For the record, I lack the patience for long exposures most of the time. It will always be this way, my condolences.

RevSm and I visited at night (because...well...we are terrible about judging when the sun sets). These are those photos.

I went back the next week with IndoA during the day (pictures to come later), and the friendly Public Works security guy met us out there for a surprise party. So fun! He pointed out the cameras and told us where they were pointing and how to avoid them. He advised we steer clear of them on the way out, to make our way out, and so he wouldn't get in trouble with folks who 'got a bigger paycheck than him'.

Also, can y'all let me know if these (#1 and #2 specifically) are super dark on your monitors? I am thinking I need to have mine calibrated. They look fine on my screen, but appear dark on other screens. Thanks, friends.

1.
SMDSC_0006 by tiffers, on Flickr

2.
SMDSC_0018 by tiffers, on Flickr

3.
SMDSC_0682 by tiffers, on Flickr

4.
SMDSC_0719 by tiffers, on Flickr

5.
SMDSC_0712 by tiffers, on Flickr

6.
SMDSC_0715 by tiffers, on Flickr

Was the Public Works guy Kevin Costner?

Posted by relik Was the Public Works guy Kevin Costner?

Man. Would have been super sweet if it was!

Posted by tiffers Man. Would have been super sweet if it was!

Maybe.. I'm not sure whether or not he's a rad dude.
I did ride one of his tour busses in Deadwood, SD once. For some reason he owns a tour bus company there. *shrug*

Oh, and the photos look fine on my monitor. Turn up your brightness, perhaps? I mean, that's common sense, but ya never know.. Hehe.

Posted by relik Oh, and the photos look fine on my monitor. Turn up your brightness, perhaps?

No, no. I think mine is too bright! I was making sure everyone else got a decent brighteness to them. Hahaha.

Posted by tiffers No, no. I think mine is too bright! I was making sure everyone else got a decent brighteness to them. Hahaha.

Hah. Oh.. They're definitely not too bright on this monitor.

1 & 2 definitely dark(er) looking on my MacBook, all the other pictures are high quality and crystal clear. I like the journal entry from 1955?

Posted by RescueMe1060 1 & 2 definitely dark(er) looking on my MacBook, all the other pictures are high quality and crystal clear. I like the journal entry from 1955?

Thank you, sir. I mean, they are supposed to be darker since it was pitch black...but, I definitely feel like my monitor is too bright. Pfft. The earliest date I was able to find was the 30's...last was 55.

Very nice shots, cool subject matter.

#1 and 2 do look a little dark for me, but are otherwise great shots.

Im glad you brought this up as I have been struggling with this issue for a while. Photos look totally different on my ipad than my laptop and completely different on Flickr than here.

The sediment in #1 looks fine on my laptop but the contrast with the trees and sky is lost on my laptop (just the opposite on the ipad).

#2 looks clear on the laptop (too dark on ipad) but it does look like you used too much highlight to brighten it.

On both, #3 looks like it has too much exposure in the middle.

None of this is meant in any way as criticism (I hope by now you know how much I admire your work), but to raise an issue I've had with photo processing from the beginning.

How does one really know how a photo is going to look to others when you are doing the processing? Different monitors show up differently. When I'm processing my pics on my laptop, they look fine (well as fine as half-assed pictures can look...). When I upload here, a lot of resolution is lost and in a lot of cases they even look "grainy".

I'm saving them as 8MB pics, thinking that the larger the file the better the resolution. Again, fine on Flickr but not so much here. I know the uploader does some sort of compression so should I save them as 4MB for UER and 8 for Flickr?

And how does one overcome the different monitor issue?

Is there a thread on this already?

Is anyone still reading this?

Is there a God?

Did I leave the iron on?

I don't know if you ever make prints of your work, but I always try to calibrate my monitors to more-or-less match the prints I get from the lab I use. I figure that gives me a pretty good idea of how it's going to look across most devices. Even if you don't typically make prints, I find it a pretty good way to normalize my monitors - plus you get some cool stuff to put up on your wall (ideally you should also get a color test pattern printed so you can balance the coloration properly)!

That being said, I guess there's no way to account for all the possible configurations and people that have their brightness way up or down or have screwed-up monitors or whatever.

I don't know about the uploader here - I never use it. I just put my stuff on Flickr and then use the embedded BB code to post the links here.

You didn't leave the iron on, but you might want to check the stove.

Posted by Peptic Ulcer I know the uploader does some sort of compression so should I save them as 4MB for UER and 8 for Flickr? And how does one overcome the different monitor issue?

Don't use different files for here. Waste of space on your computer. Upload to Flickr, and share them from there. The UER uploader isn't HORRIBLE, FB does worse, but it's not as good as 500px or Flickr.

Posted by Forgotten Beauty Photography I don't know if you ever make prints of your work, but I always try to calibrate my monitors to more-or-less match the prints I get from the lab I use.

See, that's what's weird. My monitor is calbirated for the lab I use. When prints are sold, I always have them shipped to me first to ensure they appear as they should. They also do. No color correction needed.

My monitor is weird in that the buttons on the bottom aren't labeled...and I can't figure out which one does what without getting really mad. Hahahaha. I know it's a smidge too bright because it gives me a headache, but it's never affected pictures this way.

Great pics!

This isn't a criticism, just sharing some info...
If you're unsure about the exposure, look at the histogram (in camera or in post). If you get a nice hump in the middle, you're probably good to go on most monitors and for printing.

Posted by WhiskeyPapa If you're unsure about the exposure, look at the histogram (in camera or in post).

These were shot after dark, with no light, so I know they'll be a hair dark, even on the histogram. Typically, I do bump up the exposure in post because they are so low light and the histogram will be dark. I think I need to darken my monitor from the sounds of it. Hahaha.

Nice! I LOVE water treatment plants. Come on with the additional pictures!

Posted by Punchy Nice! I LOVE water treatment plants. Come on with the additional pictures!

...they're in the daylight, so muuuuuch better. I should be working on them tonight...assuming chaos does not occur. Hahaha. Thanks, friend.

Posted by tiffers ...they're in the daylight, so muuuuuch better. I should be working on them tonight...assuming chaos does not occur. Hahaha. Thanks, friend.

I'm aiming to beat you to editing photos for once. Stay tuned!

Damn! can't wait to see more from this place!

Posted by IndoAnomaly I'm aiming to beat you to editing photos for once. Stay tuned!

Oh...?! My hands are shaking, I'm so excited! You owe me $5 if mine are posted before your's. Ha.

Posted by tiffers See, that's what's weird. My monitor is calbirated for the lab I use. When prints are sold, I always have them shipped to me first to ensure they appear as they should. They also do. No color correction needed. My monitor is weird in that the buttons on the bottom aren't labeled...and I can't figure out which one does what without getting really mad. Hahahaha. I know it's a smidge too bright because it gives me a headache, but it's never affected pictures this way.

Huh - write it off as gremlins I guess - I know monitors can sometimes be really messed up. I had one once that would NOT calibrate its color correctly no matter what - it always looked wrong.

Looking forward to seeing more from that place, I love the strong lines in your composition.