Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Neil Armstrong's Garden Gate?
Comments:
Imaginative title - I could only muster: 'urban farmer sets up for the morning milk round'!
I like the picture because it looks very Japanese. I'm not sure that that is the criteria for a photo being good or bad but catching the essence of a place seems to me to be one of photography's tasks. The wall construction is different to that in the UK, for example. The use of concrete and the kerb layout too. This shot in a similar situation in UK (and it would be hard to find an exact equivalent because this is not a poor area and in UK such a house would adjoin the road differently) would not look the same. Maybe I'm belabouring my point but the Japanese have provided a piece of urban design that makes it easy for the photographer!! But you have extracted it all very well.
Now that's funny. Leaves me amazed. Why on Earth make a door like this?
Very well seen.
Tell if I am a bore with this but I still have a hard time with those highlights. To me they are very compressed and let the subject down by obliterating the bricks texture.
The histogram tells the story and it is irrecoverable in this copy.
Am I looking at the same image as you Stephane?
The texture is maintained across the face of the bricks beautifully. Putting the image into PS shows just specular highlights with no blocks of 255 losing texture. To my eye and to my PS this looks almost perfectly exposed.
I wonder if this high door is a defense against the road becoming a river during heavy rain. It is one of those amuzing snippets of life that make photography interesting.
We are looking at the same picture. I sent you an email with the histogram of just the wall and it shows highlight blocking as well.
Now, I mentioned compression, not areas at 255. In my email I also show the areas where I see that compression. I really find the texture has patches of flat rendition. It affect the picture tonal balance and does not do justice to the negative which, I am sure, is well exposed.
I remember seeing doors like this in Korea. These half or three quarter height doors often gave access to a garden or courtyard, and they were occasionally raised above ground level like this. I always assumed raising them was a way to have room for topsoil above a concrete slab.
If you think the bricks are a bit bright, try dragging them down with a curve that isolates the highlights. Then put a little texture back with USM. For a picture this size, an amount of 10-15% and a radius around 30 px would be a good starting point.
This looks a little better to my eye.
OK. I've emailed back to Stephane admitting I don't understand compression. I can see detail all through the white bricks.
If compression is present and it isn't just 255 then surely the 'image' can be recovered.
The This image looks flat, even though it might not have compression.
That wall looks like a white wall on my monitor!
:-)
I've just put This into PS with a black background and now it looks better. I was viewing it in a browser with a white surround which didn't do it justice.
Reading the succession of e-mails without seeing the picture left me wondering too. Having now seen the two pictures I think that Stephane is right: something has been lost with the scan. Whilst "This" is toned down to the extent of losing a bit of life, it does illustrate the general point. I placed Akikana's original over "This" and reduced opacity to between 20 - 30% (depends on taste) and that achieves zing and detail.
I've been following along and keep coming back to the image Guy posted. I have enought texture visible in the wall to associate it with being a wall. As is, I like it. There are the blocks of various textures and tonalities that I find very appealing. It was my first inclination to crop the upper quarter, but I find that if I do that, then the image becomes a little too static. Thus leaving the top quarter creates an interesting range of textures as a counterblance to the rest of the image. Nice.
Leaving the wall tonal issue aside for now -- another clever image with matching title. The many textures and tonal variations really work, and I'm always impressed at your abilities with a square format.
My thoughts as to why a door might be positioned this way were of a loading dock. Could be raised up for deliveries from a truck, though this does look residential.
Back to that wall -- I see Stephane's point with the highlights, and without testing it out on my own, think that Matt's corrected image is probably improved upon by John's treatment, especially if viewed on Rex's second choice of backgrounds. :-)
If any of us agreed about the wall tonality, I'd worry that we were faltering dangerously close to the camera club orthodoxy void, but, thankfully we are safe in our disagreements.
This composition is a little bit more straight on than I would expect from you. It works, but I wonder if you are finding the square encourages you to compose differently?
Christina - your point about loading is what I was trying to say! In UK, up to the '60s, farmers used to have raised platforms where their farm drive met the tarmac council/main road: they would put the milk churns on those for collection by the milk tanker.
Matt - clearly Akikana has to answer your question but I feel that Japanese walls like this lend themselves to square-on shots.
Thanks for all the comments. Very informative.
Matt: I am having a lot of fun with the square format and walls. Not consciously shooting them straight on but many do lend themselves to that presentation.
Shot this not only for the rather high stepping distance but also the black smudge and the missing brick. The black smudge has probably caused Stephane's 'histogram' peeping. Really wanted to bring it out at the expense of losing a little texture in the wall.
Not sure why the door is so high. Oyama-cho is at the top of a hill so no flood risk. The gate goes in to the garden but is close to the house too. My guess is that it makes for easy access to getting the garbage bins out for collection each week.
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I like the picture because it looks very Japanese. I'm not sure that that is the criteria for a photo being good or bad but catching the essence of a place seems to me to be one of photography's tasks. The wall construction is different to that in the UK, for example. The use of concrete and the kerb layout too. This shot in a similar situation in UK (and it would be hard to find an exact equivalent because this is not a poor area and in UK such a house would adjoin the road differently) would not look the same. Maybe I'm belabouring my point but the Japanese have provided a piece of urban design that makes it easy for the photographer!! But you have extracted it all very well.
Very well seen.
Tell if I am a bore with this but I still have a hard time with those highlights. To me they are very compressed and let the subject down by obliterating the bricks texture.
The histogram tells the story and it is irrecoverable in this copy.
The texture is maintained across the face of the bricks beautifully. Putting the image into PS shows just specular highlights with no blocks of 255 losing texture. To my eye and to my PS this looks almost perfectly exposed.
I wonder if this high door is a defense against the road becoming a river during heavy rain. It is one of those amuzing snippets of life that make photography interesting.
Now, I mentioned compression, not areas at 255. In my email I also show the areas where I see that compression. I really find the texture has patches of flat rendition. It affect the picture tonal balance and does not do justice to the negative which, I am sure, is well exposed.
If you think the bricks are a bit bright, try dragging them down with a curve that isolates the highlights. Then put a little texture back with USM. For a picture this size, an amount of 10-15% and a radius around 30 px would be a good starting point.
This looks a little better to my eye.
If compression is present and it isn't just 255 then surely the 'image' can be recovered.
The This image looks flat, even though it might not have compression.
That wall looks like a white wall on my monitor!
:-)
My thoughts as to why a door might be positioned this way were of a loading dock. Could be raised up for deliveries from a truck, though this does look residential.
Back to that wall -- I see Stephane's point with the highlights, and without testing it out on my own, think that Matt's corrected image is probably improved upon by John's treatment, especially if viewed on Rex's second choice of backgrounds. :-)
This composition is a little bit more straight on than I would expect from you. It works, but I wonder if you are finding the square encourages you to compose differently?
Matt - clearly Akikana has to answer your question but I feel that Japanese walls like this lend themselves to square-on shots.
Matt: I am having a lot of fun with the square format and walls. Not consciously shooting them straight on but many do lend themselves to that presentation.
Shot this not only for the rather high stepping distance but also the black smudge and the missing brick. The black smudge has probably caused Stephane's 'histogram' peeping. Really wanted to bring it out at the expense of losing a little texture in the wall.
Not sure why the door is so high. Oyama-cho is at the top of a hill so no flood risk. The gate goes in to the garden but is close to the house too. My guess is that it makes for easy access to getting the garbage bins out for collection each week.