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UER Forum > Archived UE Photo Critiques > Indigestion State Hospital (Viewed 433 times) desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Indigestion State Hospital < on 10/5/2006 2:02 AM >   Tried some new things on this trip, feedback is definitely welcome. Two pairs of these are pretty similar, but I'm curious which one people like better. Not the most cohesive series I've ever posted, but hopefully people enjoy. 1 - Good Advice - As I shifted my weight around while setting up the tripod for this shot I felt the mushy wood of the floor moving under my boots. The irony of crashing through the floor on the third story of this place (with nothing but more soggy wood to hopefully break my fall) as I read the sign would not have been lost on me. Fortunately, I survived to bring back the shot, though I was too worried to cross the floor to see what appeared to be a missing section of roof up ahead. I couldn't find the studs and, being alone and having no backup within 2 hours or so, didn't want to take the chance. 2 - Convergance - My goal when I set out for this place was to try and take some more abstract shots, or shots which relied heavily on tight composition. It proved more difficult than I thought with the 20D's tiny viewfinder. 3 - White Light 4 - Master Safety Switch 5 - Glass Roof - I ducked into this building to avoid what I thought was security after coming within feet of someone leaning on their car outside the building that shots 2, 3, and 4 came from. This place was very odd in that it appears that people are allowed to drive around the property. Later, as I was diving in to yet another bush to avoid one of the many cops which also drive through the property I wondered whether it was even worth it. 6 - Loading Zone 7 - Infinipus - This appeared to be a boiler within one of the furnaces in the power plant of this location. I couldn't figure out how or why the front of this furnace was ripped off while the other three were left in tact. There was no debris from it left around either. Definitely one of the cooler things I've found exploring. The sheer size of this thing really blew me away. 8 - Lights On - This and Infinipus are some of the only times I've really done light painting. Back in the day I used to use a flash to highlight architectural features or create semitransparent images of myself on film, but since I started exploring I haven't really played with the technique much. Neither one is as good as I would like, but it was a fun technique that I'll have to keep working on. 9 - That World - I spent hours processing this picture cursing IR and how crappy I am at shooting it the whole time. Later I learned to try swapping the red and blue channels, and came up with this version after a few other tweaks. It looks almost exactly like the version I spent hours processing. Definitely not the best IR I've shot so far, but I'm working on it. 10 - Crowd Stands Silent 11 - Stillness in Space 12 - Rows 13 - Hard Light Falls 14 - Projector Light - This picture is a lesson to me. I was tired as a bastard when I finally saw the auditorium and was shooting f 2.8, 1600 ISO shots hand held to try and just get what I could and get the hell out of there. The light in this hallway was increeeedible and the place was littered with cool old projectors and other A/V equipment. I wish I had taken my time and set the tripod up, because this is basically the only shot that turned out from the hallway. The one good thing that came out of this shot and 13 is a lesson to me that 1600 ISO has a look all it's own that isn't necessarily undesireable, depending on what you're going for. Thanks for looking. brandnewteeth  Location: Atlanta, Georgia Gender: Male Carry the torch that's never lit.  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 1 on 10/5/2006 2:50 AM >   Really killer.. Everything is top notch here. I love 10, I sat for a while and just admired that one. And I really understand what you're talking about with 14, and looks like it worked out quite well for you. mutantMandias: You're everywhere. You're the wind. You're the air. You're the bnt. brandnewteeth is like the Cyrus of Marietta gangs. CAN YOU DIG IT? dsankt: BNT rocks shiny penny loafers. I heard he explores in them cos it puts a spring in his step for the laddies. Contagion: I still think BrandNewTeeth is a prick, no matter what. Bitch ate all of my thanksgiving leftovers! Explorer Zero   |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 2 on 10/5/2006 2:51 AM >   that boiler #7 is way cool nice shots the row of chairs #12 is just crazy looking the way they arranged the two rows upstairs [last edit 10/5/2006 2:52 AM by Explorer Zero - edited 1 times] micro  Gender: Male Slowly I turned  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 3 on 10/5/2006 4:32 AM >   1. Not sure if it was actually like that IRL, but the paint looks kind of fake in that photoshop art kind of way. Take that as you will, but this would probably look better in B&W. Composition's alright, although a little more on the bottom would help things a bit. 2. The background's a bit distracting and there's nothing going on in the right hand side to help this one out. Crop it a bit less than a half and it works better as a portrait image. 