Ghosts

[charm87]

This is my first post and I'm a bit uncertain if the file size is correct, so I apologize if it turns out too small or fuzzy. I'm a beginner looking for some comments/feedback from fellow photography fans, so thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

[markg740]

hello charm,
first off, welcome to the forums! you did okay with the image size, it could be better, but at least it fits on the screen. i like this picture and i think the name ghosts suits it well. one thing that i would say, is to crop the house a bit tighter. i find the plantlife and stuff a bit distracting. or you could get closer if you do a reshoot. id get a couple buddies and go inside (as long as its okay to go in of course.) other then that, i really do like this picture, im curious to where it was shot at.
well make sure that you kick off your shoes, and keep postin. ill look forward to seeing more work from you!

-Mark

[charm87]

Thank you, Mark, I really appreciate the feedback. I'll take your advice and experiment with cropping until I can get back there myself and re-work the original composition. I took this picture along the Seward Highway just south of Anchorage, AK. I was just there for the first time about a month ago and I'm dying to get back. The subject in this particular shot is part of the ruins left from the town of Portage which was destroyed in the massive 1964 earthquake (9.2). Many other towns and cities were either rebuilt or relocated, but Portage was simply abandoned. Some of the ruins were left as a monument.

Thanks again! I look forward to being part of this forum!
Reanna

[Seb]

This is my first post and I'm a bit uncertain if the file size is correct, so I apologize if it turns out too small or fuzzy. I'm a beginner looking for some comments/feedback from fellow photography fans, so thanks in advance, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you!

Reanna, I think that this is a truly interesting picture (I wish I produced images like that when I started out 4 years ago...). I enjoy the colors and how that house almost seems to glow. Contrarily to Mark, I find the ammount of space in front of the house to be alright.
I'd actually do a slight crop at the top in order to loose the power lines but that's about it.
Your picture is a bit blurry but I supose that it is related to file compression for web displaying. Your images may be up to 640 pixels tall (or wide) on this board. Make the most out of it!!

Seb

[GB1]

Charm - I like the shot overall. Ive seen buildings like this before, mostly on the east coast in places like W. Virginia or rural Maryland or farther south... scary scenes. You just get the feeling that whomever owned them is now passed away and that the building died with them

As far as the size, the limit here is 640 px high and wide. Most folks resize right to that limit, but you can also link to files larger than that. The image here is a tad bit small on my monitor. It's exposure is just where I would have placed it, but it is a little bit 'soft', meaning that it is not as sharp as it could be. Perhaps you zoomed in and were not using a fast enough shutter speed for that focal length. I like the green foreground, but feel that it might have been stronger to show a little less green foreground and instead show more of the mtns (don't know - that looks like telephone lines... maybe it's better the way you have it?).

Anyways - Welcome to the PR forums. You always get honest feedback here btw. It's very interactive.

GB

[yogestee]

Welcome to the mad house charm...As your first post in this forum you did amazingly well...I like the composition and colours..Sure this image can be a bit larger but take the advice from Seb and GB and you should do well...

We would like to see more of your work..

Jurgen
Australia

[readingr]

Charm,

Welcome

This is lovely and the colours are excellent - couple of small things crop the wires out and possibly a small bit on the right to balance the composition, then repost but larger please.

You obviously have a good eye - keep posting

Roger

[charm87]

First of all, thank you to everyone for your fantastic, constructive feedback. Every word is truly valued. This seems like a wonderful way to learn and I look forward to getting your advice and input on more images.

I made some changes based on that feedback and have attached a revised version. I cropped the power lines from the top of the photo (I would have loved to include more mountains if not for that obstruction), and balanced it by cropping a bit off the right side as well. I also increased the image size to a width of 640 pixels. It's not as sharp as I'd like, but (as GB1 correctly guessed) I wasn't using a fast enough shutter speed for the focal length on my zoom lens - any faster and it would have been much too underexposed as it was a very gray, cloudy morning. Add to that the fact that my auto-focus feature had suddenly quit on me in the middle of my vacation, and that I took this from a vehicle as we barely paused along the roadside without actually being able to stop. But despite the obstacles, I wasn't too disappionted with the outcome. Of course I'd love the chance to go back and take more time to experiment with different angles (and set up a tripod!), but I'll have to wait for that chance. And although I do wish I could have included more of the mountains, I actually like the overgrowth surrounding the remains of the building; to me it represents the life that has continued around it, gradually burying the memories of a 40-year-old tragedy.

[nevernefertiti]

It's a great picture. I can't wait til you get to back and take some more. I would love to live near an abandoned town. That would be amazing. You should find some other abandoned buildings around there and photograph those too. Maybe some ratty old signs and things if there are any still standing. It would be an interesting series, I think. I also like the plantlife. To me it's like humanity once controlled the area, but now nature is taking back over and what man left there is crumbling away to nothing. I can't phrase it eloquently enough at this hour, but you know what I mean.

Christina

[yogestee]

Hi charm,,,,the tighter crop and increased size did wonders for this image..Good work..

Jurgen

[charm87]

Christina - I totally agree, you hit the nail right on the head!

Jurgen - Thank you! I actually like it better this way myself.

[Liz]

Charm,

First let me say that your image is exceptionally good for a beginner. It shows you have a photographer's eye and know exactly what you want to capture - and you came very close. The 2nd image is a great improvement which shows that you're doing quite well even with post-processing (not my greatest talent!).

I won't critique any more than has been said as it's not necessary. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your images. I hope you get back to your abandoned town sometime. In the meantime, you'll find other great subjects.

Liz

[charm87]

Thank you, Liz, that means a lot to me!

Reanna

[readingr]

Much Better

Roger

[schrackman]

I, too, really like this shot. It reminds me of some of the old cabins up in the old mining towns of Plumas county in the Sierras that I frequent every year (only 2 - 2.5 hours north of you, charm!).

The second image seems to do it a little more justice, although I myself would have like to have seen the mountains in the background with a bit more foreground as well and just clone out the telephone wires. But that's just my personal taste.

If you have Photoshop you can easily adjust the sharpness of your image using the Unsharp Mask tool. For the 640 pixel version a .2 pixel radius at 150% with a threshold of 0 will sharpen it up just enough. You could even go up to .3 pixel radius and then smooth out any over sharpened edges with your blur tool.

Again, nice image.