When a Home Dies

[CNelson]

I took this picture a few years ago but I like it enough to share. It's a sentimental image to me in that I lived in this house for several years when growing up but pictures of old buildings and cars are always interesting to me. They suggest an untold story and I often feel just a tinge of sadness when I see a "dying" building.

Chuck

[Donald]

Chuck

I like the composition on this. The PP is not my style (but that, in the context of what this image means to you, is irrelevant). But I can't help wondering what you could do with it as a Black & White.

[CNelson]

Chuck

I like the composition on this. The PP is not my style (but that, in the context of what this image means to you, is irrelevant). But I can't help wondering what you could do with it as a Black & White.

Hi Donald....I'll try to do a black and white version and post it. Thanks.

Chuck

[Yan Zhang]

Chuck,

This is a nice picture. Composition and color are nice, but
more than that, it is somewhat different from normal
shot with a clear post processing style, but I don't know which style . Very impressive.

[CNelson]

Thank you Yan. I don't recall everything I did in post processing but I did use Topaz to enhance details. I think this type of an image looks best with a lot of detail. Lately I have been pushing my images around a bit and sometimes I go for a painterly look. Some people like it and some don't...I try to do what works best with every image but it's a matter of individual taste and not everyone will appreciate the end result.

I'm in a small gallery in northern California owned by a very talented oil and watercolor artist. She loves my painterly style prints and so does her clientele as she sells them regularly. I sell some painterly style images in other galleries but my more traditional treatments probably sell a little better - it really depends on the image. Some people prefer more traditional photography over painterly or more dramatic treatments so I try to cater to different clientele with different images. I have a gallery on my website dedicated to painterly style images.

Some images look far better when treated in a traditional manner, others show their best when treated in a dramatic or painterly fashion. A few images look good both ways but not many. My objective or perhaps style is the word, is to try to find what works best with each image to make it a colorful or interesting work of art. (I don't intend to flatter myself here, I'm talking about my objective not necessarily the reality in the end result.) Sometimes it's color, sometimes it's detail, sometimes it's subject matter, sometimes it's composition or all of the above but I look for and try to create what might make someone stop and take a second look. Some of my images end up a little too dramatic or overdone for the tastes of some photographers but it gets back to individual tastes. On my website you will see a number of different treatments of the "Red House." I'm not necessarily trying to make a technically great photograph, I'm trying to make art. A technically great photograph is, of course, a great starting place for photo art.

Donald....sorry for the delay but here's the black and white version:

Chuck

[jacsul]

I think I like the 1st version better, very impressive indeed.

[Yan Zhang]

.....
Some images look far better when treated in a traditional manner, others show their best when treated in a dramatic or painterly fashion. A few images look good both ways but not many. My objective or perhaps style is the word, is to try to find what works best with each image to make it a colorful or interesting work of art. (I don't intend to flatter myself here, I'm talking about my objective not necessarily the reality in the end result.) Sometimes it's color, sometimes it's detail, sometimes it's subject matter, sometimes it's composition or all of the above but I look for and try to create what might make someone stop and take a second look. Some of my images end up a little too dramatic or overdone for the tastes of some photographers but it gets back to individual tastes. On my website you will see a number of different treatments of the "Red House."
....
I'm not necessarily trying to make a technically great photograph, I'm trying to make art. A technically great photograph is, of course, a great starting place for photo art.

Chuck,

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I looked at your website, which is very impressive.

Yes, I think your works more fit into Photo Art, these kinds of works always attract my attentions, though I am currently focusing on traditional photography
techniques.

Yan

[CNelson]

Chuck,

Thanks for your detailed explanation. I looked at your website, which is very impressive.

Yes, I think your works more fit into Photo Art, these kinds of works always attract my attentions, though I am currently focusing on traditional photography
techniques.

Yan

And doing quite well at it!

Chuck

[Donald]

Donald....sorry for the delay but here's the black and white version

Mmm! Yep, the colour version wins it of the two. Maybe the conversion from the colour, given your PP work on it, was not the answer. But I still think there's a wonderful B & W to be got from the house and its surroundings. Have to admit it, the more I look at the colour, the more I like it.