Abandoned places, studies of light and desolation

Hi all,

Together with Cem Usakligil I visited a small village in Northern Belgium. The village has been the subject of lots of political and legal controversy, but as the various proceedings are developing, the demolishment also goes on, so I wanted to shoot some of the sites before it's too late.

There are several images I'd like to share, but they first need more work to bring out the potential. Taking the images is one thing, postprocessing to bring out the magic of natural lighting is something else ...

Here's my first attempt with one of the images, I may ultimately produce something that looks different, I'm still in the middle of the creative process (a works in progress):


The image is an exposure blended composition of 9 images that were taken with a 1Ds3 with a TS-E 45mm lens to optimally place the focal plane, while using natural light only. I intended to use the implicit or implied triangular structures as compositional elements.

Hope you like it. Actually this image requires a large black/dark background to make it come alive, but that might increase the time for this page to load.

Bart

Hi Bart,

Having witnessed the making of this image, I know that it was a very challenging combination of location and light; especially the huge dynamic range. In a situation like that, one has to master the technical side of photography before one can even attempt at creating a good image. In your case, I had no doubts that you'd succeed and this great result speaks for itself.

There are many layers to this image. First of all, it is a very well thought out composition with many elements placed at the right places. Then the texture of the wood and the materials around. Of course the excellent light itself. And finally the story it tells. I am impressed.

I would like to ask you to consider posting a smaller version with a black frame around it so that we all can appreciate how much improvement it provides.

Cheers,

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

.........There are several images I'd like to share, but they first need more work to bring out the potential. Taking the images is one thing, postprocessing to bring out the magic of natural lighting is something else ...

Here's my first attempt with one of the images, I may ultimately produce something that looks different, I'm still in the middle of the creative process (a works in progress):

The image is an exposure blended composition of 9 images that were taken with a 1Ds3 with a TS-E 45mm lens to optimally place the focal plane, while using natural light only. I intended to use the implicit or implied triangular structures as compositional elements.

Click to expand...

Bart,

Did you rely on a software like Enfuse or did you use masks to distribute the lighting the way you wanted it? What's your workflow? I presume you used the T/S lens for just getting the plane you wanted but not for stitching?

Of course this is very impressive. Cem has stolen my wish for a small image with black surrounding it. I just have the 17" MacBook Pro with me and would like to see the image in one unit in its own space.

Thanks and my commendations,

Asher

Small technical question: I'm wondering about the brightness of the sloping surface on the right which should be darker, much darker given its position, unless there is light coming from behind.

Cem_Usakligil said:

Hi Bart,

Having witnessed the making of this image, I know that it was a very challenging combination of location and light; especially the huge dynamic range. In a situation like that, one has to master the technical side of photography before one can even attempt at creating a good image. In your case, I had no doubts that you'd succeed and this great result speaks for itself.

Click to expand...

Hi Cem,

Thanks for the kind words. You are correct, the intent of shooting the scene as it was was there before the shot itself. Then the technique needs to take over, as I was carefully manoeuvring on the woodworm infested attic floor that kept moving during the bracketing when someone moved around. As you probably noticed as well, it also felt as if the floor was vibrating, but maybe it were my nerves ;-).

There are many layers to this image. First of all, it is a very well thought out composition with many elements placed at the right places. Then the texture of the wood and the materials around. Of course the excellent light itself. And finally the story it tells. I am impressed.

Click to expand...

Triangles, I saw many triangles. And as you heard me say over and over again, I loved the quality of light, the light was amazing but also a very difficult sensation to convey in a Low Dynamic Range medium like a monitor of even more challenging in print.

I would like to ask you to consider posting a smaller version with a black frame around it so that we all can appreciate how much improvement it provides.

Click to expand...

It has everything to do with the Human Perceptual System (HVS), as discussed in this thread.

Here you can see the effect of simulating the original dark surroundings, which works for this image but not as a general recommendation:


Cheers,
Bart

Asher Kelman said:

Did you rely on a software like Enfuse or did you use masks to distribute the lighting the way you wanted it? What's your workflow? I presume you used the T/S lens for just getting the plane you wanted but not for stitching?

Click to expand...

Hi Asher,

The T/S lens was only tilted for optimizing the focal plane. The image is only stacked for exposure brackets, it's not stitched. The tripod was used at a certain level to get the eye-point / perspective that I liked. The image is full frame as posted, composed in the viewfinder, I may ultimately crop a tiny bit from the top edge.

I tried several tonemapping tools just to see which one would produce a base image that came closest to what I was trying to achieve. In this particular case I settled for Photomatix, but by using its exposure blending functionality, not its HDR+tonemapping route. The resulting base image was blended (Photoshop Blend-if layer) with one exposure bracket for the window area. I then adjusted some masked areas with a curves layer, and a curves layer to bring out the tonality range of the cobwebs against the darker background.

When I work more on the image I may decide on a different method or mixture, but I wanted to get this image out already, because it's moving in the direction I want, and it may inspire someone else to explore similar things.

Of course this is very impressive. Cem has stolen my wish for a small image with black surrounding it. I just have the 17" MacBook Pro with me and would like to see the image in one unit in its own space.

Click to expand...

Thanks, but it is of course difficult to have an optimal presentation at this size, and with the constraints that come with web posting. It might benefit from some different processing depending on viewing conditions, but it's stil an image in its infancy. I've added a smaller impression with a black surrounding to hint at the effect it has on the human visual system. In this case, a dark background might also help to get into a mindset of an eerie spooky attic, with the only available light coming from a few broken windows.

Thanks and my commendations,

Click to expand...

Thank you for your enthousiasm and challenging questions.

Small technical question: I'm wondering about the brightness of the sloping surface on the right which should be darker, much darker given its position, unless there is light coming from behind.

Click to expand...

The brightness mostly comes from the 30 second exposure time bracketed shot and the blending. But you a right, I'll probably tone it down a bit for the final version, and reduce the saturation a bit. It is very difficult to match the ability of the HVS to adapt to various lighting situations, e.g. this is the exposure frame where the white wall panel is already clipped by the exterior light (almost 12 stops dynamic range + gamma 2.2 adjustment are not enough to cover the scene's dynamic range):



While interesting, it doesn't have all the triangles I'd like to see.

Bart

Bart,

Because you fully recognize the challenges faced in showing the full measure of your imagination and bending reality, you will approach this with a number of iterations. If it was easy, this would not be something that only you could do. The driving force is the imaginary unified form you see at one time in the gymnasium of your mind. This way you defy space and time as you can order things as you wish.

Engraving that on paper is the work of an artist that you will accomplish with great satisfaction.

Asher