need help with a plantation photo

[praline3001]

Good morning! I am trying to see if I can salvage this photo

What I like about it:
I like the shadow of the live oak in the foreground ~ it leads the eye up to the house.
I like the live oak branches hanging over the house to give it a very southern lazy afternoon feel.
I like the plantation far in the background and kind of blurred. This is a VERY old run down plantation that has seen better days. Up close or with more details you can REALLY see the wear and tear. Granted those marks of time make for a great subject for another day ~ but I am trying to go with a restore it to what It kind of looked like back then ~

What I don't like about it:
IT doesn't catch the eye like I want it to. I checked the composition and its right but I missed something along the lines here...

I don't like all the empty grass space between the shadow of the live oak and the house but without cropping the shadow out (which I like) I am not sure if this can be fixed.

I also used Topaz adjust simplify and I am not sure if this was the right filter to use. I wanted to draw the eye AWAY from the plantation flaws (moldy walls, streaks and grime) but it took some detail off of the oaks.

Should I just toss this photo or keep working at it? I am just not sure how to make it look eye catchy at such a distance but I don't want to crop it in closer due to the age.

[digirebelva]

To me its looks kind of touristy and flat....try bumping up the conrast or run it through a curves adjustment..
a couple other suggestions..try converting it to b&w or sepia, I have found that some otherwise "dull" images have a bit more pop and look better when convered to monochrome/sepia.

Try capturing the plantation at a different time of day if possible...early morning or late evening...catching a more flattering golden light than a bright harsh mid-day sun..

[praline3001]

I tried the B&W and sepia and neither was giving me the effect I was looking for. Bumping up the contrast brings out the grime on the plantation =/

Since this place is about 5 minutes from my house, I am tossing this photo and am going to try and again next weekend. Hubby will watch the kids for me so I can ..errr play LOL

It is one of the oldest plantations in America. John Lafite even spent some time here during his pirating days ~ it has a wonderful history BUT is just so run down now =(

It is supposed to be haunted (find me a plantation that isnt LOL)
The story is a bit more interesting than most however ~
There once was a little girl who watched from the balcony her daddy go off to sea Via the Mississippi (the river is right across the street as I took the photos from the levy) She watched everyday for her daddy to come home but got sick and died. Many locals say they have seen the little girl on the second floor balcony while going by. They don't have tours here but they do weddings (I was married here many many years ago before it got run down looking) The employees all swear that several mornings a week they have to pick up the toys in the toy room as they are scattered around the room. I HATE the toy/doll room!!! All those antique dolls with their eyes on you ... its just CREEPY as hell LOL

[praline3001]

If anyone is interested in plantations/history or GOOD photos lol

Here is a link to the photo gallery of their website
http://www.plantation.com/gallery.html

Though those photos are old and very edited! I can tell as I was attempting the same things and can see where they *fixed* LOL
The place used to look really nice until Katrina and since then it just looks really sad.

You can see the doll room in the gallery ...CREEPY I'm telling you!
You won't see any photographs from me in the room LOL

[wulf]

Was this taken near the middle of the day? It looks like a mixture of over- and under-exposure, which can be a side-effect of strong overhead light. If it is somewhere nearby, it would be worth going back near sunrise or sunset (depending on the direction of the house and the position of the sun). The colour becomes warmer and there will be some periods where everything naturally looks better.

As for fixing this shot, I'd be tempted to bin it. However, if you don't have anything else better some judicious trimming might help. If you lose the root at the bottom right by cropping, that takes away a featureless, overexposed area, brings the bottom of the house nearer the top of the lower third of the image (rule of thirds) and still keeps that shadow reaching in. You could even cut out some of the lawn so that there is not such a gap between the shadow and the tree directly in front of the house.

However, the general rule of thumb for effective landscape shots is pick a good scene and then be there when the light is right.

Wulf

[praline3001]

Thanks Wulf. Since I am new its sooo hard for me to toss something ~ not sure why. I guess its like my Daughter where she fills my fridge with artwork as she hates to throw anything away LOL

I put this to the side and have plans of going back during a different time of the day. It was my very first plantation shot even though we have a million in my area. Hubby and I are going to plan to dump the kids at grannies one afternoon and try and take some serious time photographing these old houses.

With this being my first time shooting I am having a bit of trouble with the grunge factor. These are old worn down buildings and I really don't want to show off the flaws. I was trying to give it that *what it looked like back in the day* type look. There are tons of more touristy plantations (Oak Alley) but there are a million photos a day from those places. I was trying to capture the more local ones that aren't as well traveled.

Its all a learning processes and I have said it over and over, I am extremely new to photography. I will make many many many mistakes before I am an expert LOL

[wulf]

Here's a tip - take more pictures. Don't settle for one version of a shot but take several, with variations like changing your position a bit (or waiting for better light). You could even set a limit, such as "I will only keep 10% of the pictures I take". Harsh.... but a good learning experience!

Wulf

[praline3001]

Originally Posted by wulf

Here's a tip - take more pictures. Don't settle for one version of a shot but take several, with variations like changing your position a bit (or waiting for better light). You could even set a limit, such as "I will only keep 10% of the pictures I take". Harsh.... but a good learning experience!

Wulf

EGADS keep only 10% ~ Wulf your brutal!!!! Just stab me in the heart why don't ya

I try and work on all the other exercises on here but that one is going to hit me in the gut for sure!

I will take several photos of one subject and only pick one out of the group that I like best... except when it comes to the kids ~ can't toss my kids! LOL

I just need to develop a better eye as to what to keep and what to toss. I will see something in a crappy photo that I really like and don't have the heart to toss it even though I know I should.

[Taallyn]

Being harsh in your own editing process is how you become a better photographer and get the best images. Wulf's 10% number is close to my "keeper" rate as well. By the time I've finished, I might have weeded it down even more.

If a photograph is just to record a personal moment that I like, then I will keep it regardless of quality. I.E. my son doing something silly or fun. However, if I trying to get the absolute best result out of an image, I will be brutal judging it. Otherwise, I would be developing / processing a LOT more photographs than I already do.

However, what Wulf isn't suggesting is to take a lot of photographs and hope that you get one or two keepers. The "machine gun" approach doesn't help you learn. Take a lot of photographs, but pay attention to the changes you are making with each one. Be aware how changing the shutter speed, aperture, ISO or other camera setting affects the result. Be aware how even slight changes in position can drastically alter the point of view of an image. Take shots kneeling down, while on your stomach, or climb a tree (safely of course). Get the camera out of the zone you usually hold it and it will start to show you a different world than it did before. Change your composition. Add or remove elements. Do all of those things and you will find that you start getting photographs that will make you and your friends say "Wow!"

The best thing about being brutal in your selection process is the time that it saves you for later. You will be editing less and thus have more time for other things. When I first got my camera, I processed everything I shot. Now, I review all of them and only work on what I think will make the best images. That doesn't mean I don't like all of the others. I simply means that they didn't quite make the cut.

Keep shooting, keep learning, but most of all keep seeing. Your photography will get better if you do so.

[praline3001]

Thanks Craig! I really do need to get out of the box a bit more. I am not big on climbing live oaks as the police will hurt me LOL

I am taking notes believe it or not to remind me to look at my subject differently!

Now I already decided to toss the photo BUT then decided to use it as a learning tool for my software ~ I am not too good at editing just yet

Soooooo I took Wulf's suggestions and applied them with my PSP.
Still a bit washed out ~ and not worth saving but now when I get a great photo that I need to fix for some reason ~ I know how too LOL