Haunted House

[Zach9318]

An old, abandoned house in the booneys. I thought I could combine the old fence with daylilies in the foreground (which I had originally stopped here for) and the old house in the background. If I were to move in any direction, I would have included a new plow that a farmer had just recently put there, and it wouldn't have the same appealing look. But I don't know how well the black and white worked out for me. I edited it a lot in CS4, but it still doesn't look entirely perfect, in my opinion. Any suggestions?

Nikon D3100
44mm
1/125s
f/10
No flash
Hand Held

[Bruce A]

In my humble amateur opinion, the image doesn't go with the title - if the title was 'Run down old house" I'd say you'd have pretty well nailed it. As it is with the current lighting I would have preferred it if you'd had the old fence in the foreground a little out of focus to give the scene a little depth.

Now, for the "Haunted House" I'd darken the scene up a fair bit to make it look more foreboding - but keeping some lighter areas to define the house.

[Doug Sundseth]

Right now the photo looks awfully dark to me, and the details are hard to see. I'd push up the brightness in the midtones and spread out the deep shadows with a curves layer if I were editing that it PS. (Pretty much just push up the center of the curve.)

It also looks like you might be tilted a bit to the right. In general, I find that the most important bit for straightening is that the verticals be vertical for the angle to look right, so I'd probably straighten based on the chimney.

Finally, I think you could lose just a bit off the bottom and a fair amount off of the top to tighten your composition. Something like a 5x7 or 8x10 crop might work better than 4x6.

HTH

[Krusty79]

I thought it looked dark also. I checked a histogram of your shot and everything is skewed towards the underexposed end. You have clipping at the left end of the spectrum.

I've read that a good B&W has blacks, whites and shades of grey. I think your shot is lacking the true whites, so it lacks contrast.

The fence does not lead my eye towards your subject, so I find it more of a distraction. In fact, I find myself wanting to move the trees on the left and right sides away so I can see the house better.