Bone Yard

[Paul Gobert]

158279

Not quite Macro and not Floral in nature.
However this does have an avian connection.
I was helping a friend move some furniture into a small shack on a rural property off Topaz Road, Atherton Tablelands.
Nearby was a small building that years ago was apparently the local community hall.
It is in a state of disrepair now, not having been used for many years.
The window glass is almost all gone and the weather side is starting to rot away.
Took some photos of the outside then carefully ventured inside.
What at first appeared to be two 1 meter circles of fine ash on the floor revealed themselves as piles of bones from many small rodents.
I can only assume that an owl had been perching in the rafters above dropping pellets to the floor below..
Could only guess at the number of animals in the piles but it would certainly have numbered in the dozens if not hundreds.
Bones were all dry and not much fur present so I would say the deposits were not fresh.
Largest bone less than 1" in length.

Camera Model: Pentax K30
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/40
Av(Aperture Value) 22
Metering Mode: Spot Metering (just what I normally use)
Exposure Compensation: 0
Flash: yes onboard flash
ISO Speed 1600
Auto ISO Speed Off
Lens: SMC Pentax-DA 1:4 16-45mm ED-AL- (at 45mm)
Manual focused closeup up to the limit of flash masking.
Handheld

Processing:
Light Room
Image converted to B/W. Not much colour in origional.
Original format: Portrait, top and LHS cropped out
Exposure +0.6, Shadows +5, White +62, Black +88, Clarity +50

Hope everyone is easing into the New Year well.

Paul.

[Glennie Passier]

When I first saw this I thought the jaw bones could have come from 'roos and was surprised that they were more than likely to be mice bones. The shack would have been the perfect roost for an owl.
I thought an increase in the mid tones would be OK for this image. I would also think about cropping the OOF top section and making it more a square crop.

You've done extremely well to hand hold at that shutter speed.

A unique image Paul.

[Paul Gobert]

Thanks Glennie,
Hand holding the camera wasn't so bad as the flash provided the light for the exposure. Was fairly dim inside the building so I doubt that ambient light would have had much effect on exposure.
The 1/40 th SS was what I had been using for interior shots of the building but with f5.6
As you say a square image with the crop taken from the top would work better.
There was such a complexity of different types of bones and arrangements of them that I think the optimum composition is still back at the site.
Only had the 16-45mm lens with me on the day. Might consider going back there with more suitable gear.
Photographing from above perpendicular to floor would maximise the depth of field throughout the frame. Coud also resort to photo-stacking.
A skull or two in with the jaw bones would look good

The countryside around there is lush and vibrant green at the moment and the air unusually clear.
Very hot though and aircon not working in ute.
Great cloud formations in blue sky, be good for Infrared photography too.

Would the mid-tones be suffering as a result of my boosting the whites and blacks so far?
Would you suggest increasing mid-tones or backing off on the whites and blacks?

Thanks
Paul.

[Glennie Passier]

Paul, my approach to PP is "if that doesn't look right, go back and try something else". I have found though that mid tones are very important. I would have a look at bringing the exposure back to 0 and pulling all the other sliders back a tad as well. I'm not familiar with LR. When you converted to B&W did you do it by desaturating? I find this sometimes give a better result when you can adjust the colours.

My optimum compositions are always still in the trees! :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Very interesting find Paul! I do think the composition can be improved. Currently, there is not really one subject the eye is drawn to. In a messy situation like this, it will probably be hard to find a composition like that. In that case, you might go and look for interesting and compositionally pleasing patterns. I find it useful to fall back on the rule of thirds in such cases. If the pile of bones is still there undisturbed, you have plenty of opportunity to experiment!
I also find the IQ not great. I think the main culprit here is the f/22. Although closing down the aperture increases DOF, at a certain point diffraction starts messing up the sharpness. I find that with most of my lenses this is already the case at f/22. I generally tend to use f/16 as the max. I think playing around with the midtones as suggested, or adding a bit of contrast or more clarity as an alternative would be a good idea to give the image a little more 'pop'. Images like this are all about structures and patterns, both of which often benefit from contrast.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I think you have a record but artistically and technically it falls a little short. The image is very complicated - nothing in particular to concentrate on, i.e. it is very busy. The image is not sharp throughout and fairly sharp in the centre.
I would suggest it would be worth your time having another session using a tripod and consider a diffused flash, ensuring the camera is 180 degrees to the subject. As you view see what catches your eye and then recompose to maximise impact.

[Paul Gobert]

Thanks Glennie, Jerry and Jonathan. Good suggestions and I wil put them into action some time soon.
Paul

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Paul. Owl pellets can be fascinating - I've never come across a "large" pile like this before. Lots of helpful comments already above for you to consider. I usually don't venture into black & white - so I find myself wondering how this might look in color (lots of whites and grays, I expect) and if that would look better. :S3: