old stable

[Bootsy]

after a little Urban Exploring today around a old riding school.c&c welcome

[mythlady]

I like it very much -- very moody. The perspective is nice.

[jeeperman]

I am with Elise, nice work.

[Donald]

Good use of the natural light (I assume there was an open door on the left) flooding the scene and drop off as we get up into the roof area

[MiniChris]

I am going to swim against the current on this one and say that while it has some good merits, I am greatly bothered by the loss of detail in the shadows. I guess as an old-school Zone photographer, this is an isssue which will always cause me concern. I did do some minor adjusting (though did not retone - I will do later and repost) to dig out the small highlights left from the raw data.

One thing to note, your image when copied was at 1500 x 795 (+/-) which means you are not saving the file correctly, so while it might have these details showing on your screen, the automatic compression on the CiC forum might be affecting the final output.

Even the absolute worst Ansel Adams photo shows great detail in the shadows, tempered by equal tonal values in the highlights. You need to meter for the whole scene when shooting in this kind of light. Geeze, that sounded like a lecture...sorry...guess I am gearing up for today's class.

[Donald]

I am going to swim against the current on this one and say that while it has some good merits, I am greatly bothered by the loss of detail in the shadows. I guess as an old-school Zone photographer, this is an isssue which will always cause me concern.

Chris makes a very valid point, which I should have picked up on. A good lesson to learn.

[Bootsy]

heres the other copy i made which is lighter

i'm not sure what you mean by not saving the file correctly.i shoot in raw process using lightroom3 and adobe elements8.convert to jpeg then upload using tinypics.
cheers for the feedback

[MiniChris]

Your longest size should be at 700 pixels and yours was over 1500. When you convert to the jpeg, just set the size to 700 X whatever it falls into as long as it does not exceed 700.

[ktuli]

Your longest size should be at 700 pixels and yours was over 1500. When you convert to the jpeg, just set the size to 700 X whatever it falls into as long as it does not exceed 700.

Actually, I've always been confused by that. If you set the image so that the longest length is 700, then what would be the point of the feature that opens the image in a larger size when you click on it?

[ktuli]

Getting back to the photo, I for one like the darker exposure. As Elise said, it gives a very moody feel to it. If you brighten it up to provide detail in all of those shadows, there's no mystery to the photo. I've always had a problem with that definition of a good exposure being detail in the highlights and detail in the shadows. It just seems so limiting. There are times when my eyes simply can't make out details in shadows, and that's ok - it is how I see the world. Making a photo that reproduces that - albeit in a slightly exaggerated sense - just seems ok to me. It obviously won't work the majority of the time, but I think it greatly adds to the feel of this shot.

That said, there are a couple things that do bother me about the photo. First, the hot spot/line along the very left edge of the frame where I assume we catch a glimpse out through the door is a little distracting. And despite what I just said about not minding the completely dark shadows, I do have to say that the top left corner's darkness extends too far into the frame. Perhaps if it had just a smidge more light to show the left side of the diagonal ceiling support beam (but not the roof slats) it would more evenly be balanced by the railing in the bottom right. As it is, the darkness of the top left overpowers the relative darkness of the bottom right.

I dunno - maybe all of that is why I'm not the best of photographers... Take it for what it is worth.

- Bill

[MiniChris]

You don't have to open up that far..only a little, but enough to indicate an awareness of further imagery. Somewhere in the middle between the two posted images would be just right.