alone

I am Desperate for some c&c on this image i posted in the gallery

If the image is crap how can i improve it.

James

Which photos do you mean, it would be easier if you would provide a link or post them here or in the "my photo" section of this forum.

You are best posting in Your Photos if you want feedback, the gallery is more a display area

Having said that: At first glance, I like the idea, but to my mind the image is missing something. The roof beams look a little out of focus and there isn't enough in the dark area at the bottom to hold my interest. However, I tried putting a piece of paper over that to simulate a crop ( no access to PS at work ), but that didn't help either.
But, that's just my opinion

I'm sure if you re-posted in Your Photos you'd have more feedback, from more knowledgable people than I .

I think he means this one Stephan

https://www.pentaxuser.com/photo/user-9570/alone-11042

yes that's the one f-ted (whisky,bo#####) hee hee

Okay that one

I'm not a B&W expert but give the photo some more contrast get some real whites and blacks in there, that might do the trick to make it POP so to say.

thank you but how can i enprove my shot Technique

james

here is the original

All rather too dark for my tastes. There's not enough mid tone interest in the walls and ivy, which is unusual, most mono pictures that people post have too much mid tone. I look at this and think "what's the subject?", I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be looking at as it's all a bit dark and the textures get lost. If the lighting was more directional then it would help bring out the texture of the ivy.

Hope this helps, just my two penneth, feel free to ignore.

Yeah, I agree the whole lower half is too dark.

That tree on the right blocking everything out doesn't help either Can you get another angle on the barn?

I don`t mind the dark Barn but the sky is not moody enough to match it as there are large areas without detail and the bright clouds at the very top are distracting. It`s not generally a good idea to have something bright like that on the edge of the frame.
At least you have made a brave attempt at making something of a rather lackluster original so well done for that at least.Perhaps with a Bolder sky you might have something!

Best Regards - Pete

Well here's my thoughts and you won't like them! Let me walk through my thinking.

As someone else remarked with more subtlety than I can bring to the party - just what is the subject?

You don't seem to have exposed correctly for anything there and I'm not surprised as I think it's almost impossible. The building is too dark and the sky too bright. There's a horrible colour cast in the sky as well although how it got there I can't imagine. So if I was shooting in these conditions I would be worried about how I can deal with this exposure problem.

The tree is contributing nothing - it has to go. That means you had to shoot from an angle that either drew it in properly or minimised its impact. I don't think that there's anything you can do about it now as the sky isn't interesting enough to warrant cloning the tree away.

Suppose you say the building is the main subject then we have to see it. In that case any sky will be blown out as white so now you have to deal with that problem by eliminating it from the shot as best you can. But the holes in roof will always show bright sky so now you have to lose the roof.

Now you are down to the main bulk of the building and the ivy. This you could expose well and see all the detail. I can't see enough of it in your shot to tell if there's anything much there but my experience is that this sort of building is a bit ho hum. I was and am very frustrated by a ruined church which really should provide an interesting photograph but like this building it's covered in ivy and in a difficult location. In two attempts I have not managed one good shot.

I think the best approach to this will be to seek out some detail within it. The detail in this case might be quite large but the whole buillding looks pretty dull to me so that if you did get a compelling photograph from it then it would be a real achievement.

So my conclusion is that the building as it is lit there it will almost certainly not give you a good and interesting photograph. As another forum member is fond of telling us - it's the light that counts. If the light is no good then walk on by!

Also I don't think any amount of post processing would 'rescue' this shot and here I'm with the hair shirt guys, it has to be right in the camera!

There - said you wouldn't like it! But is was intended to be of positive assistance not a wrecking spree. I simply don't think anyone could have taken a good shot given the conditions.

Mike

Sorry James but I'm going to agree with everyone else, the composition is wrong, theres not enough emphasis on the building and the tree just gets in the way, and the worst part is the building looks like it falling backwards, though that is easy to put right with the perspective tool in photoshop. The B&W is the best of the two but it does need more lighter tones.

I can see why you took the shot, I'd probably have snapped it myself but its not really worked. What looked good to the eye clearly doesn't transfer to camera very well, you have to remember when "you" see a scene there are other elements at work on your imagination, these could be anything, the weather (how cold it felt) your own mood, even crows squawking in the background could have made this scene sound eerier than it was, personally I would chalk this one down to learning and move on.

PS; if you really like the shot I have hundreds like it I can sell you

EDIT, Typo!

no Mike you are right,

I had this shot on my mind for some time and I couldn't find a shot in it. I was hoping for a fresh set of eyes' to see one

and with over 50 years of development the camera is still along way of the naked eye.

James

thank you all for your time in c&c

Can you get a higher viewpoint? another idea would be to try it again this time of year with the leaves turning, that would make the tree part of the image instead of just an intrusion.

In this case the eye wins every time as it can accommodate the varying levels of light very cleverly. It also does white balance very well. The reason you should have walked past is that the wall has no direct lighting at all which would firstly light it and secondly draw out the texture. Or of course wait for a dramatic sky and make a silhouette.

Mike