I just like the textures, especially around the door. The skim lighting worked well here.
Not Sure Where it Is
29 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in old buildings, Small Town, Travel, Uncategorized
Tag Archives: west texas
Deferred Maintenance in Texas
04 Wednesday May 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, Real Estate, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
abandoned, abandoned buildings, decay, decaying buildings, old buildings, texas, vintage car, west texas
These photos are digital all the way, shot on a trip or two across Texas. This is why I really don’t go out with my camera where I currently sojourn in Houston: Everything is too CLEAN! Hardly a molecule of ferric oxide or a fleck of peeling paint or a bare board to be seen.
I like to imagine how it was when all these things were new and in good repair. How did their owners feel? When did neglect begin and why? Maybe these hard-living people didn’t care about the aesthetics of their structures and vehicles as much as simply how they served to help them survive over a few years of life. If the possessions succumbed to decay, so what? Plenty of this to see in Texas…except HOUSTON!! (Unless you’re talking about the roadways, then that’s another matter.)
Old home somewhere in west Texas. Not too long ago judging by the fact they had television…oh, wait, that WAS a long time ago!
Corner fillin’ station somewhere in Texas. Surely there was a market inside as well.
When was the last meal served? Somewhere in west Texas.
In west Texas.
In west Texas.
Outlaw bars…Either Talpa or Valera
The F. D. I. WHAT?
Old farmhouse not far from Rowena, Texas.
In Rowena, Texas.
In Rowena, Texas.
Santa Elena Canyon in HDR
16 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in "photography", Digital Photography, nature, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
"photography", big bend, big bend national park, canyon, chihuahuan desert, desert, hdr, HDR photography, nature, rio grande, river, santa elena canyon, west texas
When shooting under extreme lighting conditions of light to dark tones, even our smart phone cameras know about the need for High Dynamic Range techniques (HDR). I decided on this hike into Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park to actually carry along a tripod and my Canon 5D Mark III. I used the Sigma 24mm f1.4 “Art” lens.
I was planning to bracket roughly 5-7 exposures for each photo, usually -3 stops through +3. Then I would use Photomatix Pro software to take the best rendition of values out of all those exposes and melt them into one that would ideally have the best of highlights and the best of shadows with everything else in between.
I would like to think that a single exposure would not have captured the range of detail seen here.
Not HDR, as camera with single exposure and post processing render the scene. It’s OK…ish.
Here’s the HDR. It has that “look” that many people find objectionable, sort of the comic book feel. Still there’s a feeling of seeing more detail and greater richness and vibrance.
Not HDR.
Yes, HDR.
Not HDR.
Yes, HDR.
Here in last shot I’m posting you can see how every nook and cranny gets opened up for a CLEARER view in HDR. I’m sure that with more post HDR conversion processing the images could have that less that Marvelous look to them (for you younger readers that’s as in Marvel Comic Books. Sorry.)
You be the judge and let me know!
Crossing the Bar Again into Large Format
09 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in "photography", Film Cameras, film photography, Travel, Uncategorized
Tags
"photography", 4x5 camera photography, black and white, black and white film, cemetery, film, film camera, film photography, graveyard, large format photography, terlingua texas, view camera photography, west texas, wooden crosses
We were in Terlingua, Texas, just outside Big Bend National Park. This is where a big chili cook off happens once per year. I’m not sure exactly when it is. My father went once and slept under the bus. Anyway, I was looking for an excuse to waste a sheet of Fomapan 100 4×5 sheet film, so here was something Ansel Adamsish enough to make me happy. It was my first shot with a large format camera in a couple of years or more, so after setting up the camera, which meant assembling it on the tripod, composing, focusing, guessing which part of the image I would place on Zone III, reading the settings off the spot meter, setting them on the lens, cocking the lens and closing the shutter, placing the holder under the ground glass, removing the slide, firing the shot, replacing the slide and then the holder, driving home 600 miles, processing in trays, copying with the D800, editing, here is what I got:
I tried to give it a tint that I would aim for if I were to make a palladium print of the image. I think the warm tone suits the subject. I have 4 more negatives to look at. However, I just may make myself wait to make the silver prints in the darkroom to see them!
