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a clean, well-lighted place
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
This was shot last summer on yet another sunny summer day, but this time in Nebraska. The horse barn is huge and is painted red on the outside. It sits on some beautiful grounds in North Platte, Nebraska where Buffalo Bill Cody made his vacation home. The grounds and buildings have recently been turned into a museum, open to the public. The house is a very picturesque green and white Victorian with lots of gingerbread and charm. I was told that this was where Buffalo Bill came to relax and "get away from it all" when he wasn't touring with his Wild West Show. He apparently enjoyed entertaining and had many celebrities of the day as house guests.
I've seen many a barn, but this one is really huge and impressing to look at from the outside, just for the sheer size of it. But when I stepped inside, I was captivated by the beauty of it and the gorgeous light streaming in. Instantly I was transported back in time and imagined the stalls filled with horses, stable workers coming and going, mud and hay and oats strewn about the floor. No electric lights, or so I imagine. I could almost smell the horses. The interior of the barn is really immaculate now (Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" was never meant to be a barn!) and all the tack is in good, clean condition, if authentically worn. The place reminded me of a movie set and, of course, I thought "Sea Biscuit," although this is a horse barn in the west, built by Buffalo Bill, so I'm not sure if eastern barns would look just like this. However, I'll bet Sea Biscuit would have been very comfortable here. I imagine Buffalo Bill had some nice pieces of horseflesh in the barn, however.
I wished that they would have turned out the lights; have no clue why they were on in the middle of the day, the sunlight provided plenty of illumination. Also, it would have added to the authentic feel of the place. Upstairs is a huge hay loft and equipment storage area, all natural wood, not painted like the downstairs.
I snapped it with my Canon on Auto, natural light. Around 3 p.m. How would I decrease the brightness in the foreground patch of light? I took another shot down the stairs from the opposite end of this room. That picture has some pretty neat shadows and bits of light streaming, but also one really bright patch on the floor that is problematic to me. I see now that i've uploaded it, it suffers from fuzziness like the crab I posted the other day. I took the suggestion to resize in increments which I did with this one. I guess it's the "sharpening" I really need. I have yet to purchase the software. The original photo was very sharp and clear. Sigh . . .
Any and all comments, criticism welcome. |
NormanW, touristdidi has marked this note useful
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Hi CK!
Nice image. I like the shadows and light in this one. I read your note and it's rather thorough. So, we don't have to touch on the fuzziness issue. And, since it's an older shot, we're not going to touch on the centering issue, either. ;P But, I also like the repetition of patterns and at the same time how it appears to be open eventhough there's a definite "closedness" (I think I just made up a word) to it. Overall, it looks good. Well done.
So, let's address your concern about the lit areas...not just foreground, because if you adjust how the light is shining in at the front, you may have to adjust for the back, too. Anyhow...you can approach this in a few ways. You can use a tool called "curves" and drag the highlights down. Or, you can go in a drag the overall brightness down. Or, as you can come back in with a brush in "soft light" mode (have it set on a black color--white, if you're getting the opposite effect, I can never remember...sorry) and darken the specific areas. If you get Adobe Photoshop CS (now selling for approx $700), they have a specific filter for higlights and shadows...you can manipulate its settings to adjust...it does a really good job...but the price is pretty high....but, you can try those other suggestions on virtually any advance pp program.
Take care!
Richard
I enoy the notes throughly. I love to wtch horses. I have no clue how to ride. Lucky ones lived here i am sure!
Your note was very informative and interesting to read. This is a great perspective shot. You have composed the scene very well with the diagonal lines perfectly placed at the edges in the foreground. As for the white spot in the foreground, unfortunately there's not a lot you can do to fix it, other than use the Burn Tool and place it over that part. It's a fault of digital cameras. When the camera sees pure white from a highlight from the sun, it registers that colour as pure white, and no other colour gets recorded. Back in the old days of SLR cameras, it was known as a 'hot spot', and could be fixed a bit in the darkroom using a longer exposure time just on that one spot. Luckily for you, the white spot isn't that bad. As for the sharpening - I did a workshop with a full explanation for you to try on your future uploads. What photo enhancement software are you using at the moment? Maybe I can help you with any other questions. I use Photoshop.
I like this one a whole lot more. All the white and the repetitive shapes, and the neatness of it all reminds me of the military baracks I used to live in. I like how all the converging lines seem to draw me into this pic. Bright spots on the floor don't bother me at all. The picture makes this barn look really inviting. BTW, that's an impressive note!
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