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Forgotten Staircase

David Sommars

New member
Hello everyone, this is my second post. I am into making art from night photography mostly.


nightnov17b.jpg
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I like it!

Look at adding about 2" of black to the top of your image. That places the light in a great position add adds mystery and drama. You are not cheating since you are adding just no objects or light, zero, just a greater sense of nothing. :)

Blend the junction. Try it for fun.

Welcome to OPF

Asher
 

Ray West

New member
Hi David,

It took me a while to work out the steps/shadows, at this small size. A nice observation, but the final result, in my opinion, is marred by the horizontal line across the middle of the image.

Best wishes,

Ray
 

David Sommars

New member
I'm viewing this on a 1280 x 1024 19 inch and it looks pretty big to me. Most people are probably using 17, 19 and 20 inches nowadays. I cant imagine this is too small for someone unless your using some crazy resolution.

If I make it larger then 600 pixels high then many people would have to scroll up and down to see the whole picture in their web browser. you should lower your resolution if its that small you cant hardly tell what the steps are, you are probably having to squint to see the google logo.. lol


A quick word about my shots which it like to post many more soon. :

I dont setup my shots with lighting and or object placment. 95% of the time I dont clone out things, If you want to shoot industrial art in the real world you have to live with the balance of having lines on buildings and cracks in windows, trash on the ground etc.... its either that, or dont go out cause nothing will be good enough to shoot. I like to find ordinary things and make them speak.

I respect your opinion, just prefacing so when you see more shots you will know where I am coming from, I am not trying to hide those "defects" sometimes they make the whole shot for me...

Thanks for looking.
 
Hi David,

Great image, love the shadows, well executed!

I'm viewing this on a 1280 x 1024 19 inch and it looks pretty big to me. Most people are probably using 17, 19 and 20 inches nowadays. I cant imagine this is too small for someone unless your using some crazy resolution.

That doesn't necessarily require crazy resolution. On my 21 inch LCD, 1600x1200 pixels is native display 'resolution', and it renders your fine image much smaller than it deserves(!) ...

I look forward to seeing more of your images.

Bart
 

David Sommars

New member
1600 x 1200 is the max resolution for 95% of the 21 inch LCD's out there. I doubt you can go higher unless you paid 1K for your monitor.

I would say in the photographer and design world thats a pretty common size, but ; and I would love to display it larger, I just dont want to cut out normal people who dont have bucks to shell out for large monitors. Thats all I was thinking.

I guess I have gotten used to the idea after being chastized for uploading pictures larger then 800 x 600 on other forums.. lol

what size do you guys recommend, I can go to 1024 x 800 and still see it well on my setup.
 
what size do you guys recommend, I can go to 1024 x 800 and still see it well on my setup.

On OPF, I restrict myself to 800x600, unless the image (e.g. pano) 'dictates' something else. That also has something to do with protecting the image from unauthorized use by 'harvesters'. It's also a bit of a balance between fast loading (higher JPEG compression) and retention of detail.

Bart
 

David Sommars

New member
Ok,

I will keep all of this in mind.

I think it looks so small since its cropped a little more rectangular then normal. Not much sideways real estate.

I look forward to posting more ! learning from you guys and hopefully getting inspired by other

artists.
 

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
1600 x 1200 is the max resolution for 95% of the 21 inch LCD's out there. I doubt you can go higher unless you paid 1K for your monitor.

Ok guys, let's have a look on the real thing…

Below are the stats for OPF visitors:

Monitors resolution:
1024x768 ------ = -------21,64%
1280x1024----- = -------18,34%
1680x1050----- = -------12,08%
1280x800 ------ = -------10,97%
1440x900 ------ = -------8,71%
1920x1200----- = -------8,35%
1600x1200----- = -------6,46%
1152x864------ = -------2,01%
2560x1600----- = -------1,77%
800x600-------- = -------1,65%

Networks:
DSL-----=--------33,94%
Cable-----=------30,07%
Unknown-=-----24,76% (generally companies network)
T1-----=----------7,27%
Dialup-----=------3,28%
OC3-----=--------0,57% (OC-3 is a network line with transmission speeds of up to 155 Mbit/s)
ISDN-----=-------0,11%
 

David Sommars

New member
interesting !!

So I will make them larger, this is good news, people are finally moving up and I wont get in trouble for posting bigger stuff. !!!

nice !
 

Ray West

New member
Hi David,

wrt the small size, I was implying the difference between a postcard sized image, and a wall sized one. The steps/shadow comment was genuine, something like the 3d images that flip, Escher drawings, whatever. Now it is seen by me, it will not flip back the other way. I understand your views re industrial art. But, if you adjust colours, lighting, select the view to make it look nice, why not remove or add artefacts to make it 'look better'? Why have straight edges to the image anyway, it's not a question that canvas has to be stretched, if the objective is to show images on the web?

Put it another way, if I had seen the image with the line removed, i.e. the wall panel whatever was larger, then I think I would not have said - 'I think it needs a horizontal line across the whole image, it can't be real because they do not make panels that size'.

There is the art of the builder, the guy who put the light there, the steelworker, etc. Then there is your art, how do you show this wonder of creation? In the same way as the steel worker is allowed to bend the tubes, weld stuff together, then you are allowed to work on what he does. If you do not, then it is your choice, no problems, but the result is then tending more towards product photography.

Best wishes

Ray
 

David Sommars

New member
I think I understand your point.

To some small degree I agree with your analogy too.

Adjusting angle, color brightness is basically how you are recording the scene, your still not changing the scene as removing objects. I will on occasion remove smal things if they mess up the shot. but as I said, many time I believe they MAKE the shot. so if you see it there, then its on purpose. !!!

Nothing anyone can say will change my mind, Ill make my art the way my minds eye sees it.

But, if you adjust colours, lighting, select the view to make it look nice, why not remove or add artefacts to make it 'look better'?

Because - "Better" is a relative term. I adjust as I see fit. Its more about finding something everyone can relate to, something that exists in reality, and not all of the pictures of far off places people will never visit in their lifetimes, thats my art.

why try to change me ? you either appreciate it or you dont. And no, ive worked product photography, there is a hella lot more cloning , heck its 90% cloning with some products.

I rather use the real.
 

Ray West

New member
Hi David,

Thanks for your explanation. I don't want to change anything about you - I'm not marrying you ;-) I was puzzled why a basically interesting, dynamic, clean image was in my mind spoilt by a distracting horizontal line across it. But maybe that is intentional, maybe it is not noticeable at a larger size, maybe I am not meant to actually 'look' at the image.

What is the final destination of these images? Prints for the wall, or for display on the web, or similar?

Best wishes,

Ray
 

David Sommars

New member
hahaha, ok you got me,...

Very nice choice of words, the marriage part ....

I guess your just trying to make me think. Its ok, dont take it the wrong way. I think I probably need to hear it so that I can see what ideas others see that I dont see.

Final destination will be from slideshows, print small and medium size.

Theres a certain pull to something when you can just tell its "real" that you could possibly drive by on accident and see the same thing. Thats something I am always amazed by.
 

Ray West

New member
Thanks, David re the slide show info. Could be loads of effects there. It sort of then gives you more control of the audience - the view time, some sort of implied movement, etc.

Now, you may want to make it a theme, a little oddity, to take from the perfect symmetry, the balance of images like this stairway. Every high priced Persian carpet, for example, has a deliberate flaw, a misplaced thread, a wrong colour. You may not see it, but it is there. Deliberately placed.

Glad you got it. I normally try to make people think, the ones I think are worth bothering with - arrogant blighter that I am.

wrt image size on opf, in general, I think about 800 wide is the norm. If folk edit images and repost the thread gets cumbersome. Maybe you put a link to something of your slide show size.

I was curious as to what is written on what looks like an oval plaque, at the bottom of the stairs.

Best wishes,

Ray
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
David's photograph has an interesting subject. It's a feature that we may move past without paying much attention. This reminds me of the magpies, the rather common and "humble magpies" being taken for granted until they landed on a windowsill, were noticed and really appreciated.

So for me David's "Forgotten Staircase" is a metaphor for what we pass by, take for granted, ignore and devalue in our society. so I really like this subject and field of exploration through our photography.

I have put the subject of "Truth in Photography" here. So discuss that subject, editing away and adding objects or colors and so forth in the new thread.

So let's keep this particular thread focused on pictures of staircases that "exist perhaps in the shadows and are walked by and forgotten".

Asher
 
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