The Last Place

[Eruditass]

Exposure

0.006 sec (1/180)
Aperture f/6.7
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired

Does this photo evoke the feeling of a last place for you? There is a graveyard up the stairs but I couldn't get it in a satisfactory way, and instead tried to use light to capture the feeling.

[BCampbell]

I don't see how the tilted horizon helps in any way, or gets your message across.

There is so so much contrast here that any qualities of the light that you're trying to work with are just drowned out. It looks like that's partially due to flash and partially due to some aggressive processing. It's just not a natural look and really distracts overall. Generally, stairs tend to lead the eye, and with that and the bright patch of sky at the top of them, it should work to draw the viewer in, but all of the bright on the gate, the bottom of the stairs, and the wall kill the effect.

I think there's also the fact that graveyard photo have the tendency to be trite, so you need something really special, above and beyond the norm, to avoid that.

[Sterling]

I agree about the tilt - doesn't help. Forgetting about the graveyard (which a viewer would have no clue existed anyway), I quite like the eerie, gothic feel. It reminds me of a still from a pre-war motion picture.

[Eruditass]

Originally Posted by BCampbell

I don't see how the tilted horizon helps in any way, or gets your message across.

There is so so much contrast here that any qualities of the light that you're trying to work with are just drowned out. It looks like that's partially due to flash and partially due to some aggressive processing. It's just not a natural look and really distracts overall. Generally, stairs tend to lead the eye, and with that and the bright patch of sky at the top of them, it should work to draw the viewer in, but all of the bright on the gate, the bottom of the stairs, and the wall kill the effect.

I think there's also the fact that graveyard photo have the tendency to be trite, so you need something really special, above and beyond the norm, to avoid that.

Thanks for the comments! I'll see if I can remove some of the distracting processing.

Originally Posted by Sterling

I agree about the tilt - doesn't help. Forgetting about the graveyard (which a viewer would have no clue existed anyway), I quite like the eerie, gothic feel. It reminds me of a still from a pre-war motion picture.

Yeah, I was going for a graveyard-esque feel, not specifically expecting the viewer to see the graveyard.

Here's a straight version for you guys:

[EOBeav]

I like the first tilted version...and I like it a lot. There's a sense of foreboding with that partially opened gate just daring us to enter in and ascend those stairs. The fact that we can't see what's at the top just adds to the mystery. The editing only serves to intensify this mood.

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Originally Posted by EOBeav

I like the first tilted version...and I like it a lot. There's a sense of foreboding with that partially opened gate just daring us to enter in and ascend those stairs. The fact that we can't see what's at the top just adds to the mystery. The editing only serves to intensify this mood.

Ditto.... I like the first one as well.... and I like it a lot