Cemetary at 1am...

[a.saliga]

I felt like taking some eerie photos at a cemetery a few weeks ago. I decreased the contrast and added a vignette in Lightoom. Tell me what you think.




*before anyone points it out I realize the metadata says 12am, but I was home in a different time zone, hence the "inaccuracy"

[Nicole]

Don't you hate it when you forget to change the time on your camera when you travel? I have a whole bunch of photos that say that I was taking pictures at 6am when in reality it wasn't even close.

As far as the photo goes, I'm having a really hard time seeing that this is a cemetery because of the darkness and lack of contrast. So, a question: Was this taken at night or during the day (since you said the time isn't right). If it was taken at night, then it might have been a prime opportunity to try painting with light (taking a flashlight and shining it over the stones so that they show up more). I think that I see what you were going for, but to me it seems a bit too dark to be eerie since I can barely see anything.

[a.saliga]

Good call Nicole. I guess it is a bit dark. This was at night, with approximately a minute and a half exposure if I remember correctly. I thought the lower contrast would add a nice effect, but perhaps I'll re-edit it and post a differetn version.

I did do a bit of light painting...I have a nice bright LED that I carry in my bag, and I used it for a few of my shots. I only posted one of them on my Flickr though. Here is one of them...it's nothing amazing.



It could be brighter too...hmm...maybe the LCD on the computer I edit on isn't correctly calibrated...right now I'm at work, and it looks a bit darker than I remembered.

[Sime]

I actually really really like that first one... maybe a bit of a boost on the light front as Nic said, but yeah - eeerie... I sort of know the guy at the LARGE cemetary near me and am teeing up with him to let us in late one night... keen to get in and try it.

[ELAY]

I like very much the mood you created with these shots, and the light painting.

When I first took them in, I did think that there was something missing, and on reflection I think I was reacting to the tones. I think we are probably more used to seeing lots of blues in twilight/night shots -- did you deliberately go for green/brown tones? Would it be worth a quick adjustment to white balance to see if a cooler setting gives you a different result?

EL

[a.saliga]

Well I guess I must have gotten lucky...I was driving by on my way to shoot at another location...when I saw the gates were open I just drove on in. I'll admit, I was looking over my shoulder every now and then.

[a.saliga]

If I recall I had my white balance set to "cloudy"...I'd attribute the slightly warmer tones to the sodium vapor street lights nearby. The lights were behind me on the first photo posted on this thread, and to my left on the one where I illuminated the one tombstone with my LED.

[a.saliga]

Just upped the exposure...nothing much.