DSLR Photography Forum

<sigh>.. here goes...

To me, this photo is like driving past a train wreck... its hideously messy and confusing and doesn't work in so many ways, yet I can't look away!

Is it just me? I'd be really interested to hear opinions on this photo, because I still don't know quite what to make of it. It certainly has *some* redeeming features (I love the tangled roots on the left) and is compelling to me in a strange way, but it just seems "wrong" in lots of ways too. I would imagine many people would hate it with a passion.

The confusion and movement and unsettling effect it has on me actually really suits the subject though. It's almost like the trees are providing some kind of panicked defence in an attempt to protect the house from intruders. In actual fact, the house in question was in the process of being demolished, and when I drove past it again the next day, I found it had been completely bulldozed and *nothing* was there anymore (not even the trees). They are building a road in that location now.

The photo itself was taken with an R72 infra-red filter on my Olympus C750UZ. Because this camera normally blocks out a lot of infra-red light, I need to use massively long exposures even in bright sunlight to get decent exposures (usually 10-16 second exposures, even in bright sunlight). This means that even gentle breezes cause the motion blur in foliage and clouds (which I usually quite like as it adds to the dreamy surreal effect of IR). It also means the image was monochrome straight out of the camera. I did take a colour pic of the same scene though if anybody feels the need to see what it looked like to human eyes. The only post-processing I've done on it was to turn the pinky-purple monochrome IR image into sepia, play with the tone curve, and soften the edges out a bit.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments?

Thanks
Adrian

I find the picture rather appealing. It immediately made me think of "Gone with the wind" (hated the movie though, had to go with a girlfriend and sit through more than three hours of romance, argh!).

On a more objective base, I think the trees frame the house quite nicely. The clutter in the middle might be rubbish, but it's not identifiable as such, at least not to me. The blur in the leaves makes them look like Magnolia - that's probably what made me think of old southern movies. The sky is dark and ominous, that's not bad either.

I like it. It's not bad, really, for a train wreck.

Nice shot! IR eh? Must try that someday...

What I do like about the photo is the dreamy effect and lovely colour (or lack of it). The trees work well as a frame, but unfortunately, there isn't much of a subject being framed... Something like a solitary house or tree on a hill in the distance would have been perfect, but hey, a photographer works with what he gets.

All the trees/roots etc. are a bit distracting as well - I'd suggest a tighter crop/composition.

Keep up the good work, Kombi

If you could sharpen those leaves in the foreground it woul dbe better.

I like the shot though and the monochrome.

--Don

hi

Goooosh I have not been around here for a while been a bit busy with website. I miss the post and Im a great fan of infra red. I thought people do not do it any more as is very sensitive film and prosecing.

Very nice, like the composition and the low shutter speed. niiice, looove the log that looks like a road.

Thanks for sharing

Christian