3. Whereas the arrangement of lines helps out the previous one, I can't really see much in this one that works. A tad overexposed too. 4. I like this one, but it's in need of some cropping on the right side. Giving subject matter room a bit of room to breathe is ok, but not if it's going to effect the overall balance. 5. Nothing special. Lacks focus. What am I supposed to be looking at? 6. One of the better ones in the set. I'd decrease the saturation a bit, but that's just me. 7. Cool shot. Too bad there's no way to give a sense of the scale though. I'd also bring the crop in tighter to get rid of that distracting piece at the bottom right. 8. Looks good. I didn't realize it was light-painted until I read the description. Looks natural. Nice balanced composition too. The whole thing is really pleasing to the eye. 9. I'm no fan of infrared photography, but this one works well enough without having to rely too heavily on the effect. 10. Nice one. I'd lose the sepia tone though. Again.. that's just me. 11. Lacks focus/subject. 12. I would've moved the camera over to the right a bit more. Normally I don't really pay attention to the rule of thirds but the place ment of that light in the top right is just begging for it. 13. Boring subject matter, imo. Plus the colour balance is a bit dodgy looking. Probably a good candidate for the good ol' b&w treatment. 14. Crop this one in half and you have a really nice picture. Similar to what I said for #4, it's ok to give things some breathing space, but that undistinguishable junk on the right side, adds nothing, and just detracts from the overall image, imo. desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 4 on 10/5/2006 12:03 PM >   Thanks guys. #10 seems to be everyone's favorite so far, which surprises me, but hey...whatever works! Micro, thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for. Some of what you said is what I thought too, which is why a couple of these didn't make my website...wanted a sanity check though. It's really funny that you say that about #1. I do tend to oversaturate things, but in this case I actually *desaturated* it a bit. It was really dark there, and it didn't seem that insanely vibrant when I took the shot, but as soon as I converted it and did curves I was like "whoa". There's a Hue/Saturation layer at -25 on this one. 12 is a casualty of the small viewfinder...I was really pissed when I got it back home. Thanks again! [last edit 10/5/2006 12:04 PM by desmet - edited 2 times] Ian  This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information. Location: The County of Kings Gender: Male "Great architecture has only two natural enemies: water, and stupid men."  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 5 on 10/5/2006 12:13 PM >   Always good to try new things! I dug this set, these are miles ahead of much of the stuff on here, but here's some nitpicky criticism since that's what this forum is about. 1 - Awesome. The only question I have with this one is whether you tweaked the colour saturation a little in photoshop - but killer image, and good comp. 2 - OK. I like the concept, but I'm not sure that it works so well here. The particular angles you got on this one aren't compelling; I might have tried to get the shaft upon which the light hangs to be vertical in the frame, while making some of the "spokes" which are radiating out from the focal point (the light) hit the corners of the frame. 3 - Meh. Seems like a worse version of the previous shot. The light is too close to the corner, the leading lines no longer draw the eye towards it, and the harsh highlights surrounding it are distracting. 4 - Something doesn't work with the tilt of the objects here, the lines are a little off. Also, the exposure is such that the wall loses detail, while the boxes are a wee bit grainy. Don't wanna sound like a broken record, but a low contrast portrait film could probably do wonders here... 5 - Blah. I'd say this is one of my least favourites from the set. The subject is unclear, the composition is so-so, and it seems kinda hastily put together. Of course, if you were worried about security, this can have an effect... 6 - Nice. Good comp and exposure. However, whatever you used to make it B&W kinda goofed; there's a slight orange cast to it (at least on my monitor) 7 - Pretty good. Well composed, excellent subject. The problem with light painting is you get super harsh shadows like those. I've recently been playing around with a little gadget I made out of a $10 K-mart LED lantern and a styrofoam plate (as a diffuser). Set it up, set camera to ~15 minute exposure, and walk away. You might try something like that to get less harsh shadows. As it stands, however, this is a pretty cool shot. 8 - Pretty good as well. It's much less obvious that this is light painting, though again a more diffused source might help. I love the shadow of the out-of-frame pillar tho. Decent composition. 