Calendar of Architecture

hark

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After many years of wanting to create a calendar solely of architecture, I will be donating my time and images to create a calendar of local historical buildings. Their organization will be the ones selling the calendars to fund their non-profit dedicated to preserving the village's history. And I know they can definitely put the money to use. This came after I approached them and offered to do this (so I wasn't asked). I find I tend to grow in my editing knowledge when working on this type of project. Photos will take place over the next 15 or so months for a 2023 calendar.

So my question is this: Do I try to remove as many of the wires as possible in the images? Although this particular photo won't be one for the calendar, it gives a good idea of what I'm up against. It would be tedious to clone stamp the roofs. Many of these buildings are extremely close to the roadway, and those wires run parallel very close to the buildings.

For this particular building, it simply isn't possible to take a frontal shot without having the wires show up with the roof. They will definitely want photos of the buildings' facades. What are your thoughts?

_DSC0537 low res.jpg
 

Needa

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Great project! Looking forward to see how it progresses.
I will just throw one possibility out there stitched shots might work in some cases. I used the concept once on a train station for that very reason. Can't they be removed in Photoshop without cloning?
 

hark

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Great project! Looking forward to see how it progresses.
I will just throw one possibility out there stitched shots might work in some cases. I used the concept once on a train station for that very reason. Can't they be removed in Photoshop without cloning?


Some of them might be able to be removed more easily than others - I just don't know how tedious it may become as I haven't yet checked out all the angles from which to shoot.

Thanks for the suggestion on stitching. I haven't yet attempted it but will definitely consider it. :encouragement:
 

nikonpup

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IMO get rid of the wires. If you are not comfortable removing the wires I am sure you could find
someone to do the job.
















 

Peter7100

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The wires are very distracting in that photo. It was the first thing that caught my eye, therefore I think it would be worthwhile removing them.
Congrats on the project!
 

hark

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IMO get rid of the wires. If you are not comfortable removing the wires I am sure you could find
someone to do the job.


The wires are very distracting in that photo. It was the first thing that caught my eye, therefore I think it would be worthwhile removing them.
Congrats on the project!

Yeah, I know it's gonna be a royal pain to remove them but agree it will probably be best to do so.

Here is a frontal view. I will have to see which one might be easier to edit when the time comes.

_10K3484 low res.jpg
 
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hark

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These two images were taken a month apart. Personally I like the vantage point of the first one much better. It makes the image more dynamic IMHO.
 

BF Hammer

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If it were my project, the wires would have to go. Remember what the subject is here and remove what distracts. That may include that yellow road sign on the left side too.
 

Needa

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Some of them might be able to be removed more easily than others - I just don't know how tedious it may become as I haven't yet checked out all the angles from which to shoot.

Thanks for the suggestion on stitching. I haven't yet attempted it but will definitely consider it. :encouragement:

Let me explain how I went about the task. I my case I was able to stand under the wires and get the required photos to stitch. Don't know if you have the room as this structure is two story.
There are quite a few tips on how to remove power lines in Photoshop using content aware fill. Of course they always make it look easy and since I don't use Photoshop can't comment on how well it works.
 

Fred Kingston

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I have a friend that does real estate photography. She enjoys the entire process, except the editing. She uses a service that outsources the editing to a couple of Vietnamese women... My friend says it's embarrassingly inexpensive... Like $10-$15/hr... and she says they're very fast... and very fluent... Her work is impeccable... and she is very sought after in our area here, for higher end homes... I think I'd explore that option for removing the power lines...
 

nickt

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I think I'm going to buck the crowd here and say leave them. The nearby old city I grew up in is full of wires, its a mess but its part of the street view and history. If it were a nature scene, I'd be all over erasing them. But its a city and wires are part of the city. Also being a technical guy, it would disturb me to spot electrical masts and connection boxes or meters on the sides of these buildings that are not connected. Your audience might not care about the wires, they grew up with them. There might even be some electricians and utility workers out there that installed those wires. Now satellite dishes are a different story, I hate those things all over city buildings, lol.
 

Needa

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I think I'm going to buck the crowd here and say leave them. The nearby old city I grew up in is full of wires, its a mess but its part of the street view and history. If it were a nature scene, I'd be all over erasing them. But its a city and wires are part of the city. Also being a technical guy, it would disturb me to spot electrical masts and connection boxes or meters on the sides of these buildings that are not connected. Your audience might not care about the wires, they grew up with them. There might even be some electricians and utility workers out there that installed those wires. Now satellite dishes are a different story, I hate those things all over city buildings, lol.


