow section...

I took lots of shots, looking for the best capture of this area. I scrapped a lot of them.
Favorite first:

Second favorite. I like the organization here, but I love the wider view above.

And third...

I wish I framed with a little more space on the left of the fridge.
I should probably clone out that leaf. Why didn't I see that? :lmao:

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

 

[ronlane]

What an interesting day you had. You've got some good photos there, really like the portrait of the "King".

 

[CourtSC]

My favorite is the picture of the King himself!!! I really liked the others too though! What an interesting place...how long were you able to stay there? I feel like it'd take HOURS to look around and find the real treasures!!!

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

We stayed about an hour and half.
It's seriously overwhelming.
You can stay as long as you want.

 

[Designer]

Well, I'm starting to feel a little better about my own place. Thank you!

 

[Desi]

How cool. I can certainly see why you would feel overwhelmed there. So much to see. I agree with CourtSC...my favorite is the picture of the King himself.

 

[jenko]

#1 and #3 are my favs. Interesting place!

 

[oldhippy]

This has made a really great thread. Great pictures. Thanks Bitter

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

My pleasure, Mr. Hippy!

This one has a foreground frame in focus, but the bulk of the image is beyond it. I was hoping it would convey the sense of being there, struggling to see what is in front of you, while being drawn to what lies beyond. While blurred, the items beyond are still recognizable, and iconic. I think, if I used deeper DoF, you would just face a ton of stuff to look and, and lose the sense of looking through. Alternatively, I could have focused on the back, and blurred the front. Decisions! What would you do?

 

[Designer]

I think I would just get the heck out of there. I refuse to watch "Hoarders; Buried Alive".

As to this shot, I think you have made the best choice regarding focus.