Still Waiting.....

usayit · Dec 21, 2005

Wondering in an area known for abandoned buildings and homes, I found what was once a beautiful peice of property. Heavily wooded area that opens up to a secluded meadow with a large home, garage, shed, and smaller dwelling at each corner. I checked out each of the buildings and practically tripped over this rusty chair set out in the middle of the meadow. It as such in a depressed state still waiting for its owner to return..... no other object during my visit had more to say...

Don Allison · Dec 21, 2005

I like this theme. One suggestion: I would have stopped it down as much as possible to get the chair and the old house in focus as much as possible.

AirVenture · Dec 21, 2005

I like the DOF just the way it is. The chair is the focus of the picture. Looks like a great place to sit back and enjoy nature! Great picture!

-Brett

PaulJMcCain · Dec 21, 2005

I would have either used a higher f-stop, and got the whole thing in focus, or if you want to keep the house out of focus, I would have taken the pic a bit lower to the ground to bring the house into the background a bit more.

clarinetJWD · Dec 21, 2005

PaulJMcCain said:
I would have taken the pic a bit lower to the ground to bring the house into the background a bit more.

ditto, but that doesn't stop it from being an awesome photo

Great DOF

Peanuts · Dec 21, 2005

Great find, defintely a place to return to

My 'critique' is even to make the picture solely of the chair without the house in the background.

manaheim · Dec 22, 2005

Yeah the house does seem distracting in this case... I like what you're trying to do though. My initial reaction was try to take the picture lower, and then maybe try with the house in focus, but in the end my guess is I would give up and try another angle without the house.

So, yeah, what they said... :lmao:

usayit · Dec 22, 2005

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Definitely a place I want to return for more shots. It was so quiet out there in the middle of the meadow and had such a strong sense of abandonment. Unfortunately, it wasn't an easy place to get to...

I must have spent a good hour composing and recomposing for that shot. The grass was literally up past my waist... hence why I practically fell over it as I was wondering around. I had to stomp around it a bit to get a nice clear shot. If you look closely, you can see the grass immediately next to the chair is somewhat flattened while the grass behind is up past the back of the chair.

I do have a shot or two with just the chair. I found that the chair by itself didn't convey the feeling I was looking for. Rusty chair in the middle of nowhere.... all forground and no depth.... nothing "lived-in" to offset it. The dwelling in the background is the old abandoned garage... not a house... and it was not all that pretty to look at. On the other hand, I loved the wood color and how it contrasts from the grass hence why I chose to incorporated it in a blurred background.

On my return trip, I'll have to plan on getting really low to the ground to bring the eye more to the chair itself. I was hoping to get out there after a good heavy snow. I bet that place looks pretty covered in undisturbed snow.

The theme/feeling here has really been exciting to focus on.. I've got a series going in an "informal" portfolio. If time permits, I'll post more from the series.

Chiller · Dec 22, 2005

Cool shot. I like it. Sort of adds a bit of mystery with the building out of focus.

Rob · Dec 22, 2005

It's a great shot - I got it first time with the composition/dof. The only thing that you might do to improve it is to try and avoid the sudden drop-off of acceptable focus after the chair - maybe just one f-stop more dof??

Good job though!

Rob

usayit · Dec 23, 2005

Again thanks for the encouragement and feedback. I was browsing back through my archive of that day's shoot and found another shot of the same chair I'd like to share. It was shot with a wider angle focal length for less compression between the building in the background and forground. I was lower and closer which hopefully brings the eye more towards the chair itself.

Let me know what you all think....