There is a middle ground on this photo. Remove the upper set of wires and the lower communications cables leaving the electrical connections.
 

hark

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I agree. The first image is much more interesting. Now to get rid of those darn wires!

Most likely I will. This was just a test shot. I want to take photos during each of the four seasons for most, if not all, of the historic buildings. This one lacks leaves or any pretty seasonal embellishments such as ground cover of snow, blossoms, etc. So I don't even want to spend time on it. Hopefully some leaves will sprout soon!

If it were my project, the wires would have to go. Remember what the subject is here and remove what distracts. That may include that yellow road sign on the left side too.

Yes, I'd definitely remove any road signs, too!

Let me explain how I went about the task. I my case I was able to stand under the wires and get the required photos to stitch. Don't know if you have the room as this structure is two story.
There are quite a few tips on how to remove power lines in Photoshop using content aware fill. Of course they always make it look easy and since I don't use Photoshop can't comment on how well it works.

I understand what you're saying. The next time I'm over that way, I will see if there is enough room for me to capture the entire building front (in sections) without the wires. The hard part would be straightening every image before merging them together. When I volunteered to take drama photos for the local high school, it was extremely tedious to remove marks on the stage floor (shot from the balcony so the only way to avoid those was to zoom in on the cast's upper bodies). I do remember how painstaking it could be to clean things up. With the grid-like pattern of these shingles, I'm not too thrilled with the prospect of attempting it! Lol.

I have a friend that does real estate photography. She enjoys the entire process, except the editing. She uses a service that outsources the editing to a couple of Vietnamese women... My friend says it's embarrassingly inexpensive... Like $10-$15/hr... and she says they're very fast... and very fluent... Her work is impeccable... and she is very sought after in our area here, for higher end homes... I think I'd explore that option for removing the power lines...

I'm the one who approached them and offered to do this as a fund raiser. So I'm not getting paid. And with the cost of printing calendars, I'm guessing they will only make a few dollars from each one sold. I haven't yet checked out every building, but at least some of them don't have this type of wire issue. However, if one or two images prove to be too daunting, I might consider paying for it out of my pocket.

I think I'm going to buck the crowd here and say leave them. The nearby old city I grew up in is full of wires, its a mess but its part of the street view and history. If it were a nature scene, I'd be all over erasing them. But its a city and wires are part of the city. Also being a technical guy, it would disturb me to spot electrical masts and connection boxes or meters on the sides of these buildings that are not connected. Your audience might not care about the wires, they grew up with them. There might even be some electricians and utility workers out there that installed those wires. Now satellite dishes are a different story, I hate those things all over city buildings, lol.

The images I've seen of these historic buildings all had the wires untouched. Since these are historic buildings - some are preserved by this non-profit while others are owned privately - I will probably attempt removing this type of distraction to maintain the village's quaint appeal. At least that's where I'm leaning with my decision as of right now. But we shall see. ol. ;)
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
The wires are very distracting in that photo. It was the first thing that caught my eye, therefore I think it would be worthwhile removing them. ...

I agree. I sometimes wrestle with the same thing in my railroad photos (just as Needa mentioned with his) and it's a difficult choice, wanting to preserve history as it was vs an improved version of it. I look at it the way you do, weighing the distraction factor. Cell phone towers are most frequently the target of my edits. They're a pox these days and ruin a lot of compositions.
 

hark

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I agree. I sometimes wrestle with the same thing in my railroad photos (just as Needa mentioned with his) and it's a difficult choice, wanting to preserve history as it was vs an improved version of it. I look at it the way you do, weighing the distraction factor. Cell phone towers are most frequently the target of my edits. They're a pox these days and ruin a lot of compositions.

I used to visit the New Jersey shore and remember driving through an upscale residential town called Deal. Their wires and cables must be buried underground. Not seeing those was surreal.
 

Robin W

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I would remove the wires, it would definitely help the sales of the calendars. Needa's suggestion of stitching the photos is a great idea. I use Image Composite Editor to stitch my photos. It is very easy to use, does a great job and I think it was a free program. Good Luck, keep us posted.
 
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