Abandoned Pumphouse

Browncoat

Senior Member
Things like this are my favorite subject to photograph...abandoned old buildings and factories. As with all my images, this one saw some post work in Adobe Bridge and Photoshop. This image received my own signature style, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't provide intimate details on the techniques used besides the obvious vignette.

;)

EXIF:
Camera - Nikon D90
Mode - AP
ISO - 200
Exposure - 1/1600
Focal Length - 24mm


barn-2.jpg
 
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fotojack

Senior Member
Looks damn good to me. I like that kind of stuff, too. Always makes for interesting photos. Maybe a little heavy on the vignetting, but other than that.........nice. :)
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
Anthony - I like your interpretation of this scene it's a good shot. You gotta love the old red, ramshackle, pump house and the worn out windmill pump tower with the blue sky and clouds. But this only shows how two people can see the same thing and come up with different versions. The red pump house gives me the thought of using intense colors, a dark blue sky with white clouds, a bright red pump house, with bright green grass. To do that I would have shot it with a CPL filter to bring out the intensity of the colors. I would shoot it in a vertical format and include a bit more grass as an offset to all of that sky. I would fill the frame with grass, red pump house, tower and sky. In post processing I would make the colors pop with more contrast, saturation, definition, vibrancy and sharpening. Maybe it would be as good as yours. BTW I'm not a big fan of vignetting but in this case it works to frame and direct the view to the subject. Good choice.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Anthony, nice shot! I like it, hard for me to drive by any old obviously abandoned building and not stop and shoot. I think the power pole with no wires adds to the abandoned feeling, after all like they say if it tells a story it's good! Keep it up.
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
Thanks for the kind words, guys! :cool:

RE: the vignette...I used it on this photo for the reason already specified by Mr. Bautsch. I thought it helped frame the composition and draw your eye towards the center. A lot of photogs think vignettes can be a bit cheesy, but I kinda like em! Then again, I also like the retro/vintage/lomography look too.

RE: composition...For lack of a better term, I wanted the "big sky look" and ignored the Rule of Thirds. This pumphouse really is out in the middle of nowhere, there isn't even a house on the property anymore. I wanted to convey how lonesome and abandoned it was by showing as much openness as possible. That's also why I included the bare power pole, good eye, Yibel! I see what you're saying though, Mr. Bautsch. Maybe I'll head back out there and try for a down low shot to include more grass.
 
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