Retired grain elevator

[Hazel Grant]

Experimenting with Orton effect here. Old railroad grain elevator here in Carbondale. I"m still learning re Orton. I am assuming the desired effect is the grainy look of an old film photo?

[gary ellwein]

Hi Hazel, being from North Dakota I can relate to grain elevators. Your leading line with the railroad tracks and muted color is effective. I'm also learning these neat effects. I associate the Orton effect with soft and ethereal. Grain elevators in the heart land are hard and rigid, likely representing the tallest structure for miles around. I would present them as sharp and bold. Perhaps you could tease a bit more detail out of the trees on the left.

[Diane Miller]

What a great find for a scene!! Very nicely done -- looks somewhat like like an infrared except I'd expect the trees to be lighter.

The Orton effect was originally from stacking slides, one sharp and one OOF, both overexposed to make the stack a normal exposure. That wouldn't have had any more than the normal grain. But infrared film was grainy -- could that be what you're thinking about? An Orton works a little differently in the digital world, but it's still combining an in-focus and an OOF, combined with blending modes, not reduced transparency. Doing the OOF in-camera (tripod is best) gives a much more "organic" effect than just stacking two layers with one blurred. I've seen some here where the "OOF" layer was done with negative Clarity. Those are interesting but that really gives a different effect than the original Orton concept, which shows brighter areas with a lovely diffusion.

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hazel, I really like the composition and toning and the effect you used. Here is an explanation of the Orton effect straight from Michael Orton's website - http://www.michaelortonphotography.com/ortoneffect.html. I like to play around with different variations and will reduce the Clarity slider on some of mine and also (especially with black and white images) add grain to mimic some of the older film images. I guess these make them technically not Orton effects but I think the sky is the limit when you're arriving at what will work with each image.:S3:

[Diane Miller]

Cheryl, thanks for the information and link -- I guess Orton himself should know!!

When you shoot the OOF component if you pull the focus to the close end that makes the OOF image larger. I like the stronger glow effect that gives and usually don't zoom to match image sizes. It usually works for me if the edges are softer. But film is so cheap these days, bracket everything!

I don't bother to overexpose beyond the normal "expose to the right" -- you have enough leeway in the RAW conversion. And different blend modes will want different exposures. You can clip a Curves layer to each of the pixel layers to vary exposure on the fly. (Or now you can open each layer as a Smart Objects and go right back to tweak the RAW parameters, but you normally have plenty of leeway just to modify things right in PS.)

I usually look at Overlay, Soft Light or Hard Light; sometimes Multiply. (I don't remember now, but I think one of them doesn't work. Been too long since I did one. I should play with it again.)

[Indranil Sircar]

Hi Hazel, I like it a lot... as Gary pointed out the leading railroad track with the dark trees on one side and bright grain elevator makes is very effected. I can see so many variations to it... TFS.

[Anita Bower]

I consider this a strong composition. I love the simplicity of the building standing alone alongside the railroad tracks that vanish into the distance. The building seem to glow, which I think is the result of the Orton effect. My first thought was to wish the trees and tracks on the left were not so dark. Now, I'm not so sure. I'd have to see it to know. Again--wonderful composition and simplicity.

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks everyone for all your sharing and input. I'll check out the link, Cheryl. Gary, you have a good point re the strength of the building's being reflected in the photo rather than the Orton. I definitely need to do more study and reflection on this technique. Still learning from all of you!

[Paul Lagasi]

Grain elevators come in all shapes and sizes. They can be found in almost every town in our western province's. They make great subjects. I like the composition and effect. Orton usually (for me at least) works better on colored images, but after seeing your image I may try it out on some B & W landscape images. Well done