trying to make something out of abandoned equipment

[DanK]

There are a number of abandoned quarries and mill sites in Western MA where vehicles and equipment were left wherever they happened to be, which generally is in areas that are now wooded. It makes for an interesting view, but I'm not finding it easy to turn them into interesting images. Below are rough edits of two very different images of the same abandoned car. All comments welcome.

[LenR]

Dan, I also enjoy photographing old vehicles and farm machinery abandoned on the prairie.
I prefer the composition of second image and would be inclined to "tame" the hot spots in the background foliage.
Nicely seen.

[billtils]

I enjoyed these. Any reason why you didn't do both in B&W?

[Manfred M]

The first image is not working particularly well for me; it lacks strong visual context. I wonder if the coloured version might not have been a little more effective in bringing out the feeling of degeneration and decay.

The second one is much stronger and effective, with much better visual story telling. I like the way that the trees on the camera right seem to be "pushing back" and giving the car a bit of a "push". The tonal values of the car and background work together nicely.

[DanK]

Thanks for the comments.

Bill, I'm just experimenting with both approaches, but Manfred's comment comes pretty close to my rationale for keeping the bottom one in color. In that case, but not so much the top one, the green in the background helps set the car apart.

With respect to the second: I've become very enthusiastic about Adobe's subject and object selection functions. In the case of the second one, the background was far too bright. Maybe still, Len suggested. Even with this complex mix of car and trees, Lightroom did a fairly good job of selecting the car. I had to do a little touching up and added the front to trees manually, then inverted the mask, and pulled down exposure on everything other than the car and those trees. I now use this frequently with candids of kids, where the selection is simpler, and Lightroom gets it right or very nearly right most of the time.

[billtils]

Dan, here's a quite quick mono conversion ...

[DanK]

Bill,

Thanks. I’m still playing with this, but it seems to me that the B&W loses the separation between the car and the background. But I’m still not sure which path I prefer.

Dan


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[stuck]

How about a B&W version with a pin hole effect?

[Manfred M]

Bill,

Thanks. I’m still playing with this, but it seems to me that the B&W loses the separation between the car and the background. But I’m still not sure which path I prefer.

Dan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly my view as well, Dan. The colour contrast is an important technical and compositional element in this image and that gets lost in going with the B&W.

[DanK]

How about a B&W version with a pin hole effect?

Thanks. Not my cup of tea, but it's interesting to see how different people would handle the image.

[billtils]

Dan, I can see what you mean, but the bright green background wasn't to my taste, which along with "retro B&W" for retro automobile took me down the mono pathway. I did a bit of burning on the tree line but it could take some more.

[billtils]

Exactly my view as well, Dan. The colour contrast is an important technical and compositional element in this image and that gets lost in going with the B&W.

We will have to agree to disagree on this - the bright green tree line does not work for me at all; apart from the colour itself, it just drags the eye away from the car.

[stuck]

Bill,...it seems to me that the B&W loses the separation between the car and the background...

I agree, which was why I tried the pinhole effect but I'm not surprised it wasn't your cup of tea. I'm not sure it's mine either

[DanK]

This is an interesting and useful discussion. Thanks for chiming in.

Bill, you raise an interesting point. One of the problems with working in RGB space, which is the only option in Lightroom, is that playing with tonality changes saturation. The new LR curves tool allows you to get around this, but I didn't use the curves tool in darkening the surroundings. So, as a quick experiment, I desaturated the greens to make them less of a draw. See if this helps.

This could be done far better in Photoshop, where you can entirely separate color from luminosity in two different ways.

[billtils]

. See if this helps.
[/IMG]

Dan, Yes it does; it has not only muted the brightness, it has given a more pleasing shade of green - thanks for sharing.

[escape]

[stuck]

..See if this helps...

It does but I still think the car blends into the background too much.

I'm intrigued by this thread because I have a similar sort of image, of an old railway wagon that has been abandoned in woodland. I took it back in March 2020 but I'm still not 100% satisfied with my editing. The dilapidated wagon always seems to be the wood you can't see for the trees.

[DanK]

It does but I still think the car blends into the background too much.

I'm intrigued by this thread because I have a similar sort of image, of an old railway wagon that has been abandoned in woodland. I took it back in March 2020 but I'm still not 100% satisfied with my editing. The dilapidated wagon always seems to be the wood you can't see for the trees.

One could darken the surroundings more than I did, although at some point, it would start to look unnatural, which is not my style. Once you have a mask, you can do other things to make the subject stand out, e.g., increasing contrast only on the subject or blurring the background more.

[Manfred M]

One could darken the surroundings more than I did, although at some point, it would start to look unnatural, which is not my style. Once you have a mask, you can do other things to make the subject stand out, e.g., increasing contrast only on the subject or blurring the background more.

Your latest iteration is the strongest one so far. The trees in the background are even more subtle and less distracting than in your original posting.

I agree with your approach - ultimately, your objective is to create a believable image, so the changes need to be subtle and look as if they could have occurred in the way that you are representing them.

That being said, any of our comments are subjective, so there is no right or wrong here.

[escape]

. It makes for an interesting view, but I'm not finding it easy to turn them into interesting images.

It's better to aim for interesting rather than believability, in my view. The second photo has plenty of believability but lacks an element that adds interest. Like a big black crow standing on the fender saying cheese. Imagine if an old doll weathered with time was lying face down in front of the tree. It would add an emotional component to the image transforming it. Now you're wondering about the child that rode in the car and held that doll—just an example. Basicly I think the image needs a prop to bringing it over the finish line.