Of Rocks and Rusted Things

[CLKunst]

Found behind an eighteenth century barn here in Virginia. Wabi sabi? What does the board think?

[julsoph]

Hey CLK! Good to see ya... I love the textures in the chains and the saw(?)...not to mention the teeth of the saw. Rust somehow manages to be beautiful to me, even though it's well...rust.
I also like the teeny sprigs of green in the photo...I like the incongruity of the new with the old.

Emily

[GB1]

CL - Nice composition, but it still throws me somewhat... Starting from the bottom (which most people never do), I work my eyes up and when I encounter the green curb/concrete thingie, it's angle .. well, confuses me a little (Maybe I'm a meat-n-potatos photog? )

Forgiving that, it has a lot of nice things happening and a lot to hold your attention. But is the photo a little soft here? Seems that way. I think in this shot that you might want everything super sharp, with no DOF drop-off. Not sure why, but it just seems that it might work the best in this situation. Try sharpening it up a bit and see (I would do it for ya, but the draft Guidelines says that's a no-no...)

Appologies btw for latching onto the sharpness thing.

GB

[OldSchool]

Hi CL,

In the category of "Still Life", I often enjoy good "Found" Still Life more than those that are staged. However, it is difficult to do a good found still life (my recent attempts are submitted below...). There is usually more work involved than just standing there with a camera

I really, really like this shot of yours. I like the simplicity of color, and how the two colors compliment each other. I like how you divided the composition with the saw, and how the different sized chains on each side balance the image. I like studying the details of the chain, saw, stair, and ground. I like the dark tone of looking at something old.

Nice job,
Tim

[CLKunst]

Hi Emily, GB & Tim! Thanks for your comments. I always enjoy hearing your individual takes on my pictures as I consider each of you careful and considerate critics. This was indeed a found still life. I was in the middle of a session with a guitarist at his home and he lives next door to this ancient tavern and barn and the man who owns it just has antiques littering the ground everywhere. I noticed the saw blade and chain because I almost stepped on it! I asked Randy to please give me a sec to get this out of my system and then we went on with the session. Randy was amused.

I only took three. The one I chose to post was where I was satisfied to stop but it is always good to show your work so here is how I arrived there compositionally.

GB - I know the angle is a bit awkward but I was keen to see/show the details of the saw blade edges clearly and not worried so much about perspective of the stone. I liked it's placement in the frame but knew it would be graded as unusual at best. The saw blade edges are also where I locked my focus so the DOF may be what you are reading as soft, also compression could be a factor. It looks appropriate at 100% on my screen.

Both of these images are shown in order, as taken with the exception of sizing. I did not like the hard edged shadows I got from the flash, also visible in these images, so I elected to go with a handheld available light and damn the torpedos.

[JSPhoto]

Whew, for a minute I thought you were in my yard!

I like them but not the first with the border. I just can't deal with borders for some reason. I think I'd get them out of the shadows though.

JS

[CLKunst]

I like them but not the first with the border. I just can't deal with borders for some reason. I think I'd get them out of the shadows though.
JS

Hmmm... Border intolerance certainly can be an issue for some folks...ask Swmdrayfan .

I just upgraded my software and was playing around with some of the goodies that came with it. Don't normally use these things and I would certainly NEVEREVER make a print with such trappings. But for web presentation it can be fun if done tastefully.

As for moving things out of the shadows, this was a found still life, so moving and realigning the objects is pretty much out of the question. You work with what you get. Besides that, my client might have thought I wasn't interested in him anymore if I had started trucking things out to the middle of the yard for better light, I only had a minute to do this and then it was back to work.

So your critique is for the border, not the image, or you don't care for the whole piece (border and image) or you prefer the images where I used the flash instead but not the one where I used natural light? Please feel free to elucidate me some more, I think I might have missed something.

[PlantedTao]

Well, you picked the best of the three. there is too much going on with the other photos to enjoy the color and textures you have in the first photo.
I really like the colors and how the compliment each other...and I like how there are several different shades of green.
I'm not a big fan of still life...it always seems so stagnant and just plain boring but this has good interest because of the colors and slight haphazardness of it...like only something found can have.
Good job...sounds like a good yard to explore when time allows.

Cheers.

[Don Schaeffer]

That green rock makes the photo. I like the way you matched the frame color. Good composition. Focus may be a little too soft.

[CLKunst]

Thank you for your input on this one Tao and Don.

Tao - No kidding it's a great yard to explore! They have old chicken coops at the back of the property stuffed with antiques that are about to all fall into the biggest ground hog burrows you've ever seen! Not to mention the outhouse, spring shed and other derelict buildings that are just everywhere. This place didn't even have indoor plumbing until the late 70s. I made him promise he would let me come back just for the yard alone, now I've just got to find the spare time.

Don - Thank you for comments. I think the rock is very important to the composition of this one as well.

[dbutler]

Did someone say Rocks AND Rusted things!! OOH!

I think this is a great shot!! I agree that of all three it's the least busy of the bunch. I like how the white wires (or are they twigs) wend their way throughout the image. The green of the rock adds just enough contrast to the rust.

I also think that the differing sizes of the two chains was very important here. Had they been of equal size, I don't think the impact would have been as strong.

You've captured it beautifully, my friend.

Looks like I may be moving to Sterling or Chantilly so let me know where all these finds are!

[CLKunst]

Hey there D!
Long time no talk! I was hoping to bump into you here. Great news on your move to NOVA. You, Emily & I will have to have a photo adventure or two once you get settled in, I do know some great spots.

Thanks much for the kind words in the critique. Show me what you've been up to why don't you?

Cheers,

[Lava Lamp]

Found behind an eighteenth century barn here in Virginia. Wabi sabi? What does the board think?

Hey, that's a cool and unexpected shot. The whitish leaves take away from the simple and pleasing composition, to me. I'd remove them next time.

[CLKunst]

Hey, that's a cool and unexpected shot. The whitish leaves take away from the simple and pleasing composition, to me. I'd remove them next time.

Thanks Lava! I agree. After looking at this one for a while now I see that too. If given another chance Iwould pluck those little boogers right out of there. Keen eye! Thanks for commenting and great to hear from you. Hope all is well in FLA!

[swmdrayfan]

[quote=CLKunst]Hmmm... Border intolerance certainly can be an issue for some folks...ask Swmdrayfan .



Right, CL--from now on I'm borderless
John

[Jonas Mancuso]

Hey CL great image! I like the first one with the nice border. The only critique I have would be the small amount of bird dropping smack dab in the middle of the saw. My eye keeps going right to it. Great job!!

[CLKunst]

Aha! I wondered when someone would mention the bird poop!! I suppose I could clone it but for some reason I didn't. Since I've posted it it has appeared dominant to me as something I look at right away, but I also think it slightly resembled a mud flap girl silhouette so I guess I'm still undecided. Nah, I'll clone it out! Here it is:

[Jonas Mancuso]

Outstanding!