bums me out

[mfreg]

I was driving down this road, someplace I would never be again, I see this old crumbling building off in the woods, it looked so cool.....I see the images in my head and the great prints they would make, it would have made such a cool subject ( if I knew what I was doing )...sun was at high noon and I couldn't come back.
but over and above that, I hate this composition...it looks "predictable" to me, formulaic ( did I spell that right )....it captures nothing of the moment that I was there.
What could I have done differently ?


Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV


this was the 2nd day I had my new digital camera, I didn't know about RAW so I shot this with the in camera sepia, I thought it would....I don't know what I thought......

thanks for looking

mike

[JGennuso]

To be honest with you, I like this shot.

[evangilder]

It's not that bad. Formulaic? Maybe, but the shadowingon the left side and through the windows gives kind of a dark mood. I think we have all had shots that looked great in our head, but didn't quite turn out as we had envisioned. What you need to take away from the shot is what you learned from it. At least you have something that is in focus and still interesting.

For your second day with a new camera, I'd say you're doing fine with it. My $.02

[FGPhotography]

I too like it, it looks kind of rustic...

[mfreg]

Thank you for the kind words.......
I guess my problem is this, I climbed through all these weeds and fallen trees and crud to get to it......I stood there and touched the walls, I put my hands on the rocks and as I did I couldn't help but think about it's history, who built it, what it was, who stood where I was standing, ( I'm wierd like that ) this structure had to be 100, maybe 150 years old. I wanted to capture that "essence" so to speak in the images I took, and when I look at them, NONE of them do that for me. It's just not there. I thought, maybe a different angle or perspective, a different lens ? ....i don't know, I'm rambling now.....

thank you all for looking

regards
mike

[peeperita]

i think you touched on what's bothering you......perspective.....what you've missed capturing is a little more enviroment.....a few feet back and you might have a little more of that no longer there roof and the tops of the walls with the crumbling away brick.....the long neglected landscape surrounding it.....i know you wanted to age it with the sepia, but i think that minimized the empty windows and doorway by not having that punch of sky and weed growth that i know is peeking through them......

don't be so hard on yourself......by studying each image, you'll improve the ones you've yet to take.....

[irieness]

It's understandable that once you get your new camera, then the pics you always wished to make doesn't come out. I think it's important to understand and accept that it takes time since acquiring a new camera to make the shots you want (if this isn't your first time into photography nevermind what I just said).

This picture is a bit predictable. I could give you some ideas for the next time you go there. But I'm a beginner as well so I might not know what I'm talking about . But here is what I would try. Use your sigma 10-20 and get a wide angle shot with the environment included. That might help give it an eerie look. You could also try shooting through the windows. What's inside could be interesting. If you go inside.. look for a high viewpoint, stand there and make a picture looking down. That should give a good angle of how an abandoned place looks like.

Hopefully this was of help!

Good luck.

[mfreg]

thank you for the suggestions.
these photos were the reason I bought the sigma, I didn't have it at the time, the XSi was an "emergency" purchase ( the film door on my camera broke during this trip ), I didn't know about "crop" factors or anything at all about digital at the time. Here are a couple of the other shots I tried, you can see how overgrown the other views were, it's hard to make out the structure.







and the sun was so harsh on the "front" wall it was difficult to get any contrast, I tried the shot through the window but the inside of the back wall is all blown out, if I new more at the time I would have exposed for that back wall and tried to fix it in PP.

Listen to me "PP".. I sound like I know what I'm talking about haha

still, to me it's that feeling of "history" thats missing and I can't figure out what I should have done differently.

thanks again for looking.

peace
mike

[irieness]

Hey. Nice that you went back and tried it out again. You're right that its overgrown there. Its so hectic that you can't do anything about it. Too much things are going on in the shot. Sorry that I couldnt been of much help.

[jcaserta]

It looks like a beautiful place, despite being overgrown. I enjoy your photos of it, there's so much to be said of the history and remembrance of such places. I agree that the angle is often seen with old shots, but it still provides a good perspective. A lot of this will be experimenting; take as many photos from as many angles as you can. Go wide- go close, find a nuance and work with it. Have fun