9 - Meh. Perhaps I'm too used to my IR being either black-n-white or EIR, but the semi-coloured IR which seems to be getting popular these days is starting to leave me high and dry. 10 - Blah. This comes off as being one of the more snapshotty photos in the set. In addition, there is again an orangy cast to it which is a little distracting. 11 - Not a fan. The uncareful cropping in the upper-left hurts this image, and I'm not sure the composition works. However... 12 - Sweet. I'd have walked a few feet to the left and panned right a little, but then, I'm kind of a sucker for the rule of thirds. But in general, this is a compelling image with great use of light. 13 - Blah. Blown-out arm against blown-out background. I don't think there's much that works about this one. 14 - Yay. The only thing I can say about this one is you should have shifted left just a tad, so none of the projector or cord were blocked. But you NAILED the DOF here. Cool stuff! I really enjoyed looking at these, however - I just put on my "theory hat" for critiquing them. Hope it helps! robdobi   |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 6 on 10/5/2006 12:17 PM >   i agree w/ micro that #2 is better than #3 but i still think it could use some work and perhaps be cropped a tad tighter, for instance what is that green thing floating at the top? it stands out in the image like a sore thumb yet is right on the border and doesn't bring anything to the photo. 7 and 8 are pretty nice, and the composition nazi in me wants that white spot on the top left of #11 gone, would have been a bit better without the blown out spots but i understand the whole rushing / paranoia thing all too well. dobi.nu / fullbleed.org - series 12 now available. / flickr / tumblr / prints for sale desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 7 on 10/5/2006 7:13 PM >   Guys, thanks a ton. That's exactly the kind of feedback I needed, especially for this particular set. The cast on the B&W shots is all intentional. Some people don't like it, other people love it....I'm always a fan of toning. It's funny that you guys noticed that thing in the top left of 11. That thing is one of the main reasons I didn't use the image. If I cropped it any lower I lost the bolt on the other hanger and it didn't look right. I could clone that white thing out, but since I decided to use the other image I didn't bother. You're 100% right that it's annoying though. I may try recropping 2 since everyone seems to agree. Other than that, you guys pretty much told me what I already suspected. I didn't use all of these on my website, and the reasons are pretty much what you said. My girl liked 3 over 2...glad I went with 3. As I mentioned before, the did tweak the saturation on 1, but I turned it DOWN not up! I think that's all I had to respond to. Thanks again for the detailed critique...I really needed it on this set in particular. [last edit 10/5/2006 7:15 PM by desmet - edited 1 times] NAN  Location: rochester NY bathroom expert  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 8 on 10/5/2006 10:15 PM >   I must be crazy but I don't see any pictures at all! Through the darkness of future's past The magician longs to see Once chants out between two worlds Fire, walk with me desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 9 on 10/5/2006 10:20 PM >   Posted by nanguz I must be crazy but I don't see any pictures at all! I've been having server problems....Im getting on their asses right now. I can't believe it's been down since you posted this...fucking unacceptable. [last edit 10/5/2006 10:25 PM by desmet - edited 1 times] desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 10 on 10/6/2006 2:38 AM >   I reprocessed 2 based on some suggestions here (couldn't straighten the hanger) and Motts' suggestions. I'd have to reshoot it to really get it the way I'd want it, I think, but maybe this is better. [last edit 10/6/2006 2:39 AM by desmet - edited 1 times] hedd  Location: Ottawa, ON, CA Gender: Male  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 11 on 10/10/2006 11:42 PM >   Wow, some great work there. I can't offer anything better than micro/Leviathan, except to say that I'm a fan of the toning you've done (although it might be a hair overdone on #10). I'd say 6 and 12 are the best of the set... 2 & 3 don't really strike me as very interesting. Nice set! - BG desmet  When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.  |  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 12 on 10/11/2006 1:42 AM >   Thanks man...I'm glad someone likes the toning! kjohnnytarr  Location: Columbia, Missouri Gender: Male Team Asbestos: CoMO  |  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 13 on 10/11/2006 1:57 AM >   There are some interesting geometric patterns in a few of these that make them nifty. Of course, the whole set is great too. It seemed like a good idea at the time... hAcker0  Gender: Male  |  Re: Indigestion State Hospital <Reply # 14 on 10/13/2006 11:37 PM >   i like one and six Im a hacker & chess player UER Forum > Archived UE Photo Critiques > Indigestion State Hospital (Viewed 433 times) All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire. 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